stefansson-wrangel-09-31-057r

THE PLANNING OF THE EXPEDITION 77

to ask whether they would go to Wrangel Island secretly
and whether they would exchange their American for
Canadian citizenship in order to make the occupation
legally effective. Both replied eagerly in the affirmative.
Since I was just then engaged under contract on a piece
of work that did not allow me a day’s vacation until
September, I got Taylor to undertake the actual organiza-
tion of the expedition. Because the Canadian Govern-
ment had decided to do nothing for a year, we could not
take even them into our confidence. We confided in no
one except that Taylor had to place the facts before his
private attorney to get an opinion of the legal aspects
of the case. The attorney told us that an application
for Canadian citizenship by Knight and Maurer would
not turn them forthwith British in the sense needed to
make an expedition British which was led by one of them.
To get around that difficulty he advised the organization of a limited liability com-
pany under the laws of Canada. This company would
employ all the men who were on the expedition, and that
would make the enterprise indubitably British. Later
he revised this opinion, coming to the conclusion that
we could not feel the undertaking safely British unless
a British subject were at the head of it. This led to the
employment of Allan R. Crawford, the son of Professor
J. T. Crawford, of Toronto, Canada, to be in formal
command. We had previously corresponded about his
possibly going north and I now telegraphed him to join
us on the Pacific Coast.

Because of later tragic developments, it is important
to explain here how Allan Crawford came to be selected
for the Wrangel Island expedition. During the winter of
1920-21 several of us had been carrying on an energetic

THE PLANNING OF THE EXPEDITION 77

to ask whether they would go to Wrangel Island secretly
and whether they would exchange their American for
Canadian citizenship in order to make the occupation
legally effective. Both replied eagerly in the affirmative.
Since I was just then engaged under contract on a piece
of work that did not allow me a day’s vacation until
September, I got Taylor to undertake the actual organiza-
tion of the expedition. Because the Canadian Govern-
ment had decided to do nothing for a year, we could not
take even them into our confidence. We confided in no
one except that Taylor had to place the facts before his
private attorney to get an opinion of the legal aspects
of the case. The attorney told us that an application
for Canadian citizenship by Knight and Maurer would
not turn them forthwith British in the sense needed to
make an expedition British which was led by one of them.
To get around that difficulty he advised the organization of a limited liability com-
pany under the laws of Canada. This company would
employ all the men who were on the expedition, and that
would make the enterprise indubitably British. Later
he revised this opinion, coming to the conclusion that
we could not feel the undertaking safely British unless
a British subject were at the head of it. This led to the
employment of Allan R. Crawford, the son of Professor
J. T. Crawford, of Toronto, Canada, to be in formal
command. We had previously corresponded about his
possibly going north and I now telegraphed him to join
us on the Pacific Coast.

Because of later tragic developments, it is important
to explain here how Allan Crawford came to be selected
for the Wrangel Island expedition. During the winter of
1920-21 several of us had been carrying on an energetic