User talk:Spookyland/Rae-Richardson Arctic Expedition

As a Wikipedian and an Arctic historian, I must say I am very glad to see this new, and very detailed article. However, I do have a question as to its title and form: This expedition has not been previously referred to as the "Rae-Richardson" expedition in printed literature, so far as I am aware. Is this the best title for it? I can think of a rationale for "Rae's first expedition," which could be part of a sequence on Rae's expeditions, although this raises issues since his second Arctic assignment was as a surveyor, not a searcher. Richardson was also very much Rae's senior; one could call this the Richardson-Rae expedition or even the Richardson Expedition with some justification. Or, one could give this a designation such as "First Franklin Search Expedition," which would place it in relation to later searches such as James Clark Ross's and other subsequent missions. I think the name should have some vetting. Lastly, although Rae was "engaged" in this search, as was Richardson, its official status is somewhat uncertain -- JC Ross's was the first officially sanctioned search -- one could ask, what entity sent it, and under what auspices? Ought it be considered a private search? I think these are all issues that can and should be considered. Clevelander96 (talk) 01:19, 26 June 2010 (UTC)