This week on Dave Does History on Bill Mick Live, we cracked open a story colder than the North Atlantic—how the United States once laid claim to a slice of Greenland, and how that claim melted under pressure… and ice.
Back in 1891, famed American explorer Robert E. Peary mapped what he believed was a channel separating the northern tip of Greenland (dubbed Peary Land) from the mainland. That error led to a bold whisper: perhaps this part of Greenland isn’t connected to Denmark at all. The U.S. didn’t outright annex it, but the idea floated long enough to irritate the Danes.
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Denmark responded with Arctic boots on the ground. The Danmark Expedition (1906–1908), led by Ludwig Mylius-Erichsen, set out to confirm that Greenland was one whole island. But tragedy struck. Mylius-Erichsen and his team vanished. Their diaries, charts, and fate were swallowed by the Arctic.
“To map Greenland is to wrestle with a ghost. It appears one way, then another. Truth is what survives the frost.”
— Anonymous surveyor’s journal, early 20th century
Enter Ejnar Mikkelsen, the Danish explorer with ice in his veins and patriotism in his heart. In 1909, he set out to recover the lost maps. His ship got trapped. His crew abandoned him. But Mikkelsen and his young mechanic Iver Iversen endured—trekking 500 miles, surviving frostbite and starvation, and proving the Peary Channel didn’t exist.
They were stranded for two full winters, living in a shack made from their ship’s wreckage. Rescued in 1912, they returned as heroes. Greenland was one island, and Denmark’s claim was solid.
Sometimes history hinges on paperwork. Other times, it hinges on two half-frozen men dragging sleds across a white wasteland. Either way, this week we learned that you shouldn’t plant a flag based on guesswork—and that maps can lie, but ice never does.
Catch the full episode on iHeartRadio, Spotify, or wherever your ears do their exploring.
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