Donald MacMillan
Toronto Daily Star, November 21 1927
Donald Baxter MacMillan (1874-1970) started his adult life as a high school teacher. In 1908, he saved the lives of nine shipwrecked people over two days; this led to Robert E. Peary inviting MacMillan to join him on his expedition to the North Pole. MacMillan then travelled extensively in Labrador, studying the Inuit who lived there, and then organized an ill-fated attempt in 1913 to reach Crocker Land, an island supposedly discovered by Peary that turned out not to exist. This expedition was stuck in the Arctic until 1917.
MacMillan undertook over 30 expeditions to the Arctic during his lifetime. In 1935, he married Miriam Look, the daughter of close friends of his; at the time of their marriage, he was 61 and she was 29. She accompanied him on his Arctic expeditions starting in 1937. He last went to the Arctic in 1957, at the age of 82.
Created October 6, 2025.