Geography 775 



ledge. On one of the maps of this date, the Red River of the 

 North flows south instead of north, connecting the great rivers 

 flowing into Lake Winnipeg and Hudson Bay with the Min- 

 nesota and the Mississippi. Alaska, then little known, was 

 the property of Russia. 



Professor Henry took great interest in the exploration of 

 the Arctic Ocean ; and aided by his counsel, advice and in- 

 struction, the second Grinnell expedition, under Doctor Elisha 

 Kent Kane, was undertaken in 1853, that of Doctor Isaac 

 I. Hayes in 1860, and the Polaris expedition, under Captain 

 Charles F. Hall, in 1871. 



The western part of Canada was then controlled by the 

 Hudson Bay Company. At its request Professor Henry 

 prepared circulars to its officers, with suggestions and direc- 

 tions for exploration of its territory. In accordance with 

 these suggestions much exploration was done between 1850 

 and 1870, at the joint expense of that company and the 

 Smithsonian Institution. In this way valuable additions to 

 our knowledge of its geography and biology were acquired. 



In 1 86 1 the Western Union Telegraph Company organ- 

 ized an expedition for building lines of telegraph overland 

 through Alaska and Siberia to Europe. Robert Kennicott, 

 William H. Dall, and George Kennan accompanied the ex- 

 pedition, partly in the capacity of representatives of the In- 

 stitution, and made extensive explorations in Alaska and 

 eastern Siberia; but before their work was finished, it was 

 interrupted by the successful laying of the Atlantic cable. 

 Notices of these explorations were published in the Re- 

 ports of the Institution. Subsequently, when stations were 

 established in Alaska and the Arctic regions of America 

 for the purpose of obtaining meteorological data, the In- 

 stitution selected observers to accompany the parties, and 

 furnished other material aid; and the explorations made by 



