Schwatka, Frederick

Schwatka, Frederick

(1849–92) explorer; born in Galena, Ill. After graduating from West Point (1871) he served as a cavalry lieutenant on the frontier, also studying law and medicine; he then qualified as a lawyer (1875) and a doctor (1876). He led an expedition (1878–80) to uncover the wreckage of the Franklin expedition; he established that all had perished and no records were left behind. After resigning from the army (1885) he explored the Yukon River and opened new territory in Alaska. He lectured widely and wrote about his adventures in such books as In the Land of Cave and Cliff Dweller (1893) about the Tarahumari Indians of Chihuahua, Mexico.