Walter Wellman, journalist and explorer, was born in Mentor, Ohio,
November 5, 1858. He was educated in the district schools, and during
his boyhood gave evidence of his journalistic instincts, for when but
fourteen years of age he established a weekly newspaper at Sutton,
Nebraska. When he attained his majority, he founded the Cincinnati
Evening Post, the venture being of a successful nature. For many years
he was political and Washington correspondent of the Chicago Herald and
Times-Herald. Mr. Wellman, in 1892, succeeded in locating the landing
place of Christopher Columbus, on Watling Island, in the Bahamas, and
erected a monument upon the spot. In 1894 he took his initial trip to
the Arctic regions, making explorations on the northeastern coast of
Spitzbergen. Four years later he explored Franz Josef Land, where he
discovered many new islands and made valuable contributions to Arctic
geography. As a writer on subjects connected with the frozen north, he
is well known by reason of his articles in leading magazines. He has
also written on political and general topics.