On this date in 1929, the Secretary of War asked the Army to search for famed North Dakota aviator Carl Ben Eielson and Earl Borland, his mechanic. The two men were missing somewhere in northern Alaska or off the Siberian coast. The Secretary had received a telegram from leading citizens of Nome, Alaska. They informed him that a private search party was unsuccessful, and the expedition’s plane crashed. They needed more help.
Eielson was known as pioneer, explorer, and hero. As a young man, he had enlisted in the newly formed aviation branch of the US Signal Corps. World War I ended while he was still in training. He received his commission as second lieutenant and was discharged on the same day. When he accepted a teaching position in Fairbanks, Alaska, he realized how important aviation could be to the region, and he was instrumental in establishing airmail service to the interior.
He and explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins were the first men to fly over both the North and South Poles. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the feat and won the 1928 Harmon Trophy for the greatest American aviation feat of the year. He was the first pilot to land on and take off from Arctic drift ice.
With Eielson’s extensive Arctic experience, he was tapped to mount a rescue operation for a cargo ship. The Nanuk was stranded in Siberian ice. The shipowners asked Eielson to rescue the passengers and crew and recover a million dollars’ worth of fur cargo. Eielson took off from the northeastern coast of Alaska in a blizzard. His plane never reached the ship.
Eielson’s disappearance was international news. Canadians joined the hunt. Searchers enlisted the aid of Siberian reindeer herders. The Soviet Union sent a search plane. It wasn’t until February 1930 that an international ground and air search found the wreckage of Eielson’s plane on an island off the Siberian coast. The bodies of Eielson and Borland were recovered and returned to the United States.
Eielson continued to receive accolades after his death, becoming the first person to receive North Dakota’s Roughrider Award. And in 1985, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
Dakota Datebook written by Carole Butcher
Sources:
Bismarck Tribune. “Secretary Wilbur Asks Army to Help Locate Ben Eielson.” Bismarck ND. 12/1/1929. Page 1.
Evening Star. “Canadian Planes Tested.” Washington DC. 12/29/29. Page 20.
Indianapolis Times. “Soviets Lend Aid.” Indianapolis IN. 12/26/1929. Page 5.
Explore North. “Carl Ben Eielson, Alaska Aviation Pioneer.” http://www.explorenorth.com/library/bios/eielson-carl_ben.html Accessed 12/1/2020.
North Dakota Office of the Governor. “Carl Ben Eielson.” https://www.governor.nd.gov/theodore-roosevelt-rough-rider-award/carl-ben-eielson Accessed 12/1/2020.
