# Henry Eld
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thumb|right|Photo believed to show Lieut. Henry Eld
'''Henry Eld''' (June 2, 1814—March 12, 1850) was a United States Navy officer, geographer, and Antarctic explorer.
==Biography==
Eld was born in [Cedar Hill](/source/Cedar_Hill_(New_Haven)), [New Haven, Connecticut](/source/New_Haven%2C_Connecticut), on June 2, 1814,[{{Cite web |url=http://images.lib.uconn.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Fcho&CISOPTR=16457&DMSCALE=100.00000&DMWIDTH=750&DMHEIGHT=807.121771218&DMMODE=viewer&DMFULL=0&DMOLDSCALE=2.05733&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=%2520new%2520haven%2520map&DMTHUMB=1&REC=9&DMROTATE=0&x=104&y=43 |title=Map of where Henry Eld's house was in Cedar Hill |access-date=2010-06-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720073735/http://images.lib.uconn.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=%2Fcho&CISOPTR=16457&DMSCALE=100.00000&DMWIDTH=750&DMHEIGHT=807.121771218&DMMODE=viewer&DMFULL=0&DMOLDSCALE=2.05733&DMX=0&DMY=0&DMTEXT=%20new%20haven%20map&DMTHUMB=1&REC=9&DMROTATE=0&x=104&y=43 |archive-date=2011-07-20 |url-status=dead }}] and lived in the area now known as View Street, but when it started becoming more populated he removed his house and relocated.
thumb|right|''Encampment After the "Peacock's" Wreck, at Mouth of Columbia, 1841'' by Lieut. Eld
Eld served as a [geographer](/source/geographer) on the ship ''Peacock'', on the ship ''Vincennes'' at [Fiji](/source/Fiji), and joined [Lieutenant George Emmons's](/source/George_F._Emmons) overland journey through [Oregon](/source/Oregon) and California (while in California he was involved in the [Mexican War](/source/Mexican%E2%80%93American_War)). He produced 43 maps and 42 pencil sketches of the land between the Columbia River and the Sacramento Valley.
Passed Midshipman Eld was one of the officers of the [United States Exploring Expedition](/source/United_States_Exploring_Expedition) under Capt. [Charles Wilkes](/source/Charles_Wilkes) in 1838 and 1842 in search of the [Antarctic continent](/source/Antarctica), which Eld first descried and called out land from the crosstree of the sloop ''Peacock'' on January 16, 1840. From this the United States dates the first discovery of the Antarctic continent, and Capt. Wilkes named the highest mountain peak [Eld Peak](/source/Eld_Peak) (which is part of what was later named the [Lazarev Mountains](/source/Lazarev_Mountains%2C_Antarctica)).[[https://archive.org/stream/collectionsofnew00newha#page/14/mode/2up/search/henry+eld Collections of the New Haven Colony Historical Society], New Haven, Connecticut] They proved that the Antarctic was a continent (Eld was the first to see the Antarctic mountains at a crucial stage of their survey of the ice fields). On January 10, 1840, Eld was part of a two-man landing party to investigate [Macquarie Island](/source/Macquarie_Island), one of the first men to do so. Splitting with his quarter-master, he explored a [penguin](/source/penguin) rookery alone, and was surprised by resistance the birds gave him.[Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition”, Wilkes, Charles, vol 2, p.288-9. 1845] Eld kept journals and sketch books of the [Wilkes Expedition](/source/Wilkes_Expedition), accompanied by letters, reports and orders, documenting his personal and professional life.[Henry Eld, ''Journal, Statistics, &c., in Oregon and California'', MSS, in [Yale University Library](/source/Yale_University_Library).]
Specimens were collected during the expedition - fifty thousand plants, and over 7 thousand mineral specimens, 3 thousand insects, innumerable shells, fish, reptiles, mammals, and hundreds of tribal artifacts- all these became scientific treasure.
Also, [Eld Inlet](/source/Eld_Inlet) of [Puget Sound](/source/Puget_Sound) in [Washington state](/source/Washington_state) was named after Eld by Capt. Wilkes during the United States Exploring Expedition, to honor him.[{{cite book |last= Phillips |first= James W. |title= Washington State Place Names |url= https://archive.org/details/washingtonstatep00phil |url-access= registration |year= 1971 |publisher= University of Washington Press |isbn= 0-295-95158-3 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/washingtonstatep00phil/page/19 19], 44}}][{{cite web | url=http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/permitting/historic/docs/Place-Names.pdf | title=Thurston County Place Names: A Heritage Guide | publisher=Thurston County Historical Commission | date=1992 | accessdate=28 March 2018 | pages=23 | archive-date=24 March 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324163309/https://www.co.thurston.wa.us/permitting/historic/docs/Place-Names.pdf | url-status=dead }}]
Henry Eld died at sea on board U. S. ship of war ''Ohio'' on March 12, 1850, bound home from [Rio de Janeiro](/source/Rio_de_Janeiro) after a {{frac|3|1|2}}-year cruise.
==Tributes==
A Sailor's Poem written in memory of Henry Eld's passing in 1854:[[https://archive.org/stream/oceanmelodiessea54stow#page/162/mode/2up/search/eld ''Ocean melodies, and seamen's companion: a collection of hymns and music: for the use of Bethels, chaplains of the Navy, and private devotion of mariners''] (1854)]
"...''thrice had weary sickness laid him low''
''Upon the troubled couch of feverish pain —''
''And days and nights of anguish measured slow''
''Their length upon the prostrate sufferer's chain;''
''Yet oft bright visions to his heart would come''..."
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/dl_crosscollex/SearchExecXC.asp?srchtype=&curpage=2 Photos of some sketches by Henry Eld]
* [https://archive.org/stream/narrativeofunite00wilkrich#page/n3/mode/2up ''Narrative of the United States' exploring expedition, during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842''] (1845), Wilkes, Charles (1798–1877)
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eld, Henry}}
Category:United States Navy officers
Category:Sailors from Connecticut
Category:19th-century American geographers
Category:American explorers of Antarctica
Category:Military personnel from New Haven, Connecticut
Category:1814 births
Category:1850 deaths
Category:People of the United States Exploring Expedition
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Henry Eld](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Eld) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Eld?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.