Francis Joseph Fitzgerald (12 April 1869 – 11 February 1911) was a Canadian who became a celebrated

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...

veteran and the first commander of the Royal North-West Mounted Police detachment at Herschel Island in the

Western Arctic Northwest Territories (french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada. The electoral district covers the entire territory. This riding was created in 1962 from Mackenzie River ...

(1903). From December 1910 until February 1911, he led a mail patrol from

Fort McPherson Fort McPherson was a U.S. Army military base located in Atlanta, Georgia, bordering the northern edge of the city of East Point, Georgia. It was the headquarters for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Southeast Region; the U.S. A ...

southward to

Dawson City Dawson City, officially the City of Dawson, is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest town in Yuko ...

. When the patrol did not arrive in time, a search party, led by Corporal William Dempster, was sent from Dawson City and found the bodies of Fitzgerald and the other patrol members. The trip became known as " The Lost Patrol" and as "one of

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

’s greatest tragedies." File:BridgeHalifaxPublicGardenHalifaxNovaScotia.jpg, Francis Fitzgerald Bridge,

Halifax Public Gardens The Halifax Public Gardens are Victorian-era public gardens formally established in 1867, the year of Canadian Confederation. The gardens are located in the Halifax, Nova Scotia on the Halifax Peninsula near the popular shopping district of Spri ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

(1911) File:FitzgeraldBridgePlaquePublicGardensHalifaxNovaScotia.jpg, Francis Fitzgerald Bridge Plaque File:FortMcPhersonNWT.JPG, Tomb for "The Lost Patrol",

Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories Fort McPherson ( Gwich'in: ''Teetł'it Zheh'' , ''at the head of the waters'') is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located on the east bank of the Peel River and is south of Inuvik on the Demps ...

(right of the flagpole) File:dempster 2769.jpg,

Dempster Highway The Dempster Highway, also referred to as Yukon Highway 5 and Northwest Territories Highway 8, is a highway in Canada that connects the Klondike Highway in Yukon to Inuvik, Northwest Territories on the Mackenzie River delta. The highway crosses ...

, south of

Inuvik Inuvik (''place of man'') is the only town in the Inuvik Region, and the third largest community in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located in what is sometimes called the Beaufort Delta Region, it serves as its administrative and service ce ...

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

, named after Inspector Dempster who found "The Lost Patrol" File:Dempsterhighway.jpg, Dempster Highway near the

Richardson Mountains The Richardson Mountains are a mountain range located west of the mouth of the Mackenzie River in northern Yukon, Canada. They parallel the northernmost part of the boundary between Yukon and Northwest Territories. Although some sources conside ...

References

External links

Officer Down Memorial Page - RCMP
*
Canadian Biography Online - Fitzgerald

The Lost Patrol - Virtual Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Francis Joseph 1869 births 1911 deaths Canadian military personnel of the Second Boer War Canadian police officers killed in the line of duty Disasters in Yukon Military history of Nova Scotia People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers

See also

References

External links