The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2007, Page 12

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #1
The Bay in Manitoba, got the job. He trav-
eled to the Gimli area and sought the advice
of a hostelry man named Jack Casselman.
Casselman, an Irish Canadian who had
worked for years in Gimli, suggested
Sigurjon Isfeld and Jon Bjornsson (J.B.)
Johnson. These two young Icelandic
Canadians bought 100 sled dogs of mixed
breeds, some with husky blood, selected
from the best available along the west shore
of Lake Winnipeg to Hecla Island.
The four men and 100 dogs went by
rail to Montreal, the dogs in cattle cars. The
dogs were fed sprats, a nutritional dog bis-
cuit which they disliked at first, being used
to fish, but took a liking to later. One dog
refused to eat and died in Montreal.
On June 22, 1914, all left for London
on the ship Montcalm. On arrival, they
were met by a great throng of people curi-
ous to see the dogs and their drivers. One
newspaper headline said:
“Dogs coming from Canada - One
Eskimo, one negro, two white men looking
after them.”
The dogs were housed at the Battersea
Home for Dogs and Cats. The men spent
one day picking the lead dogs for
Shackleton. He wanted at least one of them
to come on the expedition to oversee the
care of the dogs. Sigurjon and J.B. sent
telegrams home to Gimli to their wives and
received the reply “Come Home!” There
were telegrams to two other Gimli resi-
dents, Sigfus Arason and Gudmundur
Magnusson, but they also declined. It
would be found later that because none of
the Canadians came on the voyage, no one
thought to bring medicine for worms,
causing the death of some of the dogs in
Antarctica.
Sigurjon, J.B. and Jack were treated to
10 days of great accommodation and food
and unlimited sight-seeing—all paid for by
Shackleton. On the day of their departure
for Canada, Shackleton came to see them
off. He presented the three men with
expensive engraved gold watches, in appre-
ciation of their contribution to the expedi-
tion. The Isfeld watch is in the possession
of Donna Isfeld (Sigurjon’s great grand-
daughter) and Kenny Aquin of Sandy
Hook, who are keeping it for Robert Isfeld.
The watch was loaned to the New Iceland
Heritage Museum (NIHM) and put in a
case in the Traveling Exhibit Gallery to
commemorate the International Polar
Year, 2007-2008. The Johnson watch is in
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Sigurjon Isfeld’s white dog team that went with Admiral Byrd in 1933.
PHOTO FROM ISFELD FAMILY ALBUM