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November/December 2000 issue	In this issue Table of Contents Editor’s Notebook The Inside Story Feature: Alert, Nunavut À la carte Curious by nature Reverberations

On Alert | Northern Shortcut | Alert facts | Alert in brief | Links

Approximately 4,000 years ago: For centuries, people of the Independence Inuit culture (named for Independence Fiord in Greenland) inhabits the vicinity of present-day Alert. The culture is known for its beautiful, finely chipped flint tools.

Approximately 2,000 years ago: Early Dorset peoples inhabit the region.

Approximately 1,000 years ago: Thule Inuit live in or pass through an area even further north than Alert, presumably to hunt for sea resources, such as bowhead whales.

1871-1873: A U.S. expedition led by Charles Francis Hall reaches the northern mouth of Robeson Channel, but doesn’t get as far as Alert. Hall died during the winter of 1871-72.

1875-1876: First direct observations of the area. Sir George Nares commanded HMS Alert, the flagship of the British expedition to the North Pole. Alert is the first vessel to land on the north shores of Ellesmere Island.

1881-1884: The U.S. expedition to Lady Franklin Bay explores inland features as part of the International Geophysical Year.

1898-1909: Several parties pass through the Alert area during Robert E. Peary’s three expeditions to the North Pole.

1920: A Norweigan sledge party sets out fuel and food caches for Roald Amundsen’s proposed trans-polar flight. They were never used for that purpose, but 30 years after deposited, the food rations were still edible.

1949: Alert named for Nares’ ship. Establishment of a weather station was postponed for a year because of other commitments by the US Air Force and unfavourable ice conditions, which kept supply ships from getting any further than Resolute Bay.

1950: On Easter Sunday, the first aircraft lands in the area and Alert is born as a joint Canadian-U.S. weather station. The first weather reports are sent out July 1.

1956: Becomes an RCAF experimental wireless station.

1958: Canadian military takes over Alert and establishes it as the Alert Wireless Station.

1964: Bjorn Staib of Norway is one of the first to attempt an expedition to the North Pole from Alert. He is not successful.

1965: First flush toilets in Alert.

1966: CFS Alert becomes an operational unit of the Canadian Forces Supplementary Radio System, which handles signals intelligence and geolocation and support for search and rescue operations. Throughout the 1960s, Alert’s role expands, providing information to the Canadian Communication Research Programme of the National Research Council.

1971: The radio-meteorological station at Alert becomes a solely Canadian operation. Personnel also provide year-round support for seismological monitoring and operate a super-neutron monitor for Atomic Energy of Canada. Also that year, Italian businessman Guido Monzino leads 27 men to the pole in an attempt to recreate Peary’s expedition.

1973: Military takes over Alert Weather Station duties.

1978: Naomi Uemura of Japan becomes the first man to reach the pole alone.

1979: Energy, Mines and Resources runs the LOREX (for Lomonosov Ridge Experiment) to study the underwater mountain range from the Continental Shelf off Ellesmere to Greenland.

1980: First women are stationed at Alert for six-month postings.

1983: The CESAR project looks at the Alpha Ridge, another underwater mountain range.

1988: Ellesmere Island National Park Reserve established.

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