The Vermilion Man Who Survived Antarctica

For most people who met Hugh Evans as he walked down the street in Vermilion in the 1950s and 1960s, they would have never known he was part of history. From 1898 to 1900, he was part of the Southern Cross expedition to Antarctica. This was the first British venture to the continent and led directly to Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton’s attempts a few years later.

He said, “We sailed from a London port early in 1898. A large crowd gathered to bid us goodbye and good luck. There were 10 in the party that went ashore from the ship to explore the ice masses.”

The two years was spent cataloguing flora and fauna. Their camp was a series of small hunts made from lumber cut in Norway and transported down.

During his time with the expedition, Evans survived plunges into hidden crevasses, and one time was lost for five hours in a blizzard. He also dealt with -50 Celsius temperatures and winds that pushed 150 kilometres per hour.

The last surviving member of the expedition by the time the 1960s came along, he escaped death many times.

He said, “The blizzards were intense, with snow and cold. I remember once I went about 200 yards away from camp to inspect instruments we were using for temperatures and magnetic readings. I was gone only a few minutes but I was lost in the blizzard in that short time.”

He was supposed to go on the Scott Expedition a decade later but he was unable to go. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as many people died on that expedition. As for why he moved to Vermilion, Evans decided that he wanted to be in a place that was peaceful and away from the rest of the world.

He had first visited the area in 1891 when he met many of the local First Nations. He then came to Canada and Edmonton in 1901 where he met his wife. They wanted to live somewhere away from large populations and that was why they chose Vermilion.

As Evans said, “It was out of the way.”

They started ranching along the Vermilion River but eventually moved to a live in town in 1942.

When asked if he would do the expedition again if he lived the life over, he said, “Definitely.”

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