20 Incredible Historical Explorers Who Got Lost For Good
Explorers Who Never Made It Home
Exploration has always involved a certain amount of risk, but some expeditions ended with something much more unsettling than a difficult journey: nobody came back. Over the centuries, explorers have disappeared in frozen wildernesses, remote islands, vast oceans, and places where reliable maps were little more than wishful thinking. In some cases, later discoveries provided clues about what happened, while others left behind only fragments, rumors, and unanswered questions.
1. Sir John Franklin Disappeared in the Arctic
Sir John Franklin’s disappearance during his 1845 expedition in search of the Northwest Passage remains one of exploration history’s most intriguing mysteries. Franklin led two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, through the Canadian Arctic before they became trapped in ice. Search parties later discovered evidence of the doomed expedition, but exactly how every member died remains uncertain.
2. George Bass Vanished Somewhere at Sea
George Bass was one of several English naval surgeons turned explorers credited with discovering the unique geography surrounding Australia during the eighteenth century. After developing a reputation sailing the Pacific coast of Australia, Bass departed from Australia in 1803 in an attempt to reach South America aboard the Venus. He never arrived.
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3. Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real Never Returned
Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real disappeared on separate expeditions to North America during the early sixteenth century. Gaspar sailed toward Newfoundland and disappeared in 1501, leading his brother Miguel to attempt to rescue him with another expedition. Miguel also vanished two years later while searching for his brother.
Lorraine Boissoneault on Wikimedia
4. La Pérouse Disappeared in the Pacific
French explorer Jean-François de La Pérouse launched his expedition into the Pacific in 1785 full of ambition and geographic curiosity. His ships visited numerous locations before reaching the Pacific islands and Australia, after which communication with Europe stopped. For decades, nobody knew what had happened to the expedition, until clues eventually emerged from the wreckage of the ships on Vanikoro in the Solomon Islands.
Geneviève Brossard de Beaulieu on Wikimedia
5. Henry Hudson Was Abandoned in the Bay
Henry Hudson gained experience exploring before his ill-fated final expedition in 1610. While seeking passage through North America, his ship entered what would become known as Hudson Bay and became trapped by ice before spring. After months of hardship, frustrated sailors mutinied and set Hudson, his teenage son, and several loyal crew members adrift in a small boat, where they were never seen again.
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6. John Cabot's Final Voyage Remains a Mystery
English explorer John Cabot disappeared during or shortly after his 1498 voyage to North America. An experienced sailor traveling for the English monarchy, Cabot led several ships on his journey across the North Atlantic. Historical records about Cabot’s final expedition become frustratingly sparse after leaving Europe.
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7. Gaspar de Carvajal's Expedition Faced the Unknown
Gaspar de Carvajal was a Spanish Dominican friar who joined Francisco de Orellana on his voyage down what would become known as the Amazon River. Unlike many explorers on this list, Carvajal himself survived and returned to Europe, but parts of the expedition disappeared into the enormous and poorly understood Amazonian landscape. Several members of Orellana's broader ventures never returned.
8. Pedro de Valdivia Met a Violent End
Pedro de Valdivia explored and conquered much of Chile while in South America during the sixteenth century. When he was captured by Mapuche warriors during the Battle of Tucapel in 1553, Valdivia was eventually taken out by members of the Indigenous population. Unlike some explorers whose fate remains completely unknown, Valdivia's disappearance from the Spanish world was eventually explained.
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9. Francisco de Orellana Never Completed His Second Voyage
Francisco de Orellana developed a reputation as one of the sixteenth century’s greatest explorers after traveling down the Amazon River to its connection with the Atlantic Ocean. He later led an expedition to retrace his route but met an unfortunate end along the way. Orellana died in South America in 1546, and his expedition was unable to achieve the grand results he wanted.
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10. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca Lost His Expedition
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was one of several explorers who survived an early disaster in Florida before setting out on foot across the southern United States. Although Cabeza de Vaca eventually reached Spanish settlements, many members of the original expedition died or disappeared along the way. His story is a reminder that surviving an expedition didn't necessarily mean everyone who started it would make it home.
11. Ludwig Leichhardt Vanished in Australia
German explorer Ludwig Leichhardt disappeared while attempting to become one of the first people to cross Australia from the east to the west coast. He and his party departed with supplies and horses but never arrived at their anticipated destination. Expeditions returned to the area and discovered various items that could have belonged to Leichhardt, but no one can say for sure what happened to him.
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12. Percy Fawcett Went Looking for a Lost City
British explorer Percy Fawcett disappeared while traveling through the Amazon in 1925, looking for something he called “The Lost City of Z.” Fawcett theorized that some sort of advanced civilization had once existed somewhere in the Brazilian jungle. He brought his son and his son’s best friend, Raleigh Rimmell, with him before they vanished from history.
13. Everett Ruess Vanished in the Desert
Everett Ruess was a young man of barely 20 years when he disappeared from his home in the American Southwest in 1934. Ruess had spent years wandering throughout the American desert and painting the landscape while living as an independent vagabond. Search parties found his camp broken and his burros gone.
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14. Ambrose Bierce Walked Into Revolutionary Mexico
Ambrose Bierce traveled to Mexico during its Revolution and ultimately entered the country from the northern United States. After spending time with famed revolutionary Pancho Villa, little is known of Bierce’s movements afterward. Historians suspect he attempted to travel farther into Mexico, leaving no documented record of his passing.
15. David Livingstone Was Lost in Central Africa
David Livingstone worked to explore central Africa while condemning the slave trade. When he fell out of communication with Europe, journalists and newspapers speculated about his whereabouts and fate. Journalist Henry Morton Stanley found Livingstone at Ujiji in 1871, famously greeting him with the now oft-quoted “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” Livingstone later passed away during an expedition.
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16. Alexander Gordon Laing Disappeared in the Sahara
Explorer Alexander Gordon Laing was the first European to reach Timbuktu, or at least the first known to return to tell about it. He reached the city in 1826 but was taken out shortly afterward while attempting to return across the Sahara. Because reliable details about his final journey were scarce, uncertainty surrounded his fate for years.
17. Mungo Park Never Returned From Africa
Scottish explorer Mungo Park became famous for his expeditions to West Africa while attempting to trace the course of the Niger River. During his second expedition, which began in 1805, disease and conflict devastated his party. Park eventually traveled down the Niger with a much smaller group, but he disappeared in 1806.
Mungo_Park_portrait.jpg: Unknown
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18. Jean-François de Surville Was Lost Far From France
French explorer Jean-François de Surville disappeared while seeking glory and riches on an ambitious voyage to the Pacific Ocean in the 1760s. His ships struggled through portions of the voyage and became plagued with shortages and illness before continuing on to New Zealand and islands throughout the Pacific. Jean-François de Surville disappeared while trying to reach the coast of South America.
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19. Benjamin Morrell Left Behind a Trail of Questions
Sea captain and explorer Benjamin Morrell left historians with questions about where he went on his voyages. After making claims about discovering islands and locations that later explorers couldn’t find, doubts were raised about his published accounts. Morrell passed away in 1839 after years spent sailing the seas.
20. The Franklin Expedition's Missing Ships Became the Mystery
Explorer John Franklin should be familiar to readers by now. In addition to losing the crew aboard his ships, Franklin’s vessels also remained undiscovered for years. Both HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were located in northern Canada in the twenty-first century, providing hard evidence of the expedition’s final days.
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