Born as a Newfoundlander and already explorer by heart, Robert Bartlett draw his first breath on 28th of April 1875.
His parents were William James Bartlett and Mary J. Leamon and Robert was the oldest of the ten children that they had. The family tradition was seafaring and by the time he was 17 he already started to feel his love for the coldest place on earth, the Arctic.
Judging by the magnitude of his work, people must take off their hats and salute this sea captain, for he spent more than 50 years mapping the ice cold waters of the far North with more than 40 expeditions, more than anyone else had ever dared to endure.
The North is a dangerous place for the untrained for when the cold of winter comes there is no escape from the snowing blizzards.
But not for this sea captain. Robert was a stubborn man and refused to give up. In 1914, Bartlett led his team on the Karluk Expedition which was unfortunately doomed.
And once again Robert stood up as a hero. An Inuit hunter named Kataktovik and Bartlett walked for 700 miles over the Chukchi Sea, which was solid ice, and all across Siberia in order to save his comrades on Wrangel Island.
For this quest Robert was awarded from the Royal Geographic Society. But the heroism doesn’t end here.
Bartlett proved once again that he was up to the title of real-world hero. In 1917, Robert put end to the suffering that the Crocker Land expedition was experiencing. Bartlett saved all those people that were trapped for more than four years.
His journeys even include tasks such as mapping the arctic for the Government of the United States of America during WWII.
It comes as no surprise that the reason for his death was pneumonia. But for such a dangerous and adventure seeking life, it is a surprise that he lived to be 70 years old.
He drew his last breath in a hospital in New York. By his wish, he was buried in his hometown, Brigus.