At one point in the early weeks, a diary entry from Lorne Knight records her refusing to sew and notes that she was “tied to the flagpole” until she agreed to work — a disturbing detail that reveals something about the power dynamics of the camp and the treatment Ada received from the men she was supposed to serve.

But Ada persevered.

She later wrote in her diary that her determination to return to her son was the thing that steadied her.

Bennett was in an orphanage in Nome.

The only way back to him was to survive.

As winter descended in late 1921, the group settled into the hard rhythms of an Arctic winter camp.

The men hunted for game to supplement the supplies — polar bear, seals, foxes.

Ada sewed, cooked, and did the domestic work that was her contracted role.