ENVS 15: The Earth's Cold Regions (Winter 2024)

The Galle Family

This page explores the connection between Milton Galle’s parents, Harry and Alma, and the Wrangel Island expedition. Hailing from Texas, Harry and Alma Galle were disconnected from the Wrangel Island project geographically and informationally. At twenty years old, their son Milton was entirely new to extreme adventurism and the ecology of the Arctic; as Melody Webb describes, he had “little more than enthusiasm to recommend [him].” [1] This inexperience starkly differed from Knight and Maurer, who had spent years exploring the world's high latitudes, even under Vilhajmur Stefansson’s command. For that reason, Knight and Maurer’s parents had a better grasp of what their sons were getting into and all the dangers of the project. 

It makes sense, then, that the fear of the Galle parents exceeded that of the Knight parents. In a series of letters to Stefansson, John Irvine Knight, the father of Lorne, described his constant correspondence with the Galles. He consistently repeats that he has written letters to the Galles trying to “appease their fears and worries” and that they “are keeping in close touch with [him].” In one letter, he mentions how little information both families have about their sons during the journey. Yet Knight’s father played a significant role in providing information to Galle’s parents and consoling them early in the voyage.

Telegram from Harry and Alma Galle to V. Stefansson

A telegram from Milton Galle's parents, Harry and Alma, to Vilhjalmur Stefansson sent on September 1, 1923.

In August of 1923, the Galle parents learned of their son’s death from press reports. This telegram, from September 1, bemoans the lack of information the parents have gotten and requests consistent updates from Stefansson with “dependable news.” An absence of reliable information characterizes the months after the tragedy was publicized: in one letter, Stefansson apologizes for the fact that the Galle parents have received less news than any of the other families. In those same letters, Stefansson also angrily conveys the troubles he is having with Harold Noice, expressing regret that Noice has published slanderous reports and has concealed certain documents. 

Letter from Alma Galle

A letter from Milton Galle's mother, Alma, presumably to Vilhjalmur Stefansson from a unknown date.

All the while, Galle’s parents struggle through their grief. At one point, Alma writes that she is “at the verge of despair” and there is “little to find consolation in,” but that she is trying to “turn [her] sorrow to sympathy for the other families.” She also seems to cope by noting how proud Harry is of Milton’s “ambition” and “success in hunting,” and how Milton’s grandfather would have been “delighted to read about Milton now.” Still, in a particularly heartbreaking letter, Alma writes that she hasn’t given up hope that Milton will return: “as true as it seems that they are lost, I will be waiting, as I have almost gotten accustomed to the past years.” She concludes the letter by requesting any and all objects or photographs left behind by Milton, hoping that “some words from him will yet be found for me.” Notably, in no letter do Harry or Alma suggest even the slightest blame of Stefansson for their son’s death; as Helen Crawford later writes, the Galle’s are “friendly” toward Stefansson. 

The experience of the Galle parents in regards to the Wrangel Island expedition was marked by worry, confusion, inexperience, a lack of information, and profound grief, though blame was absent through it all: in Alma’s words, it was a “fatal accident,” like that of “some aviator who has previously been looked upon as among the most cautious and skillful.

[1] Webb, Melody. “Arctic Saga: Vilhjalmur Stefansson's Attempt to Colonize Wrangel Island.” Pacific Historical Review, vol. 61, no. 2, 1992, pp. 215-239, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3640130.