Christian Theodore Pedersen (23 December 1876 – 20 June 1969) was a Norwegian-American seaman,

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

captain and

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

r active in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, Canada, and the northern

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

from the 1890s to the 1930s. He was called "one of the canniest old skippers in the western arctic" by a contemporary.

Biography

Pedersen, known as Theodore to his friends and usually as C.T. Pedersen for business, was born 23 December 1876 in

Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. He left on his first whaling voyage at age 17; by 1908 he was captain of the

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

''Challenge'' which wintered in the arctic at

Herschel Island Herschel Island (; Inuvialuktun: ) is an island in the Beaufort Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean), which lies off the coast of Yukon in Canada, of which it is administratively a part. Part of the Arctic Archipelago, it is Yukon's only large of ...

. He was captain of the schooner ''Elvira'' in 1912. Pedersen was associated with the early stages of the

Canadian Arctic Expedition Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

under

Vilhjalmur Stefansson Vilhjalmur Stefansson (November 3, 1879 – August 26, 1962) was an Arctic explorer and ethnologist. He was born in Manitoba, Canada. Early life and education Stefansson, born William Stephenson, was born at Arnes, Manitoba, Canada, in 1879. ...

whom he had known since 1906. He helped select the steam brigantine ''Karluk'' for the expedition and sailed it from

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. He resigned before the ship was outfitted and was replaced by Robert Bartlett. Pedersen then returned to the ''Elvira'' for whaling and trading in the arctic in 1913. In August 1913, the ''Elvira'' was frozen in and damaged by ice near Icy Reef west of Demarcation Point on Alaska's Arctic coast (east of

Kaktovik Kaktovik (; , ) is a city in North Slope Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 283 at the 2020 census. History Until the late nineteenth century, Barter Island was a major trade center for the Inupiat and was especially importa ...

and west of the Canada–United States border). The ship was further damaged by a storm to the point that Pedersen and her crew were forced to abandon her and seek refuge aboard the ''Belvedere''. Pedersen and Olaf Swenson of the ''Belvedere'' traveled overland by foot and

dogsled A dog sled or dog sleigh is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow, a practice known as mushing. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function. They can be used for dog sled racing. Tradi ...

to Fairbanks to carry news and arrange relief supplies for the crews on the ''Belvedere''. Sources differ on whether Pederson was owner as well as captain of the ''Elvira''. Pedersen then signed on as captain of the whaling and trading ship ''Herman'' for the H. Liebes Company of

. The 1914 voyage of the ''Herman'' was the subject of a motion picture by Dr. L. Lawrence, a videotape copy of which is held by the

University of Alaska The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-, sea-, and space-grant research university in College, Alaska, United States, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was e ...

. In the course of this voyage, the ''Herman'' picked up Captain Robert Bartlett at Emma Harbor,

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and transported him to St. Michael, Alaska where Bartlett transmitted to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

the news that the ''Karluk'' had been crushed in the ice and the survivors were marooned on

Wrangel Island Wrangel Island (, ; , , ) is an island of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. It is the List of islands by area, 92nd-largest island in the world and roughly the size of Crete. Located in the Arctic Ocean between the Chukchi Sea and East Si ...

off the northern coast of

. Pedersen married May Olive Jordan (5/11/1893-4/22/1982), a Canadian nurse, in 1920. Subsequently, she accompanied him on many Arctic trips and provided medicines and health services to the natives at their stops. They had one son, Charles. Pedersen had several children from previous relationships including sons Ted and Walter who were well-known Alaskans. USCSGS Carlile P

Pedersen resigned from H. Liebes Company in 1923 and went into business on his own account with the schooner '' Ottilie Fjord'', which was refitted with an engine and operated as the motor schooner ''Nanuk'' in 1924 and 1925. The business was incorporated as the Northern Whaling and Trading Company. A Canadian subsidiary, the Canalaska Trading Company, operated two small trading schooners with the goods transferred at Herschel Island. The company established trading posts throughout the Kitikmeot region of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. After 1925 the ''Nanuk'' was replaced by the larger ''

Patterson Patterson may refer to: People * Patterson (surname) * Patterson family Places ;Australia * Patterson railway station ;Canada * Pattersons Corners, Ontario * Patterson Township, Ontario * Patterson, Calgary a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta. ...

'', formerly a USCGS survey ship. The ''Nanuk'' was sold to the Swenson Fur Trading Company in 1927. Besides establishing fixed trading posts, Pederson developed a strategy of offering small schooners for trappers. These were built to order in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and carried to the arctic on the Patterson. The last of these schooners, ''North Star of Herschel Island'', delivered in 1936, is now in private hands in

. Canalaska was sold to the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

in 1936; Pedersen retired from the sea but continued to be involved in the fur trade as a business owner. Pedersen's trading voyage in 1935 was filmed by his son Ted and videotapes derived from that film are in the collection of the

. That archive also has a substantial collection of Pedersen's business records. Pedersen was killed by intruders in his Pacifica,

San Mateo County San Mateo County ( ), officially the County of San Mateo, is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 764,442. Redwood City, California, Redwood City is th ...

, California home on 20 June 1969. His wife was also beaten; she survived but sustained severe injuries and did not live independently again. Two escaped convicts found hiding on the premises were arrested in the crime.Los Angeles Times

Notes

References

* Alaska State Library ''Ted Pedersen Photograph Collection, 1910-1988'' Historical Collections PCA 377
Collection description (.doc format)
includes biographical information on both C.T. Pedersen and his son Ted Pedersen (1905–1990)
Some photos from the collection at Alaska Digital Archives
* Browness, E. Rendle "History of the Early Mink People in Canada

accessed 5/28/2010. * * Breynat, Gabriel (1955) translated by Alan Gordon Smith
Of The Winds Fifty Years In The Arctic Regions''
P. J. Kenedy & Sons, NY, pp 183–184. * California Death Record
at Rootsweb
Search ''Pederson'' with death place San Mateo (California records are by county); this gives first name as ''Christia'', sex M, death date 6/20/1969; click the SSN to confirm with Social Security index which lists as ''PEDERSEN, CHRISTIAN'' . * Consortium Library, Archives and Special Collections Department, University of Alaska, Anchorage / Alaska Pacific University; ** (a

Accessed April 27, 2009; ** (b

accessed April 26, 2009 * Diubaldo, Richard J
''Stefansson and the Canadian Arctic''
McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 1998 pp70, 79, 104 * Downes, P.br>"Prentice Downs eastern arctic journal 1936, edited and introduced by R.H. Cockburn."
''Arctic 36'' (3) 232-250 1983. Downes is quoting an old arctic hand he terms the "Mad Major". accessed April 27, 2009. * Jenness, Stuart Edward.
''The Making of an Explorer:''
''

George Hubert Wilkins Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC & Bar (31 October 188830 November 1958), commonly referred to as Captain Wilkins, was an Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer. He was awarded the Military Cross afte ...

and the Canadian Arctic Expedition, 1913-1916.'' McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 2004, pp6, 66, 142. accessed April 26, 2009. * Kitikmeot Heritage Society
''C. T. Pedersen and Canalaska''
accessed April 26, 2009. * ''Los Angeles Times'' June 22, 1969, page AA

*Macdonald, Sheila and Bruce Macdonald ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090505115532/http://www.northstarofherschelisland.com/history ''A Brief History of North Star of Herschel Island''accessed April 27, 2009 * Minerals Management Service, U.S. Department of Interior. "Shipwrecks off Alaska's coast" accessed April 26, 2009 query Elvira. Updated re

- download the pd

here or from the link on the top line of the page. * Query Pedersen. * ''Social Security Death Index'' (Social Security Administration
at Rootsweb
* Stefansson, Vilhjalmu
''The Friendly Arctic''
McMillan, NY, 1922 P 270 * Swenson, Olaf. ''Northwest of the World.'' Dodd Mead, NY, 1944, pp 103–119. * Tacoma Public Library
"Ships and Shipping Database"
accessed April 28, 2009. ** (a.) query Elvira. This source quotes Gordon Newell, "Maritime Events of 1913," ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', p. 230. ** (b.) query Nanuk. This source quotes Gordon Newell, "Maritime Events of 1933," ''H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest'', p. 423.

External links

Captain Christian Theodore Pedersen and the Arctic Fur Trade
Sven Johansson, with contributions from John MacFarlane, 1990; Nauticapedia.ca (Biographical sketch of Pedersen with information not available elsewhere, cites unpublished Pedersen papers in Johansson's collection. Captain Johansson was the restorer of ''North Star of Herschel Island'', which he purchased in 1967, and Captained John Bockstoce's ''Belvedere'' in its traverse of the Northwest Passage.) see als
Pedersen, Christian Theodore
Accessed August 6, 2011, December 5, 2011.
C.T. Pedersen photo collection at the Glenbow Museum
* Yukon Department of Tourism and Cultur

Article in French; fourth photograph is the ''Patterson'' at Pauline Cove, Herschel Island, also has a photograph of the Northern Whaling & Trading Co. warehouse.
"A race for a fortune"
''Popular Mechanics'' July 1927 pp 69–73. Includes a sketch of the ''Nanuk'' and a discussion of the unofficial but hotly contested race between the fur trading ships to the Arctic and back. Pedersen a source and the principal subject.

Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean, mostly late 19th early 20th centuries; context, references about the period. At ExploreNorth. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Christian Theodore History of the Arctic American fur traders Sea captains People from the Territory of Alaska Norwegian people in whaling 1876 births 1969 deaths Norwegian emigrants to the United States People from Sandefjord People from Pacifica, California People from Alameda County, California History of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading

External links