Interest in the Frozen North became so great, that a conference of nations was held in Hamburg, Germany, in 1879, to discuss plans by means of which knowledge of that part of the world might be advanced. Eleven countries were represented, and it was decided to send out expeditions and establish stations for the purpose of making scientific observations. Fifteen expeditions were sent out by different countries, and fourteen stations were established. These stations were known as the International Circumpolar stations, and their work was to be coöperative.

The United States decided to establish two stations, one at Point Barrow, Alaska, and the other in Lady Franklin bay. The command of the expedition to Point Barrow was given to Lieutenant Ray. Adolphus Washington Greely, a lieutenant in the United States Army, was offered command of the other, and when the enterprise was made national in 1881, he accepted the commission.

The arrangements necessary for the journey were soon made, and Greely and his companions sailed on the Proteus to Newfoundland. They left that island on July 7, 1881, and headed for the north. The Proteus sailed through Davis strait and Baffin bay, passing the wonderful “bird cliffs,” which rise perpendicularly for over a thousand feet out of the sea, and are broken only by narrow ledges. Neither Eskimo nor animal can reach these rocks, and here, safe from harm, the birds lay their eggs and hatch out their young by the tens of thousands. Greely’s men shot many birds and secured hundreds of eggs.

The Proteus passed through Smith sound and Kennedy channel, and reached Lady Franklin bay in safety. She anchored at last in Discovery bay, on the coast of Grinnell land, where Greely and his men went ashore to select a place suitable for a camp, to be named Fort Conger. Then the Proteus steamed away, leaving a small company of men alone in the Arctic solitude. But they were too busy to feel lonely, and began to work hard in order to make a comfortable home for themselves. The house was built of wood covered with tarred paper, and stations for the instruments were erected near at hand.

The cliffs around Discovery harbor rise from a hundred to a thousand feet in height and nearly surround the bay, which contains about twenty square miles of ice floe. Game was plentiful. Large flocks of eider ducks visited an open pool near by, and herds of musk oxen were to be seen in the distance, grazing quietly. The Arctic summer was at its height, and the slopes were covered with grasses, mosses, and buttercups.

Under the direction of Lieutenant Greely, the men took observations, explored the country, and built depots. The depots were built at convenient distances from Fort Conger, and were stored with supplies of food for the use of exploring parties. At last so much had been accomplished that Greely thought he might safely leave the camp and try to reach the interior of Grinnell land.

With three companions he started from Fort Conger, April 26, 1882, traveling over ice which was in good condition, so that the party moved rapidly. Greely found that two openings along the coast, which he had supposed to be bays, were large fiords. Here he came upon layers of remarkably clear fresh-water ice. It was deep blue in color and contrasted beautifully with the opaque white ice of the ocean floes. Without doubt a river or glacier emptied into the fiord. Magnificent mountain peaks round about rose to heights of thousands of feet above the sea level, and through the valleys, which were bare of snow, there were frequent traces of the musk ox, the fox, and the hare.

A sharp turn brought the party to a large icebound lake about five hundred square miles in area, which Greely named Lake Hazen. To the north rose ranges of mountains, snow-covered and majestic, known as the Garfield range; beyond these lay the United States range, also snow-covered.

The next day Lake Hazen was crossed and a beautiful glacier discovered. It was five miles wide, and rose perpendicularly one hundred and seventy-five feet out of the lake. Greely named it the Henrietta Nesmith glacier, in honor of his wife.

The top of this glacier was white, like unpolished marble. Lower down, the ice shaded into a bluish color, growing more delicate as it reached the foot, where it became white, with yellow and rose-colored tinges. There were three deep gullies or channels in the glacier, through which a torrent had evidently rushed at some time; and, strange as it may seem, the hills and slopes next it were covered with plants, lichens, willows, and Arctic poppies. In the valleys there was enough vegetation to serve as pasture for musk oxen and other animals. The interior of Grinnell land was a pleasant country, and Greely felt sorry to leave it and return to the coast. He had discovered and explored a large tract of land never before visited by civilized men.

In June, 1882, Greely went again to the interior of Grinnell land. This time he discovered a number of small lakes, connected by streams with Lake Hazen.

He also made the ascent of a mountain forty-five hundred feet in height. When he had climbed within half a mile of the top he was so tired that he felt he must give up. To urge himself onward, he kept throwing his field glasses ahead of him, and crawling on his hands and knees to the spot where they were. At last he could advance only fifty steps at a time, but he persevered and reached the top, to which he gave the name Mount Arthur. It is in all probability the highest peak in Grinnell land, and from its summit Greely saw the entire island spread out like a map before him. North of Lake Hazen rose the snow-clad mountains, extending range beyond range. A like view met his eye as he surveyed the country to the south, while in the interior he was gazing upon fertile valleys dotted with lakes, which supported herds of musk oxen.

Greely spent only twenty minutes on the top of Mount Arthur. The temperature was far below zero, and he was in danger of freezing. When he began to descend, he decided to slide down a precipice a hundred feet in height, in order to save a long walk around the snowdrifts. Luckily he landed in the soft snow. At the foot of the mountain Greely met his companions, and they returned all together to Fort Conger, well pleased with their journey.

The next year Lieutenant Lockwood crossed Grinnell land, and on the western coast discovered a large fiord which he named Greely fiord. Both north and south of this region were large ice caps, which constantly discharged glaciers into the lakes and fiords. At Lake Hazen, as well as at many other places on the island, abandoned Eskimo huts were found, showing that the Eskimos had at one time occupied the island; and many relics of these people were collected, among them a stone lamp, a bone spear-head, and a sledge. But at this time the island was entirely uninhabited.