North Pole

In April of 1909, a year after Frederick Cook claimed to have arrived at the North Pole, Robert Peary (1856-1920) announced that Cook had never reached this point and that he, Peary, was the first man to reach the pole. Peary's record of the expedition tells of the arduous conditions he and his men endured, first breaking through the ice in a ship, then traveling via dog sleds. Along the way, Peary made extensive observations on hunting wildlife such as reindeer and musk-oxen, the geographic wonders of the Pole, and the customs of the Eskimos among whom he spent much valuable time. Peary filled The North Pole with extensive data on his position and movements, information that Cook would attack when the Polar Controversy made international headlines.

Was Robert Peary the first man to reach the North Pole, as he claimed, on April 6, 1909? Rival explorer Frederick A. Cook called Peary's announcement a hoax, a conspiracy to fame supported by Peary's moneyed financiers.

Robert E. Peary was an author and celebrated Arctic explorer who lost most of his toes to frostbite while single-mindedly pursuing his goal. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the twenty-sixth President of the United States, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and an accomplished explorer and author. Robert M. Bryce, the leading authority on the two explorers, is the author of Cook and Peary: The Polar Controversy, Resolved (0-8117-0317-7). He lives in Monrovia, Maryland, near Bethseda.