Exploration Gallery

EXPL2A-00128

Landing of Jean Nicolet on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan, 1634, the first European to reach that region.
Hand-colored halftone of a 19th-century illustration

© North Wind Picture Archives

1600s, 1630s, 1634, 17th Century, Aboriginal, American, Amerindian, Art, Boat, Canada, Canadian, Canoe, Chippewa, Discover, Exploration, Explore, French, French Canada, Great Lakes, Green Bay, Historic, History, Illustration, Indian, Jean Nicolet, Journey, Lake Michigan, Land Claim, Meet, Michigan, Native, Native American, New France, Nicolet, North America, Ojibwa, Ojibwe, Ontario, Ottawa, Territory, Travel, United States, Us A, Vintage, Voyage, Wisconsin

Mariana Islands in the Pacific discovered by Magellan, 1521

The Ladrones, later called the Marianas, and a native outrigger drawn by Pigafetta on the Magellan expedition, 1521.
Hand-colored woodcut reproduction of a 16th-century illustration

© North Wind Picture Archives

1500s, 1521, 16th Century, Adventure, Age Of Discovery, Antonio Pigafetta, Art, Boat, Canoe, Circumnavigate, Circumnavigation, Discover, Drawing, Expedition, Exploration, Explore, Explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, Heritage, Historic, History, Illustration, Island, Journey, Ladrone Islands, Ladrones, Magellan, Map, Mariana Islands, Marianas, Maritime, Navigate, Navigation, Ocean, Outrigger, Outrigger Canoe, Pacific Island, Pacific Ocean, Pigafetta, Portuguese, Sea, Sea Canoe, Sketch, Traditional, Travel, Vintage, Voyage

EXPL2A-00180

Henry Grinnell's ship aground during the search led by Elisha Kent Kane for the lost Sir John Franklin expedition, under the midnight sun, 1853.
Hand-colored engraving from Elisha Kent Kane's published account

© North Wind Picture Archives

1800s, 1850s, 1853, 19th Century, Adventure, Aground, Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Art, Atlantic, Elisha Kent Kane, Expedition, Exploration, Explore, Franklin, Greenland, Grinnell, Henry Grinnell, Historic, History, Illustration, Journey, Kane, Lost, Maritime, Northwest Passage, Ocean, Rescue, Sailing Ship, Sea, Search, Ship, Ship Wreck, Sir John Franklin, Travel, Vintage, Voyage, Wreck