Today in History—May 31: The Third and Final Voyage for Fool’s Gold

On this day in 1578, 15 ships and 400 men set sail from England to the Canadian Arctic. They would return months later believing they’d found treasure: thousands of tons of gold.

Their leader, English mariner Martin Frobisher, had spent most of his life at sea (or imprisoned because of it). Some of his adventures were in service to Queen Elizabeth I; others drifted closer to piracy.

He was obsessed with finding the Northwest Passage, the long-theorized sea route linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that would open a way to Asia, bringing new trade and, supposedly, untold riches.

This was not Frobisher’s first rodeo. Since as early as 1561, he’d been pitching northward voyages with sketchy maps and grand stories. In 1576 he made it as far as Resolution Island, in today’s Canadian Arctic. After cautious trading with the Inuit, five of his men went ashore and never returned. Frobisher responded by kidnapping an Inuk man by luring him to the boat with a bell.

Frobisher also brought back a small, heavy, sparkly stone. Three testers reported that it was worthless iron sulfide. But a fourth swore it contained gold.

Suddenly investors were interested, and a second trip, in 1577, acquired a royal charter. A search for the missing men turned violent, and Frobisher’s crew abducted an Inuk man, woman, and child, all of whom died shortly after reaching England. They also hauled home nearly 200 tons of ore.

In a frenzy, Frobisher set off on the 1578 voyage without anyone ever confirming the last find. He had two goals: establish a colony and bring back more ore.

One ship sank, one deserted, and the others spent weeks getting beaten up by the sea near Baffin Island before finally making it ashore to establish a mining camp, the ruins of which are still visible. Hope of settlement went down with the doomed ship, which had been carrying the building supplies.

The fleet returned with 1,225 tons of ore. Attempts to extract gold from it continued for five years before everyone admitted the truth: It was iron pyrite, fool’s gold.

Frobisher’s investment company went bankrupt, but Frobisher escaped with his reputation mostly intact. He later served in the Royal Navy and was knighted.

And the “treasure”? Some of it was used as ballast to pave the streets of London.