Photo of the Roald Amundsen in Louisbourg Harbour. Credit: Bill O'Shea website.

On July 27, 1932 the viking ship Roald Amundsen docked at the Government wharf in Louisbourg, Nova Scotia after previous stops in Halifax and New York City. This was part of a second challenging trans-Atlantic journey by Captain Gerhard Folgero, who six years earlier proved to the world that it was possible for Vikings to have crossed the Atlantic, an idea that was met with much skepticism at the time.

Folgero was born an explorer. Since the age of 12 he planned to recreate the journey recorded in the sagas of Leif Erikson, who in 997 was said in the sagas to have sailed in an open boat from Iceland to Greenland, and then around Cape Farewell, to Vinland, a yet to be discovered location in North America. Gerhard took the Sagas of Iceland as truth, while many academic scholars dismissed them as works of fantasy. By 1925 Folgero had accumulated enough money to carry out his life's dream, and the work of building his Viking ship began. On April 19th, 1926, he set off, and after a treacherous 8 month journey, landed in Boston harbour, becoming the pride of Norway.

It wouldn't be until the 1960s discovery of the Viking settlement at L'Anse Aux Meadows, Newfoundland by husband/wife team Helge Ingstad (explorer) and Anne Stine Ingstad (archaeologist) that there was indisputable physical evidence of their presence in North America. This site of a temporary settlement, now managed by Parks Canada, remains the only confirmed Norse site, although there have been several attempts to find others, including the fabled Vinland described in the sagas, which is expected to be found in warmer climates to the south where grapes are present.

The first journey was extremely challenging, but after eight months of battling treacherous winds, icebergs and fog he had followed Erikson's path to safely land in Boston Harbour in 1927. For the second journey Folgero built the Roald Amundsen larger, a period ship 60 feet in length,15 feet wide with a draft of 3 1/2 feet, with a crew of six.

During his time in Louisbourg Folgero toured the Fortress site with Mayor Melvin Huntington and George Lewis, then returned to Norway via Greenland and Iceland. This wouldn't be the last of the Roald Amundsen, as Folgero had planned to use the ship to smuggle people from Nazi-occupied Norway to England during World War 2, but was intercepted and interned by the Germans in August of 1940.

We may never know if this was the first time a Viking ship visited this area or if they made their presence known in the past. Without the meticulous records kept by Huntington Louisbourg's role in this important story may have been lost to history.

For more of these types of stories check out the Sydney & Louisbourg Railway Museum's Facebook page, like it, and come visit us this summer in wonderful Lousibourg, NS. https://www.facebook.com/slrailway . The museum has been promoting the history and heritage of Louisbourg and area since 1972.

Chris Bellemore is a history enthusiast in Cape Breton blogging away with reckless abandonment. Do you hold a part of the story?

Related articles:

Swordfish in Louisbourg: https://capebreton.lokol.me/what-louisbourg-was-know-for-swordfishing

Cape Breton lobster: https://capebreton.lokol.me/the-lobster-food-for-thought

The WW2 plane on top of Jerome Mountain, Cape Bretonhttps://capebreton.lokol.me/the-ww2-plane-on-top-of-jerome-mountain-cape-breton

The last schooner in Margaree: https://capebreton.lokol.me/the-last-schooner