In 1910, Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen and his friend, Peter Freuchen, established a trading post in northwest Greenland and named it after the mythical island of Thule. Rasmussen undertook several expeditions from Thule into the Arctic where he investigated various Eskimo tribes and researched their myths and legends. "Knud Rasmussen Land," in northern Greenland, is named after him. The U.S. air base (Dundas) was set up on the site of the old trading post during WW2 and remains to this day. Interestingly, in 1953, the original village (Qaanaaq) was moved 200 kilometers north to Murchison Sound because the noise of aircraft disturbed the seals and birds on which the Eskimos depend. The Hvalsund Fjord in Thule is now a well-known cruise ship destination.
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