Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center

With the whole party safely reunited aboard the Julia A. Decker, the Bowdoin Boys were ready to return to Maine.

Making stops at Battle Harbor and Halifax along the way, the schooner reached Rockland on September 23.

A crowd of people met the ship at the wharf.

In his book, Jonathan Cilley described the "royal welcome that awaited us ... we found the church bells ringing."

The safe return of the expedition was cause for celebration for the people of Rockland who had turned out for the Julia A. Decker’s departure several months earlier.