The Crawford Family-After the Tragedy
My page will explore the antagonistic relationship between Allan Crawford’s parents, John and Helen Crawford and Vilhjalmur Stefansson, by examining a newspaper article. John and Helen Crawford lived in Toronto, Canada, and from the very beginning, expressed suspicion and worry about their son’s upcoming journey to the Arctic. The day the crew left Seattle and headed northward, Allan Crawford asked Stefansson to write a letter of reassurance to his mother, per her request. Allan asked Stefansson to “dispel the northern trails have their secret tale that would make your blood run cold idea, and your sure everything will be very successful and so on. Just a short note.” This shows that Helen Crawford already had hesitations about the viability of the expedition, and rightfully so. The trip infamously ended in disaster; their son Allan Crawford was lost on the ice and pronounced dead.
At first, the Crawfords were incredibly distraught at their son’s death and wanted to remain out of the public eye (they didn’t give any interviews), but then they went on a campaign to blame and express their anger toward Stefansson (they called him the “enemy”). On April 29th, 1925, over two years after Allan Crawford died, an article was published in The Evening Telegraph titled “Parents Blame V. Stefansson for Allan Crawford’s Death.” Helen and John Crawford believe that Stefansson did not ensure their son had enough food for the trip, to “prove his theory that men can live off the country in the Arctic.” The Crawford family believed that their son unnecessarily perished due to insufficient food provisions sent with them on the journey, which they attribute to Stefansson’s poor planning. The article writes that Stefansson has “endeavored to convince the public that their tragic end was a mere accident, that starvation could not have been its cause, although he himself has admitted that a supply for six months was all the food he had advised them to take, and has stated in the London Spectator (August 18th, 1923) that “their supplies probably gave out a year ago.” The newspaper article includes multiple pieces of evidence that show the men decided to leave the island and journey across the ice because of their fear of starvation, which ultimately led to their deaths. This evidence comes from primary accounts of Frederick Maurer, Lorne Knight, and Harold Noice.
"Stefansson 'was prancing about from one luxurious spot of civilization to another, lecturing and telling what a hero he was,' and at the very time our boy was writing his last letter!" -Helen and John Crawford
In conclusion, the parents of Allan Crawford blame Stefansson for their son’s death and accuse him of attempting to cover up his role in the tragedy, as he takes no accountability for the disaster. They say that while their son was starving and freezing to death, Stefansson was “prancing about from one luxurious spot of civilization to another, lecturing and telling what a hero he was.” This newspaper article is strong evidence for the Crawford family’s negative opinion of Stefansson, post expedition. Overall, I understand the Crawford family’s desire to expose Stefansson’s suspicious actions regarding the expedition, and wanting to avenge their son’s tragic, and, arguably preventable, death.