In 1902, Rasmussen went to Greenland in the so-called "literary expedition" led by Danish journalist Ludwig Myulius-Erichsen. The aim of the expedition was to explore the life and culture of the Greenland Eskimos, and burn their folklore. The expedition lasted until September 1904, with the first travelers remained in West Greenland, and then crossed the ice on dogs Melville Bay.
Knud Rasmussen made another trip to Greenland in 1905, and then in 1906-1908. The funds collected in advance in Denmark, he founded near Cape York trading post and named it in honor of the legendary Thule island. It was assumed that its existence will ease the plight of the indigenous people of Greenland. Factoria buying merchandise related to hunting, mainly polar fox pelts, and sold weapons, fuel, food and other goods. He led the trading post until his death. In 1920, the factory was officially annexed to Denmark and became an official representative Rasmussen of Denmark in Tula.
In the future, Rasmussen participated in the so-called seven expeditions to Thule, the purpose of which was to examine the west coast of Greenland. First Thule Expedition (1912) began in Tula, first moving along the coast to the north to the village of This, then Rasmussen and his comrades turned east and crossed the ice shelf in less than a month, going to the east coast of the island. Around Independence Fjord he discovered the remains of an Eskimo settlement, the former the most northerly settlement on the land. Relevant archaeological culture called culture Independence. Second Thule Expedition (1916-1917) started from Nuuk and explored the far north of the island, wintered in Tula. The expedition mapped the north and north-west coast of Greenland and conducted archaeological and biological research. The third expedition took place without the participation of the Thule Rasmussen, and the fourth (1921), was an ethnographic.
During the fifth expedition (1921-1922) Rasmussen crossed the ice of the North-West Passage and across Canada reached Alaska. During the studies he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society. In 1931, The sixth expedition, during which Rasmussen engine bot sailed along the east coast of Greenland, on the southern tip of the island to the Angmagsalika studying the abandoned settlement of Greenlanders. Finally, the seventh Thule Expedition (1932-1933) was sponsored by the Danish Government, and its aim was to create topographic maps of south-eastern Greenland, as well as geological and biological research. In the expedition was attended by over 100 people.
December 21, 1933 Knud Rasmussen died in Copenhagen from the effects of poisoning which occurred in Greenland in the autumn of that year, at the end of the seventh expedition.
Source: http://www.people.su/91936
