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[Illustration: Frederick A. Cook]
_Press Edition_
MY ATTAINMENT
OF THE POLE
_Being the Record of the Expedition that First Reached the Boreal
Center, 1907-1909. With the Final Summary of the Polar Controversy_
_By_
DR. FREDERICK A. COOK
THIRD PRINTING, 60TH THOUSAND
[Illustration]
NEW YORK AND LONDON
MITCHELL KENNERLEY
MCMXIII
By Special arrangements this edition is marketed by
The Polar Publishing Co., 601 Steinway Hall, Chicago
COPYRIGHT 1913
BY
DR. FREDERICK A. COOK
_OTHER BOOKS BY DR. COOK_
Through the First Antarctic Night
A Narrative of the Belgian South Polar Expedition.
To the Top of the Continent
Exploration in Sub-Arctic Alaska--The First Ascent of Mt. McKinley
My Attainment of the Pole
Edition de Luxe
Each of above series will be sent post paid for $5.00. All to one
address for $14.00.
Address: THE POLAR PUBLISHING CO.
601 Steinway Hall, Chicago
_To the Pathfinders_
To the Indian who invented pemmican and snowshoes;
To the Eskimo who gave the art of sled traveling;
To this twin family of wild folk who have no flag
Goes the first credit.
To the forgotten trail makers whose book of experience has been a
guide;
To the fallen victors whose bleached bones mark steps in the ascent
of the ladder of latitudes;
To these, the pathfinders--past, present and future--I inscribe the
first page.
In the ultimate success there is glory enough
To go to the graves of the dead and to the heads of the living.
THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE POLAR CONTROVERSY
DR. COOK IS VINDICATED. HIS DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH POLE IS ENDORSED BY
THE EXPLORERS OF ALL THE WORLD.
In placing Dr. Cook on the Chautauqua platform as a lecturer, we have
been compelled to study the statements issued for and against the rival
polar claims with special reference to the facts bearing upon the
present status of the Polar Controversy.
Though the question has been argued during four years, we find that it
is almost the unanimous opinion of arctic explorers today, that Dr. Cook
reached the North Pole on April 21, 1909.
With officer Peary's first announcement he chose to force a press
campaign to deny Dr. Cook's success and to proclaim himself as the sole
Polar Victor. Peary aimed to be retired as a Rear-Admiral on a pension
of $6,000 per year. This ambition was granted; but the American Congress
rejected his claim for priority by eliminating from the pension bill the
words "Discovery of the Pole." The European geographical societies,
forced under diplomatic pressure to honor Peary, have also refused him
the title of "Discoverer." By a final verdict of the American government
and of the highest European authorities, Peary is therefore denied the
assumption of being the discoverer of the Pole, though his claim as a
re-discoverer is allowed. The evasive inscriptions on the Peary medals
prove this statement.
Following the acute excitement of the first announcement, it seemed to
be desirable to bring the question to a focus by submitting to some
authoritative body for decision. Such an institution, however, did not
exist. Previously, explorers had been rated by the slow process of
historic digestion and assimilation of the facts offered, but it was
thought that an academic examination would meet the demands. Officer
Peary first submitted his case to a commission appointed by the National
Geographical Society of Washington, D. C. This jury promptly said that
in their "opinion" Peary reached the Pole on April 6, 1909; but a year
later in congress the same men unwillingly admitted that in the Peary
proofs there was no positive proof.
Dr. Cook's data was sent to a commission appointed by the University of
Copenhagen. The Danes reported that the material presented was
incomplete and did not constitute positive proof. This verdict, however,
did not carry the interpretation that the Pole had not been reached. The
Danes have never said, as they have been quoted by the press, that Dr.
Cook did not reach the Pole; quite to the contrary, the University of
Copenhagen conferred the degree of Ph. D. and the Royal Danish
Geographical Society gave a gold medal, both in recognition of the
merits of the Polar effort.
This early examination was based mostly upon the nautical calculations
for position, and both verdicts when analyzed gave the version that in
such observations there was no positive proof. The Washington jury
ventured an opinion. The Danes refused to give an opinion, but showed
their belief in Dr. Cook's success by conferring honorary degrees.
It is the unfair interpretation of the respective verdicts by the
newspapers which has precipitated the turbulent air of distrust which
previously rested over the entire Polar achievement. All this, however,
has now been cleared by the final word of fifty of the foremost Polar
explorers and scientific experts.
In so far as they were able to judge from all the data presented in the
final books of both claimants the following experts have given it as
their opinion that Dr. Cook reached the Pole, and that officer Peary's
similar report coming later is supplementary proof of the first victory:
General A. W. Greely, U. S. A., commander of the Lady Franklin Bay
Expedition, who spent four years in the region under discussion.
Rear Admiral W. S. Schley, U. S. N., commander of the Greely Relief
Expedition.
Capt. Otto Sverdrup, discoverer of the land over which Dr. Cook's route
was forced.
Capt. J. E. Bernier, commanding the Canadian Arctic Expeditions.
Prof. G. Frederick Wright, author of the "Ice Age of North America."
Capt. E. B. Baldwin, commanding the Baldwin-Ziegler Expedition.
Prof. W. H. Brewer for 16 years president of the Arctic Club of America.
Prof. Julius Payer of the Weyprecht-Payer Expedition.
Prof. L. L. Dyche, member of various Peary and Cook Expeditions.
Mr. Maurice Connell, Greely Expedition, and U. S. Weather Bureau.
Capt. O. C. Hamlet, U. S. A. Arctic Revenue Service.
Capt. E. A. Haven, Baldwin-Ziegler Expedition.
Mr. Andrew J. Stone, Explorer of North Coast of America.
Mr. Dillon Wallace, Labrador Explorer.
Mr. Edwin Swift Balch, author of "The North Pole and Bradley Land."
Captains Johan Menander, B. S. Osbon and Thomas F. Hall.
Messrs. Henry Biederbeck, Frederick B. Wright, F. F. Taylor, Ralph H.
Cairns, Theodore Lerner, M. Van Ryssellberghe, J. Knowles Hare, Chas. E.
Rilliet, Homer Rogers, R. C. Bates, E. C. Rost, L. C. Bement, Clarence
Wychoff, Alfred Church, Archibald Dickinson, Robert Stein, J. S.
Warmbath, Geo. B. Butland, Ralph Shainwald, Henry Johnson, S. J.
Entrikin, Clark Brown, W. F. Armbruster, John R. Bradley, Harry Whitney
and Rudolph Franke.
Drs. T. F. Dedrick, Middleton Smith, J. G. Knowlton, H. J. Egbert, W. H.
Axtell, A. H. Cordier and Henry Schwartz.
Judge Jules Leclercq, and Prof. Georges Lecointe, Secretary of the
International Bureau of Polar Research.
Thus endorsed by practically all Polar Explorers, Dr. Cook's attainment
of the Pole and his earlier work of discovery and exploration is farther
established by the following honorary pledges of recognition. (These are
now in the possession of Dr. Cook, the press reports to the contrary
being untrue).
By the King of Belgium, decorated as Knight of the Order of Leopold.
By the University of Copenhagen in conferring the degree of Ph. D.
By the Royal Danish Geographical Society, presentation of a gold medal.
By the Arctic Club of America, presentation of a gold medal.
By the Royal Geographical Society of Belgium, presentation of a gold
medal.
By the Municipality of the City of Brussels, presentation of a gold
medal.
By the Municipality of the City of New York, with the ceremony of
presenting the keys and offering the freedom of the city.
Without denying officer Peary's success, we note that his case rests
upon the opinion of three of his official associates in Washington.
Three men acting for a society financially interested--three men who
have never seen a piece of Polar ice--have given it as their "opinion"
that Mr. Peary (a year later than Dr. Cook) reached the Pole. By many
this was accepted as a final verdict of experts for Peary. But are such
men dependable experts?
Dr. Cook now offers in substantiation of his work the support and the
final verdict of fifty of the foremost explorers and scientific experts.
Each in his own way has during the past four years examined the polar
problem and pronounced in favor of Dr. Cook.
He is therefore vindicated of the propaganda of insinuation and distrust
which his enemies forced, and his success in reaching the Pole is
conceded and endorsed by his own peers.
In his book, "My Attainment of the Pole," Dr. Cook offers with thrilling
vividness a most remarkable series of adventures in the enraptured
wilderness at the top of the globe. And in his lectures he takes his
audience step by step over the haunts of northernmost man and beyond to
the sparkling sea of death at the pole. Above all he leaves in the
hearts of his listeners the thrills of a fresh vigor and a new
inspiration, which opens the way for other worlds to conquer. By his
books and by his lectures, Dr. Cook seeks justice at the bar of public
opinion, and three million people have applauded his effort on the
platform. One hundred thousand people will read his book during the
coming year. We are inclined to agree with Capt. E. B. Baldwin and other
Arctic explorers who say--"Putting aside the academic and idle argument
of pin-point accuracy, the North Pole has been honestly reached by Dr.
Cook, three hundred and fifty days before any one else claimed to have
been there."
May 22, 1913.
THE CHAUTAUQUA MANAGERS' ASSOCIATION,
ORCHESTRA BUILDING, CHICAGO.
Chas. W. Ferguson, Pres. A. L. Flude, Sec'y.
PREFACE
This narrative has been prepared as a general outline of my conquest of
the North Pole. In it the scientific data, the observations, every phase
of the pioneer work with its drain of human energy has been presented in
its proper relation to a strange cycle of events. The camera has been
used whenever possible to illustrate the progress of the expedition as
well as the wonders and mysteries of the Arctic wilds. Herein, with due
after-thought and the better perspective afforded by time, the rough
field notes, the disconnected daily tabulations and the records of
instrumental observations, every fact, every optical and mental
impression, has been re-examined and re-arranged to make a concise
record of successive stages of progress to the boreal center. If I have
thus worked out an understandable panorama of our environment, then the
mission of this book has served its purpose.
Much has been said about absolute geographic proof of an explorer's
work. History demonstrates that the book which gives the final
authoritative narrative is the test of an explorer's claims. By it every
traveler has been measured. From the time of the discovery of America to
the piercing of darkest Africa and the opening of Thibet, men who have
sought the truth of the claims of discovery have sought, not abstract
figures, but the continuity of the narrative in the pages of the
traveler's final book. In such a narrative, after due digestion and
assimilation, there is to be found either the proof or the disproof of
the claims of a discoverer.
In such narratives as the one herewith presented, subsequent travelers
and other experts, with no other interests to serve except those of fair
play, have critically examined the material. With the lapse of time
accordingly, when partisanship feelings have been merged in calm and
conscientious judgment, history has always finally pronounced a fair and
equitable verdict.
In a similar way my claim of being first to reach the North Pole will
rest upon the data presented between the covers of this book.
In working out the destiny of this Expedition, and this book which
records its doings, I have to acknowledge my gratitude for the
assistance of many people. First among those to whom I am deeply
indebted is John R. Bradley. By his liberal hand this Expedition was
given life, and by his loyal support and helpfulness I was enabled to
get to my base of operations at Annoatok. By his liberal donations of
food we were enabled to live comfortably during the first year. To John
R. Bradley, therefore, belong the first fruits of the Polar conquest.
A tribute of praise must be placed on record for Rudolph Francke. After
the yacht returned, he was my sole civilized helper and companion. The
faithful manner in which he performed the difficult duties assigned to
him, and his unruffled cheerfulness during the trying weeks of the long
night, reflect a large measure of credit.
The band of little people of the Farthest North furnished without pay
the vital force and the primitive ingenuity without which the quest of
the Pole would be a hopeless task. These boreal pigmies with golden
skins, with muscles of steel, and hearts as finely human as those of the
highest order of man, performed a task that cannot be too highly
commended. The two boys, Ah-we-lah and E-tuk-i-shook, deserve a place on
the tablet of fame. They followed me with a perseverance which
demonstrates one of the finest qualities of savage life. They shared
with me the long run of hardship; they endured without complaint the
unsatisfied hunger, the unquenched thirst, and the maddening isolation,
with no thought of reward except that which comes from an unselfish
desire to follow one whom they chose to regard as a friend. If a noble
deed was ever accomplished, these boys did it, and history should record
their heroic effort with indelible ink.
At the request of Mrs. Cook, the Canadian Government sent its ship, the
"Arctic," under Captain Bernier, with supplementary supplies for me, to
Etah. These were left under the charge of Mr. Harry Whitney. The return
to civilization was made in comfort, by the splendid manner in which
this difficult problem was carried out. To each and all in this
combination I am deeply indebted.
With sweet memories of the warm hospitality of Danes in Greenland, I
here subscribe my never-to-be-forgotten appreciation. I am also indebted
to the Royal Greenland Trading Company and to the United S. S. Company
for many favors; and, above all, am I grateful to the Danes as a nation,
for the whole-souled demonstrations of friendship and appreciation at
Copenhagen.
In the making of this book, I was relieved of much routine editorial
work by Mr. T. Everett Harry, associate editor of Hampton's Magazine,
who rearranged much of my material, and by whose handling of certain
purely adventure matter a book of better literary workmanship has been
made.
I am closing the pages of this book with a good deal of regret, for, in
the effort to make the price of this volume so low that it can go into
every home, the need for brevity has dictated the number of pages. My
last word to all--to friends and enemies--is, if you must pass judgment,
study the problem carefully. You are as capable of forming a correct
judgment as the self-appointed experts. One of Peary's captains has said
"that he knew, but never would admit, that Peary did not reach the
Pole." Rear Admiral Chester has said the same about me, but he "admits"
it in big, flaming type. With due respect to these men, in justice to
the cause, I am bound to say that these, and others of their kind, who
necessarily have a blinding bias, are not better able to judge than the
average American citizen.
If you have read this book, then read Mr. Peary's "North Pole." Put the
two books side by side. When making comparisons, remember that my
attainment of the Pole was one year earlier than Mr. Peary's claim; that
my narrative was written and printed months before that of Mr. Peary;
that the Peary narrative is such that Rear Admiral Schley has
said--"After reading the published accounts daily and critically of
both claimants, I was forced to the conclusion from their striking
similarity that each of you was the eye-witness of the other's success.
Without collusion, it would have been impossible to have written
accounts so similar."
This opinion, coming as it does from one of the highest Arctic and Naval
authorities, is endorsed by practically all Arctic explorers. Captain E.
B. Baldwin goes even further, and proves my claim from the pages of
Peary's own book. Governor Brown of Georgia, after a critical
examination of the two reports, says, "If it is true, as Peary would
like us to believe, that Cook has given us a gold brick, then Peary has
offered a paste diamond."
Since my account was written and printed first, the striking analogy
apparent in the Peary pages either proves my position at the Pole or it
convicts Peary of using my data to fill out and impart verisimilitude to
his own story of a second victory.
Much against my will I find myself compelled to uncover the dark pages
of the selfish unfairness of rival interests. In doing so my aim is not
to throw doubt and distrust on Mr. Peary's success, but to show his
incentive and his methods in attempting to leave the sting of discredit
upon me. I would prefer to close my eye to a long series of wrong doings
as I have done in the passing years, but the Polar controversy cannot be
understood unless we get the perspective of the man who has forced it.
Heretofore I have allowed others to expend their argumentative
ammunition. The questions which I have raised are minor points. On the
main question of Polar attainment there is not now room for doubt. The
Pole has been honestly reached--the American Eagle has spread its wings
of glory over the world's top. Whether there is room for one or two or
more under those wings, I am content to let the future decide.
FREDERICK A. COOK.
The Waldorf-Astoria,
New York, June 15, 1911.
[Illustration]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
I THE POLAR FIGHT 1
II INTO THE BOREAL WILDS 23
THE YACHT BRADLEY LEAVES GLOUCESTER--INVADES THE MAGIC WATERS
OF THE ARCTIC SEAS--RECOLLECTIONS OF BOYHOOD AMBITIONS--BEYOND
THE ARCTIC CIRCLE--THE WEAVING OF THE POLAR SPELL
III THE DRIVING SPUR OF THE POLAR QUEST 42
ON THE FRIGID PATHWAY OF THREE CENTURIES OF HEROIC MARTYRS--
MEETING THE STRANGE PEOPLE OF THE FARTHEST NORTH--THE LIFE
OF THE STONE AGE--ON THE CHASE WITH THE ESKIMOS--MANEE AND
SPARTAN ESKIMO COURAGE
IV TO THE LIMITS OF NAVIGATION 62
EXCITING HUNTS FOR GAME WITH THE ESKIMOS--ARRIVAL AT ETAH--
SPEEDY TRIP TO ANNOATOK, THE WINDY PLACE, WHERE SUPPLIES ARE
FOUND IN ABUNDANCE--EVERYTHING AUSPICIOUS FOR DASH TO THE
POLE--DETERMINATION TO ESSAY THE EFFORT--BRADLEY INFORMED--
DEBARK FOR THE POLE--THE YACHT RETURNS
V PREPARATIONS FOR THE POLAR DASH 73
AN ENTIRE TRIBE BREATHLESSLY AND FEVERISHLY AT WORK--MAPPING
OUT THE POLAR CAMPAIGN
VI THE CURTAIN OF NIGHT DROPS 81
TRIBE OF TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY NATIVES BUSILY BEGIN
PREPARATIONS FOR THE POLAR DASH--EXCITING HUNTS FOR THE
UNICORN AND OTHER GAME FROM ANNOATOK TO CAPE YORK--EVERY
ANIMAL CAUGHT BEARING UPON THE SUCCESS OF THE VENTURE--THE
GRAY-GREEN GLOOM OF TWILIGHT IN WHICH THE ESKIMO WOMEN
COMMUNICATE WITH THE SOULS OF THE DEAD
VII FIRST WEEK OF THE LONG NIGHT 99
HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC TWILIGHT--PURSUING BEAR, CARIBOU AND
SMALLER GAME IN SEMI-GLOOM
VIII THE MOONLIGHT QUEST OF THE WALRUS 114
DESPERATE AND DANGEROUS HUNTING, IN ORDER TO SECURE ADEQUATE
SUPPLIES FOR THE POLAR DASH--A THRILLING AND ADVENTUROUS
RACE IS MADE OVER FROZEN SEAS AND ICY MOUNTAINS TO THE WALRUS
GROUNDS--TERRIFIC EXPLOSION OF THE ICE ON WHICH THE PARTY
HUNTS--SUCCESS IN SECURING OVER SEVEN SLED-LOADS OF BLUBBER
MAKES THE POLE SEEM NEARER--AN ARCTIC TRAGEDY
IX MIDNIGHT AND MID-WINTER 130
THE EQUIPMENT AND ITS PROBLEMS--NEW ART IN THE MAKING OF
SLEDGES COMBINING LIGHTNESS--PROGRESS OF THE PREPARATIONS--
CHRISTMAS WITH ITS GLAD TIDINGS AND AUGURIES FOR SUCCESS
IN QUEST OF THE POLE
X EN ROUTE FOR THE POLE 149
THE CAMPAIGN OPENS--LAST WEEKS OF THE POLAR NIGHT--ADVANCE
PARTIES SENT OUT--AWAITING THE DAWN
XI EXPLORING A NEW PASS OVER ACPOHON 162
FROM THE ATLANTIC WATERS AT FLAGLER BAY TO THE PACIFIC WATERS
AT BAY FIORD--THE MECCA OF THE MUSK OX--BATTLES WITH THE
BOVINE MONSTERS OF THE ARCTIC--SUNRISE AND THE GLORY OF SUNSET
XII IN GAME TRAILS TO LAND'S END 176
SVERDRUP'S NEW WONDERLAND--FEASTING ON GAME EN ROUTE TO
SVARTEVOEG--FIRST SHADOW OBSERVATIONS--FIGHTS WITH WOLVES AND
BEARS--THE JOYS OF ZERO'S LOWEST--THRESHOLD OF THE UNKNOWN
XIII THE TRANS-BOREAL DASH BEGINS 194
BY FORCED EFFORTS AND THE USE OF AXES SPEED IS MADE OVER
THE LAND-ADHERING PACK ICE OF POLAR SEA--THE MOST DIFFICULT
TRAVEL OF THE PROPOSED JOURNEY SUCCESSFULLY ACCOMPLISHED--
REGRETFUL PARTING WITH THE ESKIMOS
XIV OVER THE POLAR SEA TO THE BIG LEAD 208
WITH TWO ESKIMO COMPANIONS, THE RACE POLEWARD CONTINUES OVER
ROUGH AND DIFFICULT ICE--THE LAST LAND FADES BEHIND--MIRAGES
LEAP INTO BEING AND WEAVE A MYSTIC SPELL--A SWIRLING SCENE OF
MOVING ICE AND FANTASTIC EFFECTS--STANDING ON A HILL OF ICE,
A BLACK, WRITHING, SNAKY CUT APPEARS IN THE ICE BEYOND--THE
BIG LEAD--A NIGHT OF ANXIETY--FIVE HUNDRED MILES ALREADY
COVERED--FOUR HUNDRED TO THE POLE
XV CROSSING MOVING SEAS OF ICE 221
CROSSING THE LEAD--THE THIN ICE HEAVES LIKE A SHEET OF
RUBBER--CREEPING FORWARD CAUTIOUSLY, THE TWO DANGEROUS MILES
ARE COVERED--BOUNDING PROGRESS MADE OVER IMPROVING ICE--THE
FIRST HURRICANE--DOGS BURIED AND FROZEN INTO MASSES IN DRIFTS
OF SNOW--THE ICE PARTS THROUGH THE IGLOO--WAKING TO FIND
ONE'S SELF FALLING INTO THE COLD SEA
XVI LAND DISCOVERED 232
FIGHTING PROGRESS THROUGH CUTTING COLD AND TERRIFIC STORMS--
LIFE BECOMES A MONOTONOUS ROUTINE OF HARDSHIP--THE POLE
INSPIRES WITH ITS RESISTLESS LURE--NEW LAND DISCOVERED BEYOND
THE EIGHTY-FOURTH PARALLEL--MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED MILES FROM
SVARTEVOEG--THE FIRST SIX HUNDRED MILES COVERED
XVII BEYOND THE RANGE OF LIFE 248
WITH A NEW SPRING TO WEARY LEGS BRADLEY LAND IS LEFT BEHIND--
FEELING THE ACHING VASTNESS OF THE WORLD BEFORE MAN WAS MADE--
CURIOUS GRIMACES OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN--SUFFERINGS INCREASE--BY
PERSISTENT AND LABORIOUS PROGRESS ANOTHER HUNDRED MILES IS
COVERED
XVIII OVER POLAR SEAS OF MYSTERY 260
THE MADDENING TORTURES OF A WORLD WHERE ICE WATER SEEMS HOT,
AND COLD KNIVES BURN ONE'S HANDS--ANGUISHED PROGRESS ON THE
LAST STRETCH OF TWO HUNDRED MILES OVER ANCHORED LAND ICE--
DAYS OF SUFFERING AND GLOOM--THE TIME OF DESPAIR--"IT IS
WELL TO DIE," SAYS AH-WE-LAH; "BEYOND IS IMPOSSIBLE"
XIX TO THE POLE--LAST HUNDRED MILES 269
OVER PLAINS OF GOLD AND SEAS OF PALPITATING COLOR THE DOG
TEAMS, WITH NOSES DOWN, TAILS ERECT, DASH SPIRITEDLY LIKE
CHARIOT HORSES--CHANTING LOVE SONGS THE ESKIMOS FOLLOW WITH
SWINGING STEP--TIRED EYES OPEN TO NEW GLORY--STEP BY STEP,
WITH THUMPING HEARTS THE EARTH'S APEX IS NEARED--AT LAST!
THE GOAL IS REACHED! THE STARS AND STRIPES ARE FLUNG TO THE
FRIGID BREEZES OF THE NORTH POLE!
XX AT THE NORTH POLE 286
OBSERVATIONS AT THE POLE--METEOROLOGICAL AND ASTRONOMICAL
PHENOMENA--SINGULAR STABILITY AND UNIFORMITY OF THE
THERMOMETER AND BAROMETER--A SPOT WHERE ONE'S SHADOW IS THE
SAME LENGTH EACH HOUR OF THE TWENTY-FOUR--EIGHT POLAR
ALTITUDES OF THE SUN
XXI THE RETURN--A BATTLE FOR LIFE 314
TURNED BACKS TO THE POLE AND TO THE SUN--THE DOGS, SEEMINGLY
GLAD AND SEEMINGLY SENSIBLE THAT THEIR NOSES WERE POINTED
HOMEWARD, BARKED SHRILLY--SUFFERING FROM INTENSE DEPRESSION--
THE DANGERS OF MOVING ICE, OF STORMS AND SLOW STARVATION--THE
THOUGHT OF FIVE HUNDRED AND TWENTY MILES TO LAND CAUSES
DESPAIR
XXII BACK TO LIFE AND BACK TO LAND 326
THE RETURN--DELUDED BY DRIFT AND FOG--CARRIED ASTRAY OVER
AN UNSEEN DEEP--TRAVEL FOR TWENTY DAYS IN A WORLD OF MISTS,
WITH THE TERROR OF DEATH--AWAKENED FROM SLEEP BY A HEAVENLY
SONG--THE FIRST BIRD--FOLLOWING THE WINGED HARBINGER--WE
REACH LAND--A BLEAK, BARREN ISLAND POSSESSING THE CHARM OF
PARADISE--AFTER DAYS VERGING ON STARVATION, WE ENJOY A FEAST
OF UNCOOKED GAME
XXIII OVERLAND TO JONES SOUND 341
HOURS OF ICY TORTURE--A FRIGID SUMMER STORM IN THE BERG-DRIVEN
ARCTIC SEA--A PERILOUS DASH THROUGH TWISTING LANES OF OPENING
WATER IN A CANVAS CANOE--THE DRIVE OF HUNGER
XXIV UNDER THE WHIP OF FAMINE 355
BY BOAT AND SLEDGE, OVER THE DRIFTING ICE AND STORMY SEAS OF
JONES SOUND--FROM ROCK TO ROCK IN QUEST OF FOOD--MAKING NEW
WEAPONS
XXV BEAR FIGHTS AND WALRUS BATTLES 365
DANGEROUS ADVENTURES IN A CANVAS BOAT--ON THE VERGE OF
STARVATION, A MASSIVE BRUTE, WEIGHING THREE THOUSAND POUNDS,
IS CAPTURED AFTER A FIFTEEN-HOUR STRUGGLE--ROBBED OF PRECIOUS
FOOD BY HUNGRY BEARS
XXVI BULL FIGHTS WITH THE MUSK OX 378
AN ANCIENT CAVE EXPLORED FOR SHELTER--DEATH BY STARVATION
AVERTED BY HAND-TO-HAND ENCOUNTERS WITH WILD ANIMALS
XXVII A NEW ART OF CHASE 393
THREE WEEKS BEFORE THE SUNSET OF 1908--REVELLING IN AN EDEN
OF GAME--PECULIARITIES OF ANIMALS OF THE ARCTIC--HOW NATURE
DICTATES ANIMAL COLOR--THE QUEST OF SMALL LIFE
XXVIII A HUNDRED NIGHTS IN AN UNDERGROUND DEN 406
LIVING LIKE MEN OF THE STONE AGE--THE DESOLATION OF THE LONG
NIGHT--LIFE ABOUT CAPE SPARBO--PREPARING EQUIPMENT FOR THE
RETURN TO GREENLAND--SUNRISE, FEBRUARY 11, 1909
XXIX HOMEWARD WITH A HALF SLEDGE AND HALF-FILLED STOMACHS 425
THREE HUNDRED MILES THROUGH STORM AND SNOW AND UPLIFTED
MOUNTAINS OF ICE TROUBLES--DISCOVER TWO ISLANDS--ANNOATOK IS
REACHED--MEETING HARRY WHITNEY--NEWS OF PEARY'S SEIZURE OF
SUPPLIES
XXX ANNOATOK TO UPERNAVIK 447
ELEVEN HUNDRED MILES SOUTHWARD OVER SEA AND LAND--AT ETAH--
OVERLAND TO THE WALRUS GROUNDS--ESKIMO COMEDIES AND TRAGEDIES--
A RECORD RUN OVER MELVILLE BAY--FIRST NEWS FROM PASSING SHIPS--
THE ECLIPSE OF THE SUN--SOUTHWARD BY STEAMER GODTHAAB
XXXI FROM GREENLAND TO COPENHAGEN 463
FOREWARNING OF THE POLAR CONTROVERSY--BANQUET AT
EGGEDESMINDE--ON BOARD THE HANS EGEDE--CABLEGRAMS SENT FROM
LERWICK--THE OVATION AT COPENHAGEN--BEWILDERED AMIDST THE
GENERAL ENTHUSIASM--PEARY'S FIRST MESSAGES--EMBARK ON OSCAR
II FOR NEW YORK
XXXII COPENHAGEN TO THE UNITED STATES 476
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC--RECEPTION IN NEW YORK--BEWILDERING
CYCLONE OF EVENTS--INSIDE NEWS OF THE PEARY ATTACK--HOW
THE WEB OF SHAME WAS WOVEN
XXXIII THE KEY TO THE CONTROVERSY 507
PEARY AND HIS PAST--HIS DEALING WITH RIVAL EXPLORERS--THE
DEATH OF ASTRUP--THE THEFT OF THE "GREAT IRON STONE," THE
NATIVES' SOLE SOURCE OF IRON
XXXIV THE MT. MCKINLEY BRIBERY 521
THE BRIBED, FAKED AND FORGED NEWS ITEMS--THE PRO-PEARY
MONEY POWERS ENCOURAGE PERJURY--MT. MCKINLEY HONESTLY
CLIMBED--HOW, FOR PEARY, A SIMILAR PEAK WAS FAKED
XXXV THE DUNKLE-LOOSE FORGERY 535
ITS PRO-PEARY MAKING
XXXVI HOW A GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY PROSTITUTED ITS NAME 541
THE WASHINGTON VERDICT--THE COPENHAGEN VERDICT
RETROSPECT 557
THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE POLAR CONTROVERSY (Preceding Preface) (a)
Dr. Cook Vindicated--His Discovery of the North Pole Endorsed
by the Explorers of all the World.
THE PEARY-PARKER-BROWN HUMBUG UP TO DATE (To Finish Page) 534
Parker contradicts former Statement--Says he climbed Mt.
McKinley by Northeast Ridge.--The Ridge used by Dr. Cook.
VERDICT OF THE GEOGRAPHIC HISTORIAN (By Edwin Swift Balch) 595
Dr. Cook's Record is Accurate--It is Certified--It is
Corroborated--He is the Discoverer of the North Pole.
A REQUEST FOR A NATIONAL INVESTIGATION (By Dr. Frederick A.
Cook) 600
Nation should decide--Congress Should Investigate Rival
Claims--Letter to the President.
CAN THE GOVERNMENT ESCAPE THE RESPONSIBILITY (By Fred High,
Editor of the Platform) 605
Cook Should Have a Fair Deal--An Unbiased Comparison--Letters
to and from Prominent Men.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FREDERICK A. COOK _Frontispiece_
FACING PAGE
RUDOLPH FRANCKE IN ARCTIC COSTUME 12
MIDNIGHT--"A PANORAMA OF BLACK LACQUER AND SILVER" 13
ON THE CHASE FOR BEAR--THE BOX-HOUSE AT ANNOATOK AND ITS
WINTER ENVIRONMENT 76
MAN'S PREY OF THE ARCTIC SEA--WALRUS ASLEEP 77
THE HELPERS--NORTHERNMOST MAN AND HIS WIFE 108
A MECCA OF MUSK OX ALONG EUREKA SOUND--A NATIVE
HELPER--AH-WE-LAH'S PROSPECTIVE WIFE 109
THE CAPTURE OF A BEAR--ROUNDING UP A HERD OF MUSK OXEN 140
SVARTEVOEG--CAMPING 500 MILES FROM THE POLE 141
"THE IGLOO BUILT, WE PREPARE FOR OUR DAILY CAMP" 172
CAMPING TO EAT AND TAKE OBSERVATIONS--ON AGAIN 173
DASHING FORWARD EN ROUTE TO THE POLE 204
DEPARTURE OF SUPPORTING PARTY--A BREATHING SPELL--POLEWARD 205
BRADLEY LAND DISCOVERED--SUBMERGED ISLAND OF POLAR
SEA--GOING BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF LIFE 236
SWIFT PROGRESS OVER SMOOTH ICE--BUILDING AN IGLOO--A
LIFELESS WORLD OF COLD AND ICE 237
"TOO WEARY TO BUILD IGLOOS, WE USED THE SILK TENT"
"ACROSS SEAS OF CRYSTAL GLORY TO THE BOREAL CENTRE" 268
MENDING NEAR THE POLE 269
FIRST CAMP AT THE POLE, APRIL 21, 1908 300
AT THE POLE--"WE WERE THE ONLY PULSATING CREATURES IN A
DEAD WORLD OF ICE" 301
"WITH EAGER EYES WE SEARCHED THE DUSKY PLAINS OF CRYSTAL, BUT
THERE WAS NO LAND, NO LIFE, TO RELIEVE THE PURPLE RUN OF DEATH" 332
RECORD LEFT IN BRASS TUBE AT NORTH POLE 333
OBSERVATION DETERMINING THE POLE--PHOTOGRAPH FROM ORIGINAL NOTE 364
BACK TO LAND AND BACK TO LIFE--AWAKENED BY A WINGED HARBINGER 365
E-TUK-I-SHOOK WAITING FOR A SEAL AT A BLOW HOLE 396
TOWARD CAPE SPARBO IN CANVAS BOAT--WALRUS--(PRIZE OF 15-HOUR
BATTLE) 4,000 LBS. OF MEAT AND FAT 397
PUNCTURED CANVAS BOAT IN WHICH WE PADDLED 1,000 MILES--FAMINE
DAYS, WHEN ONLY STRAY BIRDS PREVENTED STARVATION--DEN IN WHICH
WE SPENT 100 DOUBLE NIGHTS 428
BULL FIGHTS WITH THE MUSK OX ABOUT CAPE SPARBO 429
SAVED FROM STARVATION--THE RESULT OF ONE OF OUR LAST CARTRIDGES 460
"MILES AND MILES OF DESOLATION"--HOMEWARD BOUND 461
GOVERNOR KRAUL IN HIS STUDY--ARRIVAL AT UPERNAVIK 492
POLAR TRAGEDY--A DESERTED CHILD OF THE SULTAN OF THE NORTH AND
ITS MOTHER 493
My Attainment of the Pole
I.
THE POLAR FIGHT
On April 21, 1908, I reached a spot on the silver-shining desert of
boreal ice whereat a wild wave of joy filled my heart. I can remember
the scene distinctly--it will remain one of those comparatively few
mental pictures which are photographed with a terribly vivid
distinctness of detail, because of their emotional effect, during
everyone's existence, and which reassert themselves in the brain like
lightning flashes in stresses of intense emotion, in dreams, in the
delirium of sickness, and possibly in the hour of death.
I can see the sun lying low above the horizon, which glittered here and
there in shafts of light like the tip of a long, circular, silver blade.
The globe of fire, veiled occasionally by purplish, silver-shot mists,
was tinged with a faint, burning lilac. Through opening cracks in the
constantly moving field of ice, cold strata of air rose, deflecting the
sun's rays in every direction, and changing the vision of distant ice
irregularities with a deceptive perspective, as an oar blade seen in the
depth of still water.
Huge phantom-shapes took form about me; they were nebulous, their color
purplish. About the horizon moved what my imagination pictured as the
ghosts of dead armies--strange, gigantic, wraith-like shapes whose heads
rose above the horizon as the heads of a giant army appearing over the
summits of a far-away mountain. They moved forward, retreated,
diminished in size, and titanically reappeared again. Above them, in the
purple mists and darker clouds, shifted scintillantly waving flashes of
light, orange and crimson, the ghosts of their earthly battle banners,
wind-tossed, golden and bloodstained.
I stood gazing with wonder, half-appalled, forgetting that these were
mirages produced by cold air and deflected light rays, and feeling only
as though I were beholding some vague revelation of victorious hosts,
beings of that other world which in olden times, it is said, were
conjured at Endor. It seemed fitting that they should march and remarch
about me; that the low beating of the wind should suddenly swell into
throbbing martial music. For that moment I was intoxicated. I stood
alone, apart from my two Eskimo companions, a shifting waste of purple
ice on every side, alone in a dead world--a world of angry winds,
eternal cold, and desolate for hundreds of miles in every direction as
the planet before man was made.
I felt in my heart the thrill which any man must feel when an almost
impossible but dearly desired work is attained--the thrill of
accomplishment with which a poet must regard his greatest masterpiece,
which a sculptor must feel when he puts the finishing touch to inanimate
matter wherein he has expressed consummately a living thought, which a
conqueror must feel when he has mastered a formidable alien army.
Standing on this spot, I felt that I, a human being, with all of
humanity's frailties, had conquered cold, evaded famine, endured an
inhuman battling with a rigorous, infuriated Nature in a soul-racking,
body-sapping journey such as no man perhaps had ever made. I had proved
myself to myself, with no thought at the time of any worldy applause.
Only the ghosts about me, which my dazzled imagination evoked,
celebrated the glorious thing with me--a thing in which no human being
could have shared. Over and over again I repeated to myself that I had
reached the North Pole, and the thought thrilled through my nerves and
veins like the shivering sound of silver bells.
That was my hour of victory. It was the climacteric hour of my life. The
vision and the thrill, despite all that has passed since then, remain,
and will remain with me as long as life lasts, as the vision and the
thrill of an honest, actual accomplishment.
That I stood at the time on the very pivotal pin-point of the earth I do
not and never did claim; I may have, I may not. In that moving world of
ice, of constantly rising mists, with a low-lying sun whose rays are
always deflected, such an ascertainment of actual position, even with
instruments in the best workable condition, is, as all scientists will
agree, impossible. That I reached the North Pole approximately, and
ascertained my location as accurately, as painstakingly, as the
terrestrial and celestial conditions and the best instruments would
allow; that I thrilled with victory, and made my claim on as honest, as
careful, as scientific a basis of observations and calculations as any
human being could, I do emphatically assert. That any man, in reaching
this region, could do more than I did to ascertain definitely the
mathematical Pole, and that any more voluminous display of figures could
substantiate a claim of greater accuracy, I do deny. I believe still
what I told the world when I returned, that I am the first white man to
reach that spot known as the North Pole as far as it is, or ever will
be, humanly possible to ascertain the location of that spot.
Few men in all history, I am inclined to believe, have ever been made
the subject of such vicious attacks, of such malevolent assailing of
character, of such a series of perjured and forged charges, of such a
widespread and relentless press persecution, as I; and few men, I feel
sure, have ever been made to suffer so bitterly and so inexpressibly as
I because of the assertion of my achievement. So persistent, so
egregious, so overwhelming were the attacks made upon me that for a time
my spirit was broken, and in the bitterness of my soul I even felt
desirous of disappearing to some remote corner of the earth, to be
forgotten. I knew that envy was the incentive to all the unkind abuses
heaped upon me, and I knew also that in due time, when the public
agitation subsided and a better perspective followed, the justice of my
claim would force itself to the inevitable light of truth.
With this confidence in the future, I withdrew from the envious,
money-waged strife to the calm and restfulness of my own family circle.
The campaign of infamy raged and spent its force. The press lined up
with this dishonest movement by printing bribed, faked and forged news
items, deliberately manufactured by my enemies to feed a newspaper
hunger for sensation. In going away for a rest it did not seem prudent
to take the press into my confidence, a course which resulted in the
mean slurs that I had abandoned my cause. This again was used by my
enemies to blacken my character. In reality, I had tried to keep the
ungracious Polar controversy within the bounds of decent, gentlemanly
conduct; but indecency had become the keynote, and against this, mild
methods served no good purpose. I preferred, therefore, to go away and
allow the atmosphere to clear of the stench stirred up by rival
interest; but while I was away, my enemies were watched, and I am here
now to uncover the darkest campaign of bribery and conspiracy ever
forged in a strife for honor.
Now that my disappointment, my bitterness has passed, that my hurt has
partly healed, I have determined to tell the whole truth about myself,
about the charges made against me, and about those by whom the charges
were made. Herein, FOR THE FIRST TIME, I will tell how and why I
believed I reached the North Pole, and give fully the record upon which
this claim is based. Only upon such a complete account of day-by-day
traveling and such observations, can any claim rest.
Despite the hullabaloo of voluminous so-called proofs offered by a
rival, I am certain that the unprejudiced reader will herein find as
complete a story, and as valuable figures as those ever offered by
anyone for any such achievement in exploration as mine. Herein, for the
first time, shall I answer _in toto_ all charges made against me, and
this because the entire truth concerning these same charges I have not
succeeded in giving the world through other channels. Because of the
power of those who arrayed themselves against me, I found the columns of
the press closed to much that I wished to say; articles which I wrote
for publication underwent editorial excision, and absolutely necessary
explanations, which in themselves attacked my assailants, were
eliminated.
Only by reading my own story, as fully set down herein, can anyone judge
of the relative value of my claim and that of my rival claimant; only by
so doing can anyone get at the truth of the plot made to discredit me;
only by doing so can one learn the reason for all of my actions, for my
failure to meet charges at the time they were made, for my disappearing
at a time when such action was unfairly made to confirm the worst
charges of my detractors. That I have been too charitable with those who
attempted to steal the justly deserved honors of my achievement, I am
now convinced; when desirable, I shall now, having felt the smarting
sting of the world's whip, and in order to justify myself, use the
knife. I shall tell the truth even though it hurts. I have not been
spared, and I shall spare no one in telling the unadorned and unpleasant
story of a man who has been bitterly wronged, whose character has been
assailed by bought and perjured affidavits, whose life before he
returned from the famine-land of ice and cold--the world of his
conquest--was endangered, designedly or not, by a dishonest
appropriation of food supplies by one who afterwards endeavored
to steal from him his honor, which is more dear than life.
To be doubted, and to have one's honesty assailed, has been the
experience of many explorers throughout history. The discoverer of our
own continent, Christopher Columbus, was thrown into prison, and
another, Amerigo Vespucci, was given the honor, his name to this day
marking the land which was reached only through the intrepidity and
single-hearted, single-sustained confidence of a man whose vision his
own people doubted. Even in my own time have explorers been assailed,
among them Stanley, whose name for a time was shrouded with suspicion,
and others who since have joined the ranks of my assailants.
Unfortunately, in such cases the matter of proof and the reliability of
any claim, basicly, must rest entirely upon the intangible evidence of a
man's own word; there can be no such thing as a palpable and indubitable
proof. And in the case when a man's good faith is aspersed and his
character assailed, the world's decision must rest either upon his own
word or that of his detractors.
Returning from the North, exhausted both in body and brain by a savage
and excruciating struggle against famine and cold, yet thrilling with
the glorious conviction of a personal attainment, I was tossed to the
zenith of worldly honor on a wave of enthusiasm, a world-madness, which
startled and bewildered me. In that swift, sudden, lightning-flash
ascension to glory, which I had not expected, and in which I was as a
bit of helpless drift in the thundering tossing of an ocean storm, I was
decorated with unasked-for honors, the laudations of the press of the
world rang in my ears, the most notable of living men hailed me as one
great among them. I found myself the unwilling and uncomfortable guest
of princes, and I was led forward to receive the gracious hand of a
King.
Returning to my own country, still marveling that such honors should be
given because I had accomplished what seemed, and still seems, a merely
personal achievement, and of little importance to anyone save to him who
throbs with the gratification of a personal success, I was greeted with
mad cheers and hooting whistles, with bursting guns and blaring bands. I
was led through streets filled with applauding men and singing children
and arched with triumphal flowers. In a dizzy whirl about the
country--which now seems like a delirious dream--I experienced what I am
told was an ovation unparalleled of its kind.
Coincident with my return to civilization, and while the world was
ringing with congratulations, there came stinging through the cold air
from the North, by wireless electric flashes, word from Mr. Peary that
he had reached the North Pole and that, in asserting such a claim
myself, I was a liar. I did not then doubt the good faith of Peary's
claim; having reached the boreal center myself, under extremely
favorable weather conditions, I felt that he, with everything in his
favor, could do as much a year later, as he claimed. I replied with all
candor what I felt, that there was glory enough for two. But I did, of
course, feel the sting of my rival's unwarranted and virulent attacks.
In the stress of any great crisis, the average human mind is apt to be
carried away by unwise impulses.
Following Mr. Peary's return, I found myself the object of a campaign to
discredit me in which, I believe, as an explorer, I stand the most
shamefully abused man in the history of exploration. Deliberately
planned, inspired at first, and at first directed, by Mr. Peary from
the wireless stations of Labrador, this campaign was consistently and
persistently worked out by a powerful and affluent organization, with
unlimited money at its command, which has had as its allies dishonest
pseudo-scientists, financially and otherwise interested in the success
of Mr. Peary's expedition. With a chain of powerful newspapers, a
financial backer of Peary led a campaign to destroy confidence in me. I
found myself in due time, before I realized the importance of underhand
attacks, in a quandary which baffled and bewildered me. Without any
organization behind me, without any wires to pull, without, at the time,
any appreciable amount of money for defence, I felt what anyone who is
not superhuman would have felt, a sickening sense of helplessness, a
disgust at the human duplicity which permitted such things, a sense of
the futility of the very thing I had done and its little worth compared
to the web of shame my enemies were endeavoring to weave about me.
One of the remarkable things about modern journalism is that, by
persistent repetition, it can create as a fact in the public mind a
thing which is purely immaterial or untrue. Taking the cue from Peary,
there was at the beginning a widespread and unprecedented call for
"proofs," which in some vague way were to consist of unreduced
reckonings. Mr. Peary had his own--he had buried part of mine. I did not
at the time instantly produce these vague and obscure proofs, knowing,
as all scientists know, that figures must inevitably be inadequate and
that any convincing proof that can exist is to be found only in the
narrative account of such a quest. I did not appreciate that in the
public mind, because of the newspapers' criticisms, there was growing a
demand for this vague something. For this reason, I did not consider an
explanation of the absurdity of this exaggerated position necessary.
Nor did I appreciate the relative effect of the National Geographic
Society's "acceptance" of Mr. Peary's so-called "proofs" while mine were
not forthcoming. I did not know at the time, what has since been brought
out in the testimony given before the Naval Committee in Washington,
that the National Geographic Society's verdict was based upon an
indifferent examination of worthless observations and a few seconds'
casual observation of Mr. Peary's instruments by several members of the
Society in the Pennsylvania Railroad Station at Washington. With many
lecture engagements, I considered that I was right in doing what every
other explorer, including Mr. Peary himself, had done before me; that
is, to fulfill my lecture and immediate literary opportunities while
there was a great public interest aroused, and to offer a narrative of
greater length, with field observations and extensive scientific data,
later.
Following the exaggerated call for proofs, there began a series of
persistently planned attacks. So petty and insignificant did many of
them seem to me that I gave them little thought. My speed limits were
questioned, this charge being dropped when it was found that Mr. Peary's
had exceeded mine. The use by the newspaper running my narrative story
of photographs of Arctic scenes--which never change in character--that
had been taken by me on previous trips, was held up as visible evidence
that I was a faker! Errors which crept into my newspaper account
because of hasty preparation, and which were not corrected because there
was no time to read proofs, were eagerly seized upon, and long, abstruse
and impressive mathematical dissertations were made on these to prove
how unscrupulous and unreliable I was.
The photograph of the flag at the Pole was put forth by one of Mr.
Peary's friends to prove on _prima facie_ evidence that I had faked.
Inasmuch as the original negative was vague because of the non-actinic
light in the North, the newspaper photographers retouched the print and
painted on it a shadow as being cast from the flag and snow igloos. This
shadow was seized upon avidly, and after long and learned calculations,
was cited as showing that the picture was taken some five hundred miles
from the Pole.
A formidable appearing statement, signed by various members of his
expedition, and copyrighted by the clique of honor-blind boosters, was
issued by Mr. Peary. In this he gave statements of my two Eskimo
companions to the effect that I had not gotten out of sight of land for
more than one or two "sleeps" on my trip. I knew that I had encouraged
the delusion of my Eskimos that the mirages and low-lying clouds which
appeared almost daily were signs of land. In their ignorance and their
eagerness to be near land, they believed this, and by this innocent
deception I prevented the panic which seizes every Arctic savage when he
finds himself upon the circumpolar sea out of sight of land. I have
since learned that Mr. Peary's Eskimos became panic-stricken near the
Big Lead on his last journey and that it was only by the
life-threatening announcement to them of his determination to leave
them alone on the ice (to get back to land as best they might or starve
to death) that he compelled them to accompany him.