4 Men Died on This Arctic Island. She Survived Alone

Tales of Life: Ordinary People, Extraordinary True Stories · Oct 2, 2026 · 8m

The true survival story of Ada Blackjack. In September 1921, five people were left on Wrangel Island in the Arctic: four experienced men and a 23-year-old seamstress from Nome, Alaska, who joined for fifty dollars a month because her son was sick. The relief ship never came. Three men walked out across the frozen sea and vanished, the fourth died of scurvy, and Ada, who had never hunted in her life, taught herself to trap, shoot and survive alone. This is her documented story, told from her diary and the expedition's own photographs.

Who in your family kept going when everyone else gave up?…