Edward Israel Arctic Pioneer

Near here is the grave of Edward Israel who went on the nation’s first polar expedition, led by Lieutenant Adolphus W. Greely. The team set out in 1881 for Ellesmere Island in the Arctic Ocean. Expedition scientist was Israel of Kalamazoo, age twenty-two, a recent graduate of the University of Michigan. He collected valuable astronomical information and assisted Greely in many administrative chores. Disaster struck in 1883 when the relief ship was sunk en route. After a severe winter, eighteen of the twenty-five expedition members died. Israel died on May 27, 1884. The entire city of Kalamazoo, with mixed sorrow and pride, honored Israel when the body was returned in August of that year.