PREPARATIONS
A great many persons have asked when I first conceived the idea of
trying to reach the North Pole. That question is hard to answer. It is
impossible to point to any day or month and to say, "Then the idea first
came to me." The North Pole dream was a gradual and almost involuntary
evolution from earlier work in which it had no part. My interest in
arctic work dates back to 1885, when as a young man my imagination was
stirred by reading accounts of explorations by Nordenskjöld in the
interior of Greenland. These studies took full possession of my mind and
led to my undertaking, entirely alone, a summer trip to Greenland in the
following year. Somewhere in my subconscious self, even so long ago as
that, there may have been gradually dawning a hope that I might some day
reach the Pole itself. Certain it is, the lure of the North, the "arctic
fever," as it has been called, entered my veins then, and I came to have
a feeling of fatality, a feeling that the reason and intent of my
existence was the solution of the mystery of the frozen fastnesses of
the Arctic.
But the actual naming of the Pole as the object of an expedition did not
materialize until 1898, when the first expedition of the Peary Arctic
Club went north with the avowed intention of reaching ninety north--if
it were possible. Since then I have made six different attempts, in six
different years, to reach the coveted point. The sledging season, when
such a "dash" is possible, extends from about the middle of February
until the middle of June. Before the middle of February there is not
sufficient light, and after the middle of June there is likely to be too
much open water.
During these six former attempts made by me to win the prize, the
successive latitudes of 83° 52´, 84° 17´, and 87° 6´ were attained, the
last giving back to the United States the record of "farthest north,"
which had for a time been wrested from it by Nansen, and from him in
turn by the Duke of the Abruzzi.
In writing the story of this last and successful expedition, it is
necessary to go back to my return from the former expedition of 1905-6.
Before the _Roosevelt_ entered port, and before I reached New York, I
was planning for another journey into the North, which, if I could
obtain the essential funds--and retained my health--I intended to get
under way as soon as possible. It is a principle in physics that a
ponderable body moves along the line of least resistance; but that
principle does not seem to apply to the will of man. Every obstacle
which has ever been placed in my way, whether physical or mental,
whether an open "lead" or the opposition of human circumstances, has
ultimately acted as a spur to the determination to accomplish the fixed
purpose of my life--if I lived long enough.
On my return in 1906, great encouragement was received from Mr. Jesup,
the president of the Peary Arctic Club, who had contributed so
generously to my former expeditions, and in whose honor I had named the
northernmost point of land in the world, latitude 83° 39´, Cape Morris
K. Jesup. He said, in so many words, that he would "see me through" on
another journey north. His promise meant that I should not have to beg
all the money in small sums from a more or less reluctant world.
The winter of 1906-7 and the spring of 1907 were devoted to presenting
to the world the results of the previous undertaking, and to the work of
interesting friends as far as possible in another expedition. We had the
ship, which had cost about $100,000 in 1905; but $75,000 more was needed
for new boilers and other changes, for equipment and for operating
expenses. While the bulk of the necessary funds was furnished by the
members and friends of the Peary Arctic Club, a very considerable amount
came from all parts of the country in contributions ranging from $100 to
$5 and even $1. These donations were not less appreciated than the big
ones, because they showed the friendliness and the interest of the
givers, and demonstrated to me the general recognition of the fact that
while the expedition was financed by private individuals, it was in
spirit a national affair.
At last the funds, actual and promised, were in such amount as to
authorize our contracting for new boilers for the _Roosevelt_, and
ordering certain modifications in her structure which would fit her more
effectively for another voyage: such as enlarging the quarters forward
for the crew, adding a lug sail to the foremast, and changing the
interior arrangements somewhat. The general features of the ship had
already proved themselves so well adapted for the purpose for which she
was intended that no alteration in them was required.
Experience had taught me how to figure on delays in the North; but the
exasperating delays of ship contractors at home had not yet entered into
my scheme of reckoning. Contracts for this work on the _Roosevelt_ were
signed in the winter, and called for the completion of the ship by July
1, 1907. Repeated oral promises were added to contractual agreements
that the work should certainly be done on that date; but, as a matter of
fact, the new boilers were not completed and installed until September,
thus absolutely negativing any possibility of going north in the summer
of 1907.
The failure of the contractors to live up to their word, with the
consequent delay of a year, was a serious blow to me. It meant that I
must attack the problem one year older; it placed the initiation of the
expedition further in the future, with all the possible contingencies
that might occur within a year; and it meant the bitterness of hope
deferred.
On the day when it became lamentably clear that I positively _could not_
sail north that year, I felt much as I had felt when I had been obliged
to turn back from 87° 6´, with only the empty bauble "farthest north,"
instead of the great prize which I had almost strained my life out to
achieve. Fortunately I did not know that Fate was even then clenching
her fist for yet another and more crushing blow.
While trying to possess my soul in patience despite the unjustified
delay, there came the heaviest calamity encountered in all my arctic
work--the death of my friend, Morris K. Jesup. Without his promised help
the future expedition seemed impossible. It may be said with perfect
truth that to him, more than to any other one man, had been due the
inception and the continuance of the Peary Arctic Club, and the success
of the work thus far. In him we lost not only a man who was financially
a tower of strength in the work, but I lost an intimate personal friend
in whom I had absolute trust. For a time it seemed as if this were the
end of everything; that all the effort and money put into the project
had been wasted. Mr. Jesup's death, added to the delay caused by the
default of the contractors, seemed at first an absolutely paralyzing
defeat.
Nor was it much help that there was no lack of well-meaning persons who
were willing to assure me that the year's delay and Mr. Jesup's death
were warnings indicating that I should never find the Pole.
Yet, when I gathered myself together and faced the situation squarely, I
realized that the project was something too big to die; that it never,
in the great scheme of things, would be allowed to fall through. This
feeling carried me past many a dead center of fatigue and utter
ignorance as to where the rest of the money for the expedition was to be
obtained. The end of the winter and the beginning of the spring of 1908
were marked by more than one blue day for everybody concerned in the
success of the expedition.
Repairs and changes in the _Roosevelt_ had exhausted all the funds in
the Club's treasury. We still needed the money for purchase of supplies
and equipment, pay of crew, and running expenses. Mr. Jesup was gone;
the country had not recovered from the financial crash of the previous
fall; every one was poor.
Then from this lowest ebb the tide turned. Mrs. Jesup, in the midst of
her distracting grief, sent a munificent check which enabled us to order
essential items of special supplies and equipment which required time
for preparation.
[Illustration: GEORGE A. WARDWELL
CHIEF ENGINEER]
[Illustration: BANKS SCOTT
SECOND ENGINEER]
[Illustration: ROBERT A. BARTLETT, MASTER]
[Illustration: THOMAS GUSHUE, MATE]
[Illustration: CHARLES PERCY, STEWARD]
General Thomas H. Hubbard accepted the presidency of the Club, and added
a second large check to his already generous contribution. Henry Parish,
Anton A. Raven, Herbert L. Bridgman--the "Old Guard" of the Club--who
had stood shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Jesup from the inception of the
organization, stood firm now to keep the organization of the Club
intact; other men came forward, and the crisis was past. But the money
still came hard. It was the subject of my every waking thought; and even
in sleep it would not let me rest, but followed with mocking and elusive
dreams. It was a dogged, dull, desperate time, with the hopes of my
whole life rising and falling day by day.
Then came an unexpected rift in the clouds, the receipt of a very
friendly letter from Mr. Zenas Crane, the great paper manufacturer, of
Massachusetts, who had contributed to a previous expedition, but whom I
had never met. Mr. Crane wrote that he was deeply interested; that the
project was one which should have the support of every one who cared for
big things and for the prestige of the country, and he asked me to
come to see him, if I could make it convenient. I could. I did. He gave
a check for $10,000 and promised to give more if it should be required.
The promise was kept, and a little later he accepted the vice-presidency
of the Club. What this $10,000 meant to me at that time would need the
pen of Shakespere to make entirely clear.
[Illustration: PROFESSOR ROSS G. MARVIN, ASSISTANT]
[Illustration: GEORGE BORUP, ASSISTANT]
[Illustration: DONALD B. MACMILLAN, ASSISTANT]
[Illustration: DR. J. W. GOODSELL, SURGEON]
From this time on the funds came in slowly but steadily, to an amount
that, combined with rigid economy and thorough knowledge of what was and
what was not needed, permitted the purchase of the necessary supplies
and equipment.
During all this time of waiting, a small flood of "crank" letters poured
in from all over the country. There was an incredibly large number of
persons who were simply oozing with inventions and schemes, the adoption
of which would absolutely insure the discovery of the Pole. Naturally,
in view of the contemporaneous drift of inventive thought, flying
machines occupied a high place on the list. Motor cars, guaranteed to
run over any kind of ice, came next. One man had a submarine boat that
he was sure would do the trick, though he did not explain how we were to
get up through the ice after we had traveled to the Pole beneath it.
Still another chap wanted to sell us a portable sawmill. It was his
enterprising idea that this should be set up on the shore of the central
polar sea and that I was to use it for shaping lumber with which to
build a wooden tunnel over the ice of the polar sea all the way to the
Pole. Another chap proposed that a central soup station be installed
where the other man would have set up his sawmill, and that a series of
hose lines be run thence over the ice so that the outlying parties
struggling over the ice to the Pole could be warmed and invigorated with
hot soup from the central station.
Perhaps the gem of the whole collection was furnished by an inventor who
desired me to play the part of the "human cannon-ball." He would not
disclose the details of his invention, apparently lest I should steal
it, but it amounted to this: If I could get the machine up there, and
could get it pointed in exactly the right direction, and could hold on
long enough, it would shoot me to the Pole without fail. This was surely
a man of one idea. He was so intent on getting me shot to the Pole that
he seemed to be utterly careless of what happened to me in the process
of landing there or of how I should get back.
Many friends of the expedition who could not send cash sent useful
articles of equipment, for the comfort or amusement of the men. Among
such articles were a billiard table, various games, and innumerable
books. A member of the expedition having said to a newspaper man, a
short time before the _Roosevelt_ sailed, that we had not much reading
matter, the ship was deluged with books, magazines, and newspapers,
which came literally in wagon loads. They were strewn in every cabin, in
every locker, on the mess tables, on the deck,--everywhere. But the
generosity of the public was very gratifying, and there was much good
reading among the books and magazines.
When the time came for the _Roosevelt_ to sail, we had everything which
we absolutely needed in the way of equipment, including boxes of
Christmas candy, one for every man on board, a gift from Mrs. Peary.
It is a great satisfaction to me that this whole expedition, together
with the ship, was American from start to finish. We did not purchase a
Newfoundland or Norwegian sealer and fix it over for our purposes, as in
the case of other expeditions. The _Roosevelt_ was built of American
timber in an American shipyard, engined by an American firm with
American metal, and constructed on American designs. Even the most
trivial items of supplies were of American manufacture. As regards
personnel almost the same can be said. Though Captain Bartlett and the
crew were Newfoundlanders, the Newfoundlanders are our next-door
neighbors and essentially our first cousins. This expedition went north
in an American-built ship, by the American route, in command of an
American, to secure if possible an American trophy. The _Roosevelt_ was
built with a knowledge of the requirements of arctic navigation, gained
by the experience of an American on six former voyages into the Arctic.
I was extremely fortunate in the personnel of this last and successful
expedition, for in choosing the men I had the membership of the previous
expedition to draw from. A season in the Arctic is a great test of
character. One may know a man better after six months with him beyond
the Arctic circle than after a lifetime of acquaintance in cities. There
is a something--I know not what to call it--in those frozen spaces, that
brings a man face to face with himself and with his companions; if he is
a man, the man comes out; and, if he is a cur, the cur shows as
quickly.
First and most valuable of all was Bartlett, master of the _Roosevelt_,
whose ability had been proved on the expedition of 1905-6. Robert A.
Bartlett, "Captain Bob," as we affectionately call him, comes from a
family of hardy Newfoundland navigators, long associated with arctic
work. He was thirty-three when we last sailed north. Blue-eyed,
brown-haired, stocky, and steel-muscled Bartlett, whether at the wheel
of the _Roosevelt_ hammering a passage through the floes, or tramping
and stumbling over the ice pack, with the sledges, or smoothing away the
troubles of the crew, was always the same--tireless, faithful,
enthusiastic, true as the compass.
Matthew A. Henson, my negro assistant, has been with me in one capacity
or another since my second trip to Nicaragua, in 1887. I have taken him
with me on each and all of my northern expeditions, except the first, in
1886, and almost without exception on each of my "farthest" sledge
trips. This position I have given him, primarily because of his
adaptability and fitness for the work; secondly on account of his
loyalty. He has shared all the physical hardships of my arctic work. He
is now about forty years old, and can handle a sledge better, and is
probably a better dog-driver, than any other man living, except some of
the best of the Eskimo hunters themselves.
Ross G. Marvin, my secretary and assistant, who lost his life on the
expedition; George A. Wardwell, chief engineer; Percy, the steward; and
Murphy, the boatswain, had all been with me before. Dr. Wolf, who was
the surgeon of the expedition of 1905-6, had made professional
arrangements which prevented him from going north again, and his place
was taken by Dr. J. W. Goodsell, of New Kensington, Pa.
Dr. Goodsell is a descendant of an old English family that has had
representatives in America for two hundred and fifty years. His great
grandfather was a soldier in Washington's army when Cornwallis
surrendered, and his father, George H. Goodsell, spent many adventurous
years at sea and fought through the Civil War in the Union army. Dr.
Goodsell was born near Leechburg, Pa., in 1873. He received his medical
degree from Pulte Medical College, Cincinnati, O., and has since
practised medicine at New Kensington, Pa., specializing in clinical
microscopy. He is a member of the Homeopathic Medical Society of
Pennsylvania and of the American Medical Association. At the time of his
departure on the expedition he was president of the Allegheny Valley
Medical Society. His publications include "Direct Microscopic
Examination as Applied to Preventive Medicine and the Newer Therapy" and
"Tuberculosis and Its Diagnosis."
As the scope of this expedition was wider than that of the previous
ones, contemplating more extensive tidal observations for the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and, if conditions permitted, lateral
sledge trips east to Cape Morris K. Jesup and west to Cape Thomas
Hubbard, I enlarged my field party, as it may be called, and added to
the expedition Mr. Donald B. MacMillan, of Worcester Academy, and Mr.
George Borup, of New York City.
MacMillan is the son of a sea captain and was born at Provincetown,
Mass., in 1874. His father's ship sailed from Boston nearly thirty
years ago and was never heard from again. His mother died the next year,
leaving the son with four other young children. When MacMillan was
fifteen years old he went to live with his sister at Freeport, Me.,
where he was prepared in the local high school to enter Bowdoin College,
being graduated from my alma mater in 1898. Like Borup, MacMillan
excelled in undergraduate athletics, played half-back on the Bowdoin
'varsity eleven and won a place on the track team. From 1898 to 1900 he
was principal of the Levi Hall School at North Gorham, Me., going thence
to become head master of the Latin Department at Swarthmore Preparatory
School of Swarthmore, Pa. Here he remained until 1903 when he became
instructor in Mathematics and Physical Training at Worcester Academy,
Mass., where he remained until he went north with the expedition. He
holds the Humane Society's certificate for saving a number of lives some
years ago, an exploit which it is difficult to induce him to talk about.
George Borup was born at Sing Sing, N. Y., Sept. 2, 1885. He prepared
for Yale at Groton School, where he spent the years from 1889 to 1903,
and was graduated from Yale in 1907. At college he was prominent in
athletics, was a member of the Yale track and golf teams, and made a
reputation as a wrestler. After his graduation he spent a year as a
special apprentice in the machine shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company at Altoona, Pa.
To Captain Bartlett I left the selection of his officers and men, with
the single exception of the chief engineer.
The personnel of the expedition, as finally completed when the
_Roosevelt_ left Sydney on the 17th of July, 1908, included twenty-two
men, as follows: Robert E. Peary, commanding expedition; Robert A.
Bartlett, master of the _Roosevelt_; George A. Wardwell, chief engineer;
Dr. J. W. Goodsell, surgeon; Prof. Ross G. Marvin, assistant; Donald B.
MacMillan, assistant; George Borup, assistant; Matthew A. Henson,
assistant; Thomas Gushue, mate; John Murphy, boatswain; Banks Scott,
second engineer; Charles Percy, steward; William Pritchard, cabin boy;
John Connors, John Coady, John Barnes, Denis Murphy, George Percy,
seamen; James Bently, Patrick Joyce, Patrick Skeans, John Wiseman,
firemen.
The supplies for the expedition were abundant in quantity, but not
numerous in variety. Years of experience had given me the knowledge of
exactly what I wanted and how much of it. The absolutely essential
supplies for a serious arctic expedition are few, but they should be of
the best quality. Luxuries have no place in arctic work.
Supplies for an arctic expedition naturally divide themselves into two
classes: those for the sledge work in the field; those for the ship,
going and returning, and in winter quarters. The supplies for sledge
work are of a special character, and have to be prepared and packed in
such a way as to secure the maximum of nourishment with the minimum of
weight, of bulk, and of tare (that is, the weight of the packing). The
essentials, and the only essentials, needed in a serious arctic sledge
journey, no matter what the season, the temperature, or the duration of
the journey--whether one month or six--are four: pemmican, tea, ship's
biscuit, condensed milk. Pemmican is a prepared and condensed food, made
from beef, fat and dried fruits. It may be regarded as the most
concentrated and satisfying of all meat foods, and is absolutely
indispensable in protracted arctic sledge journeys.
The food for use on shipboard and in winter quarters comprises standard
commercial supplies. My expeditions have been perhaps peculiar in
omitting one item--and that is meat. For this important addition to
arctic food I have always depended on the country itself. Meat is the
object of the hunting expeditions of the winter months--not sport, as
some have fancied.
Here are a few of the items and figures on our list of supplies for the
last expedition: Flour, 16,000 pounds; coffee, 1,000 pounds; tea, 800
pounds; sugar, 10,000 pounds; kerosene, 3,500 gallons; bacon, 7,000
pounds; biscuit, 10,000 pounds; condensed milk, 100 cases; pemmican,
30,000 pounds; dried fish, 3,000 pounds; smoking tobacco, 1,000 pounds.