S

Álvaro de Saavedra (Spain, ?-1529)

1527-9: Crosses the Pacific from Mexico to Indonesia. Takes the survivers of the expedition of Loaysa aboard and follows the north coast of New Guinea. Dies on a failed attempt to cross the Pacific back.

Hermann Mückler: Saavedra, Alvaro de S. Ceron (in German)

Sacagawea (also known as Sakajawea, Soshone, 1787?-1812)

1805-6: Assists Lewis and Clark on their expedition as an interpreter and general aid.

PBS Online: Sacagawea

Jim Garamone: Sacagawea: Saga of an American Indian Woman

Irving W. Anderson: The Sacagawea Mystique: Her Age, Name, Role and Final Destiny

Grace Raymond Hebard: Sacagawea: Shoshone Indian: "Bird Woman"

Bonnie Butterfield: Sacagawea: Captive, Indian Interpreter, Great American Legend: Her Life and Death

The West Film Project: Sacagawea

Microsoft Encarta: Sakajawea

Irving W. Anderson: Sacajawea?-Sakakawea?-Sacagawea? Spelling-Pronunciation-Meaning

Sacagawea - Guide to Lewis and Clark (links)

Lewis and Clark

Sahure (Egypt, reign 2458-2446 BC)

ca. 2450: Sends out the oldest expedition to a land called Punt.

The first explorers

Juan de Salas (Spain, dates unknown)

1629, 1632: Missionary expeditions to the Jumanos indians in western Texas.

Francisco Sánchez (Spain, 1512?-1582)

1581-2: Crosses the Rio Grande and visits the Jumano Indians. Killed by Indians on the return voyage.

Handbook of Texas Online: Sánchez, Francisco

Handbook of Texas Online: Rodríguez-Sánchez Expedition

Sataspes (Carthage)

In Persian service, explores the Atlantic coast of Africa.

Greek explorers

Johann Schiltberger (also known as Hans Schiltberger, Bavaria, 1380-?)

1396-1402: Captured by the Turks in the battle of Nicopolis. Lives as a prisoner of sultan Bajazet and visits much through Asia Minor and Egypt.

1402-5: Captured by the Mongols. Becomes a prisoner of Timur (Tamerlane), reaches Samarkand and travels through Armenia, Georgia and Russia.

1405-27: Taken to a new master in Herat after Timur's death. Travels to Western Siberia and makes a pilgrimage to Mecca. Escapes in Caffa on the Black Sea and returns to Bavaria.

The medieval period

Eduard Schnitzer

See Emin Pasha

Robert Hermann Schomburgk (UK, 1804-1865)

1835-8: Explores the inlands of British Guyanan on a botanical expedition.

1841: Surveys the boundaries between British Guyana and Brasil and Venezuela.

Schomburgk's own writings: Reports and letters - The fishes of Guyana

Willem Corneliszoon Schouten (Netherlands, 1567?-1625)

1602: Travels to Ceram to get information on New Guinea for the VOC (Dutch East India Company).

1615-6: With Le Maire, discovers Le Maire Strait (south of Cape Horn) and sails through it, discovers various Pacific Islands and charts the north coast of New Guinea. Is imprisoned by the VOC.

VITA: Le Maire, Schouten, and Cape Horn

Hermann Mückler: Schouten, Cornelis Willem van (Corneliszoon, Willem) - Le Maire, Jakob (in German)

Edward Duyker: The First Cape Horners

Britannica.com: Schouten, Willem

Brian Hooker: In the Name of the Son: Isaac Le Maire fought to credit his son Jacob as discoverer of the Le Maire Straight

Georg August Schweinfurth (Germany, 1836-1925)

1869-71: Explores the Bahr al-Ghazal, a tributary of the Nile. Crosses the Nile-Congo watershed and discovers the Uele River. Anthropological research on various tribes, among which the pygmys.

1873: With Rohlfs, makes a failed attempt to cross the Lybian desert.

1875-1888: Lives in Egypt.

Encyclopaedia Britannica: Schweinfurth, Georg August

William Scoresby (Sr.) (UK, 1760-1829)

1806: With a whaling ship east of Svalbard, reach 81°30' north, a record.

Whitby UK: William Scoresby: Attractions

Coastguard23: William Scoresby (top half of the page)

Queensland Hotel: The Scoresby Family

Robert D. Blair: The Scoresby Page

William Scoresby (Jr.) (UK, 1789-1857)

1817: Explores Jan Mayen Island. Finding unusually little ice between Svalbard and Greenland, manage to reach the east coast of Greenland.

1822: Explores the East Greenland coast.

Whitby UK: William Scoresby: Attractions (note: the first part is about William Scoresby Sr.)

BBC Online: Local Heroes: William Scoresby 1789-1857

Coastguard23: William Scoresby (bottom half of the page)

Queensland Hotel: The Scoresby Family

Robert D. Blair: The Scoresby Page

Robert Falcon Scott (UK, 1868-1912)

1901-4: Leads an expedition to Antarctica. Reaches 82°17' south and is the first to see the South Polar ice cap.

1910-2: Reaches the South Pole, but dies on the voyage back to his base camp, as do all other members of the group that reached the pole.

Antarctic Philately Homepage: Robert Falcon Scott: Part I - Part II

National Maritime Museum: Discovery 1901-04 - Terra Nova 1910-13

Bruce Heydt: Furthest South

Jeroen François: The first expedition of Robert Falcon Scott - "For God's sake look after our people"

Spaseman: 1910-1912 Scott's last expedition

Robert Holmes: Scott's Last Expedition

EyeWitness: Doomed Expedition To The Pole (journal fragments)

Kenneth Chang: Scott's Big Chill - analysis of the meteorological conditions on Scott's final journey

Scott Sutherland: A First Rate Tragedy: Robert Falcon Scott and the Race to the South Pole (book review)

Scylax (Greece, dates unknown)

510-507 BC: Sails down the Indus River and around Arabia to Egypt.

Greek explorers

Junípero Serra (Spain, 1713-1784)

1769: Joins an expedition over land to California by Portola. Founds the mission post of San Diego de Alcala.

1771-82: Founds several more mission posts in California.

Museum of the City of San Francisco: Junípero Serra: Founder of California

The West Film Project: Junipero Serra

San Diego Historical Society: Father Junipero Serra

Catholic Encyclopedia: Junípero Serra

Gary S. Breschini: Father Junípero Serra

Tom Kreitzberg: Bl. Junipero Serra, Priest and Missionary

Francisco Serrão (Portugal, dates unknown)

1511: Takes part in the first Portuguese expedition to the Moluccas. Shipwrecks, but is saved by the inhabitants of Ternate, where he decides to remain for the rest of his life.

The Portuguese Empire

Ernest Shackleton (UK (half Irish), 1874-1922)

1907-9: Attempts to reach the South Pole, and gets to less than 100 miles distance from it. Another group from his expeditions reaches the South Magnetic Pole.

1914-6: Travels to the Weddell Sea, hoping to cross the Antarctic continent to the Ross Sea. His ship is set adrift, then destroyed by the ice. Manages with great luck and skill to save himself and his crew.

1921-2: Sets out to explore Enderby Land, but dies of a heart attack before reaching Antarctica.

The Shack - the Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton Great Antarctic Explorer Site

Antarctic Philately Homepage: Ernest H. Shackleton

NOVA Online: Shackleton's Expedition

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

Emily Slatten: Sir Ernest Shackleton

Jeroen François: Within a stone's throw of the geographic southpole - The incredible adventure of Shackleton

National Maritime Museum: Nimrod 1907-09 - Endurance 1914-17

TheIce: Shackleton's expedition of 1907-1909 - Shackleton's Endurance-Aurora expedition

Antarctic Connection: Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton

Stephanie Capparell: Get Ready for Shackleton-Mania

Peter's Antarctic Domain: Ernest Shackleton

May French-Sheldon (USA, 1847-1936)

1891: Travels through present-day Tanzania.

Grigory Ivanovich Shelikhov (Russia, 1730?-1795)

1783: Establishes a trading post on Kodiak Island, Alaska and explores the surrounding islands. In the following years builds up a trading emperium in the Aleuts and Alaska.

Nobu Shirase (Japan, 1861-1946)

1910-2: Explores the Ross Ice Shelf and King Edward VII Land.

Antarctic Philately Homepage: Nobu Shirase

Media-Akita: Nobu Shirase

Jeroen François: The first Swiss and Japanese expedition

Thomas Simpson (Scotland, 1808-1840)

1837-9: With Peter Warren Dease charts the Canadian and Alaskan North Coast from the mouth of the Mackenzie to Point Barrow and from the mouth of the Coppermine to Bootha peninsula.

Marie Fraser: Sir George Simpson & Thomas Simpson

Industry Canada: Peter Warren Dease and Thomas Simpson

Kishen Singh (India, dates unknown)

1871-2: Travels through West Tibet and visits Lhasa.

1878-82: Explores the trade route from Lhasa to China and eastern Tibet.

The Pundits

Nain Singh (India, 1826?-1882)

1865-6: Travels through Nepal to Lhasa, and determines the position of the city. Travels through Tibet to the east.

1867: Travels through western Tibet and visits the Thok-Jalung gold mines.

1873-5: Travels from Kashmir to Lhasa.

The Pundits

James Sinclair (Canada (after 1849 USA), 1806-1856)

1841: Leads a group of British settlers through the southern Canadian Rockies to Oregon.

1850-2: Travels through the Rocky Mountains, Oregon and California.

1854: Leads a group of settlers from Red River to Oregon.

Pedro de Sintra (Portugal, dates unknown)

1460: Travels southward on the African west coast to Guinea.

1461-2: Travels even further south, reaching Sierra Leone.

The coast of Africa

Paul Allen Siple (USA, 1908-1968)

1933-5: Chief biologist on Byrd's second expedition.

1939-41: Commander of the post at Bay of Whales in the United States Antarctic Service Expedition.

1946: Flies over the North Pole.

1946-7: Joins another expedition to Antarctica.

1955-7: Scientific leader of the United States Antarctic program.

Jedediah Strong Smith (USA, 1798-1831)

1823-4: Travels through the South Dakota badlands to the Black Hills. Rediscovers South Pass.

1826-7: Travels southwest from Great Salt Lake through Nevada to the Colorado River and the Black Mountains. Crosses the Mojave Desert and reaches California. Crosses the Sierra Nevada and the Great Basin back to Bear Lake.

1827-8: Returns to California by the same route, then travels north to the Columbia River.

Utah History Encyclopedia: Jedediah S. Smith

Beth Gibson: Jedidiah Smith

Bob Katz: The Mountain Man Jedediah Strong Smith

Bob Katz: Mountain Man Jedediah Smith Was a Desert Man, Too

Richard Hughey: Jedediah Smith blazed trail across the Serra - The Legacy of Jedediah Smith

Cottonwood: Jedediah Strong Smith

Sandra Bray: Jedediah S. Smith

Emily Zimmerman: Jedediah Smith

Martha Glautier: San Dimas Remembered Jedediah Strong Smith

Jedediah Strong Smith: The crossing of the Great Salt Lake Desert

The Jedediah Smith Society

John Smith (England, 1580-1631)

1607-9: Leader of the colony of Jamestown. Explores Chesapeake Bay and discovers the mouth of the Susquehanna.

1614-6: Maps the coast of New England from Monhegan Island to Cape Cod.

APVA: Captain John Smith - History of Jamestown - Pocahontas - Virginia Company - Timeline

SeacoastNH.com: Smith's New England - Captain Smith's World Wide Hotlinks

Dennis Montgomery: Captain John Smith

Donald E. Wise: Captain John Smith

Department of Humanities Computing: Jamestownhttp://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/s/smith.shtml">John Smith: A Founder of Jamestown

'Our Country': John Smith in Jamestown

Charles W. Brewster: Martin Pring, John Smith and Early Exploration

J. Dennis Robinson: Why John Smith Never Came Back

Stan Birchfield: Did Pocahontas Save Captain John Smith?

Douglas Griffith: The Establishment of Jamestown and the Decline of Indian Power

John Smith: Map of Virginia - Map of New England

John Smith: Starving Time in Virginia

Raymond F. Dolle: Captain John Smith's Satire of Sir Walter Raleigh

William Smith (England)

1819: Blown south near Cape Horn, discovers the South Shetland Islands.

1819-20: Pilot on an expedition by Bransfield which maps the South Shetland Islands and the tip of Graham Land.

Jeroen François: Antarctica in sight

Juan Díaz de Solis (Spain, ?-1516)

1506: With Pinzon, explores the coast of Central America.

1515-6: Explores the coast of South America, discoves Rio de La Plata, but is killed by natives.

Catholic Encyclopedia: Juan Díaz de Solis

Publius Historicus: Juan Diaz de Solis (in French)

Hernando de Soto (Spain, ?-1542)

1531-4: Assists Francisco Pizarro during the conquest of Peru

1539-42: Lands in Florida and travels through the current southeastern United States, looking for riches. Crosses the Mississippi. Dies of a fever on the Mississippi. Members of his expedition later build boats to return to Mexico.

David LaRo: de Soto

Pensacola Archeology Lab: The Soto Expedition

Ron Shealer: Hernando de Soto: Legacy of a conquistador

Walter P. Fuller: De Soto: The greatest explorer

Peter Bigojarski: Hernando de Soto (timeline; in German)

Spanish Exploration and Conquest of Native America (note: the theory presented here about De Soto's route is not one that is anything like generally accepted)

Robert B. Rackleff: On De Soto's Trail

Ellen K. Coughlin: 16th-Century de Soto Expedition Offers Scholars a Look at Earliest Encounters Between 2 Civilizations

John Hanning Speke (UK, 1827-1864)

1854-5: With Burton, explores the inlands of Somalia and visits the city of Harar.

1856-8: With Burton, discovers Lake Tanganyika; alone, discovers Lake Victoria.

1860-3: With Grant, travels to Lake Victoria, finds the place where the Nile flows out of it, and travels on to Sudan.

Speke and Grant

John Hanning Speke: Journey of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile

Joris van Spilbergen (Netherlands)

1614-6: Leads a war fleet to Chile and attacks Spanish ships. Travels on to the East Indies.

Hermann Mückler: Spielbergen, Joris

Hans Staden (Germany)

1548-9: Takes part in a Portuguese voyage to Brazil.

1550-5: Takes part in a Spanish expedition to South America. Shipwrecks in Brazil and is held captive by Tupinamba Indians.

Athena Review: Hans Staden and the Tupinamba in southeast Brasil

Henry Morton Stanley (Wales/USA, 1841-1904)

1871: Travels to East Africa and finds Livingstone in the town of Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika.

1874-7: Explores Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika, and travels down the Lualaba-Congo to its mouth.

1879-84: Travels up the Congo to claim territory for the Congo Freestate.

1888-9: Travels to Central Africa to relieve Emin Pasha. Discovers the Semliki River, Lake Edward and the Ruwenzori Mountains.

Pegasos: Sir Henry Morton Stanley

Britannica: Stanley, Sir Henry Morton

Paul Auster: Henry Morton Stanley

The Atlantic Online: Is he not in Congo-land?

Louis Juchereau de St. Denis (Canada/France, 1674-1744)

1713: Travels west from Mobile, and reaches the Rio Grande and San Juan Bautista. Is taken to Mexico City by the Spanish.

1717-9: Travels to San Juan Bautista again, to trade. Is sent to Mexico City again and escapes.

Handbook of Texas Online: St. Denis, Louis Juchereau de

Vilhjalmur Stefansson (Canada/USA, 1879-1962)

1906-7: Travels down the Mackenzie, Spends the Winter among the Inuit.

1908-12: With Rudolph Anderson, travels through the Canadian Arctic and lives among the Copper Eskimos.

1913-8: Travels through unknown parts of the Canadian Arctic and Beaufort Sea.

Aurel Stein (UK, 1862-1943)

1900-1: Travels through Central Asia.

1906-8: Leads an archeological expedition in the Takla Makan desert.

1913-5: Leads another expedition to the Takla Makan and surrounding areas.

John McDouall Stuart (Scotland, 1815-1866)

1844: Member of the expedition of Sturt to Central Australia.

1858, 1859: Explores South Australia.

1860, 1861: Attempts twice to cross Australia from South to North.

1862: On his third attempt, crosses Australi from South to North.

Pacific Island Travel: Pacific Explorers: John McDouall Stuart

Robyn Smith: John McDouall Stuart: Explorer

The John McDouall Stuart Society Inc.: Biographical Notes

The John McDouall Stuart Society

Robert Stuart (Scotland/USA, 1785-1848)

1812-3: Brings dispatches back from Oregon to New York for John Jacob Astor. Discovers South Pass.

The Astorians

Charles Sturt (UK, 1795-1869)

1828-9: Travels to the Macquarie and the region further west. Discovers the Darling.

1829-30: Follows the Murrumbidgee, tehn the Murray, downstream to the latter's mouth.

1844-6: Attempts to reach the center of Australia. Discovers the Simpson Desert.

Pacific Island Travel: Pacific Explorers Library: Charles Sturt

David Reilly: Charles Sturt

Flinders Ranges Research: Captain Charles Sturt

Jean-François-Marie de Surville

1769-70: Visits New Britain, New Caledonia and New Zealand.

Hermann Mückler: Surville, J.-F.-M. de (in German)

John Augustus Sutter (Switzerland, 1803-1880)

1839: Buys a large area of ground along the Sacramento River. Builds Fort Sutter.

Gardar Svavarsson (Sweden, dates unknown)

ca. 860: Blown off course by a storm, discovers Iceland.

Irish and Vikings

Otto Neumann Sverdrup (Norway, 1854-1930)

1888: Takes part in Nansen's first crossing of Greenland.

1893-6: Captain of the Fram during Nansen's attempt to reach the pole.

1898-1902: Explores the Canadian Arctic.