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Rear Admiral Robert Peary

Robert Peary in naval uniform
Born May 6, 1856
Cresson
Died February 20, 1920
Nationality American
Known for geographic North Pole

Robert Edwin Peary (May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole -- a claim that subsequently attracted much criticism and controversy, and is today widely doubted. Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. Year 1856 ( MDCCCLVI) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Cresson is a borough within Cresson Township in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, 75 miles (121 km east of Pittsburgh. Events 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a Dowry payment Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is subject to the caveats explained below defined as the point in the northern Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. Year 1856 ( MDCCCLVI) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a Dowry payment Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is subject to the caveats explained below defined as the point in the northern

Contents

Peary's life

Early years

Peary was born in the town of Cresson, 80 miles east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1856. Cresson is a borough within Cresson Township in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, 75 miles (121 km east of Pittsburgh. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern He moved to Maine, attended Portland High School, was a graduate of Bowdoin College, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean Portland High School is a public High school in Portland Maine ( Cumberland County) which educates grades 9&ndash12 Bowdoin College, founded in 1794 is a private liberal arts college located in the coastal New England town of Brunswick, Maine. Delta Kappa Epsilon ( ΔΚΕ; also pronounced D-K-E or "Deke" is a Fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore He was commissioned a Civil Engineer Corps Officer in the United States Navy October 26, 1881. NOTE This article is about a Naval organization For the Army Corps of Engineers see United States Army Corps of Engineers. Events 740 - An Earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing much damage and death Year 1881 ( MDCCCLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common With his wife, Josephine Diebitsch Peary, he had two children: Marie Peary and Robert Edwin Peary, Jr. During the Arctic expeditions, both Peary and his fellow explorer Matthew Henson fathered children with Inuit women, two of whom were brought to the attention of the American public by S. Matthew Alexander Henson ( August 8 1866 March 9, 1955) was an African-American explorer and associate of Robert Peary; Allen Counter, who met them on a Greenland expedition. Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat meaning "Land of the Greenlanders" Grønland is a self-governing Danish Province located between the

Initial Arctic expeditions

Peary made several expeditions to the Arctic, exploring Greenland by dog sled in 1886 and 1891 and returning to the island three times in the 1890s. The Arctic is the Region around the Earth 's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat meaning "Land of the Greenlanders" Grønland is a self-governing Danish Province located between the A dog sled is a Sled pulled by one or more Sled dogs used to travel over Ice and through Snow. He twice attempted to cross northwest Greenland over the ice cap, discovering Navy Cliff.

Unlike most previous explorers, Peary studied Inuit survival techniques, built igloos, and dressed in practical furs in the native fashion both for heat preservation and to dispense with the extra weight of tents and sleeping bags when on the march. Inuit (plural the singular Inuk, means "man" or "person" is a general term for a group of culturally similar Indigenous peoples inhabiting An igloo ( Inuit language: iglu, Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᒡᓗ "house" plural iglooit or igluit, but in English Peary also relied on the Inuit as hunters and dog-drivers on his expeditions, and pioneered the use of the system (which he called the "Peary system") of using support teams and supply caches for Arctic travel. His wife, Josephine, accompanied him on several of his expeditions. During the course of his explorations, he had 8 toes amputated.

Peary's fame

His 1898-1902 expedition was darkened by an unfounded attempt to put forth a 1899 visual discovery of "Jesup Land" west of Ellesmere, leading to his allegation that this was his sighting of Axel Heiberg land prior to its discovery by Norwegian explorer Otto Sverdrup's expedition, a Peary claim now universally rejected. However, the genuine achievements of this remarkable expedition were weightier. The gold medals of the American Geographical Society and Royal Geographical Society of London honored Peary's tenacity, his mapping of his considerable real discoveries, and his discovery in 1900 of Cape Jesup at the north tip of Greenland. Cape Morris Jesup is the northernmost point of mainland Greenland at and is 711 Peary also achieved a farthest north for the western hemisphere in 1902 north of Canada's Ellesmere Island.

The 1905-06 expedition

Peary's next expedition was supported by a $50,000 gift by George Crocker. Peary's new ship Roosevelt battled its way through the ice between Greenland and Ellesmere Island to an American hemisphere farthest north by ship. The 1906 "Peary System" dogsled drive for the pole across the rough sea ice of the Arctic Ocean started from the north tip of Ellesmere at 83° north latitude. The parties made well under 10 miles a day until they became separated by a storm, so Peary was inadvertently without a companion sufficiently trained in navigation to verify his account from that point northward. With insufficient food and with the negotiability of the ice between himself and land an uncertain factor, he made the best dash he could and barely escaped with his life off the melting ice. On April 20th, he was no further north than 86°30' latitude[1] yet he claimed to have the next day achieved a Farthest North world record at 87°06' and returned to 86°30' without camping, an implied trip of at least 72 nautical miles (83 statute miles) between sleeps, even assuming undetoured travel. A nautical mile or sea mile is a unit of Length. It corresponds approximately to one minute of Latitude along any meridian. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States

After returning to the Roosevelt in May, Peary in June began weeks of further agonizing travel by heading west along the shore of Ellesmere, discovering Cape Colgate, from the summit of which he claimed in his 1907 publications[2] he had seen a previously undiscovered far-north "Crocker Land" to the northwest on June 24th of 1906. Yet his diary for this time and place says "No land visible"[3] and Crocker Land was in 1914 found to be non-existent by Donald MacMillan and Fitzhugh Green. On December 15, 1906 the National Geographic Society, which was primarily known for publishing a popular magazine, certified Peary's 1905-6 expedition and Farthest with its highest honor, the Hubbard Gold Medal; no major professional geographical society followed suit.

The final 1908-09 expedition

For his final assault on the pole, he and 23 men set off from New York City aboard the Roosevelt under the command of Captain Robert Bartlett on July 6, 1908. The City of New York Captain Robert Abram Bartlett ( August 15, 1875 - April 28, 1946) was a Newfoundland navigator and Arctic Events 1044 - The Battle of Ménfő takes place 1189 - Richard the Lionheart is crowned King of England Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year They wintered near Cape Sheridan on Ellesmere Island and from Ellesmere departed for the pole on February 28-March 1, 1909. Cape Sheridan (82°27'N 61°27W is on the northeastern coast of Ellesmere Island, Canada situated on the Lincoln Sea in the Arctic Ocean Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The last support party was turned back from "Bartlett Camp" on April 1, 1909 in latitude no greater than 87°45' north. Events 527 - Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting (The figure commonly given, 87°47', is based upon Bartlett's slight miscomputation of the distance of a single Sumner line from the pole. Thomas Hubbard Sumner ( 20 March 1807 &ndash 9 March 1876) was a sea captain during the 19th century ) On the final stage of the journey towards the North Pole only five of Peary's men, Matthew Henson, Ootah, Egigingwah, Seegloo and Ooqueah, remained. Matthew Alexander Henson ( August 8 1866 March 9, 1955) was an African-American explorer and associate of Robert Peary; Seegloo was an Eskimo who accompanied Robert Peary on his final quest for the North Pole. On April 6, he established "Camp Jesup" allegedly within five miles of the pole. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus In his diary for April 7 (but actually written up much later when preparing his journals for publication), Peary wrote "The Pole at last!!! The prize of 3 centuries, my dream and ambition for 23 years. Events 529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in Jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Mine at last. . . "

Honors and legacy

The monument for the memory of Robert Peary at Cape York, Greenland.
The monument for the memory of Robert Peary at Cape York, Greenland. There is also a Cape York Peninsula in Australia Cape York is a cape at the north-west coast of Greenland, in Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat meaning "Land of the Greenlanders" Grønland is a self-governing Danish Province located between the

Peary's lobbying[4] early headed off an intention among some congressmen to have his claim to the pole evaluated by explorers. As eventual congressionally recognized "attainer" of the pole (not "discoverer" in deference to 1908 North Pole claimant Frederick Cook's supporters) Peary was given a Rear Admiral's pension and the thanks of Congress by a special act of March 30, 1911. Frederick Albert Cook ( June 10, 1865 &ndash August 5 1940) was an American Explorer and physician, noted Rear admiral is a Naval Commissioned officer rank above that of a Commodore and Captain, and below that of a Vice Admiral. Events 240 BC - 1st recorded Perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year In the same year, he retired to Eagle Island, located on the coast of Maine, in Freeport. Eagle Island is a State Historic Site in the United States state of Maine. The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean Freeport is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. (His home there is now a Maine State Historic Site. ) Civil Engineer Peary received honors from numerous scientific societies of Europe and America for his Arctic explorations and discoveries. He died in Washington, D. C. , February 20, 1920 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Events 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a Dowry payment Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States, established during the American Civil War Matthew Henson was reinterred nearby on April 6, 1988. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato in the Battle of Thapsus Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar)

The Liberty ship SS Robert E. Peary, the destroyer USS Peary (DD-226) the cargo ship USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE-5), and Knox-class frigate USS Robert E. Peary (FF 1073) were named for him. History and service In 1936 the American Merchant Marine Act was passed to subsidize the annual construction of 50 commercial merchant vessels to be used in wartime by SS Robert E Peary was the Liberty ship which was built in the shortest time In naval terminology a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance Warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, Convoy The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum at Bowdoin College is named for Peary and fellow Arctic explorer Donald B. Bowdoin College, founded in 1794 is a private liberal arts college located in the coastal New England town of Brunswick, Maine. MacMillan.

Peary was the author of several books, the most famous being Northward over the Great Ice (1898) and The North Pole (1910). The movie Glory & Honor by Kevin Hooks (2000) effectively dramatizes his hellish 1909 journey to the vicinity of the pole. Even explorer A. Greely who with the majority of explorers came (after initial acceptance) to doubt Peary's reaching 90°, correctly notes that no Arctic expert questions that (unlike Cook) Peary courageously risked his life travelling hundreds of miles from land and that he reached regions adjacent to the pole.

In his book Ninety Degrees North, polar historian and author Fergus Fleming describes Peary as "undoubtedly the most driven, possibly the most successful and probably the most unpleasant man in the annals of polar exploration. " He was also one of the most intelligent, bold, and able. His skills with the instruments and the mathematics of surveying ensured that all of his genuine exploring discoveries are placed beyond doubt by his records of celestial observations in connection with magnetic variation determination and finding longitude by application of spherical trigonometry via logarithms. Spherical trigonometry is a part of Spherical geometry that deals with Polygons (especially Triangles on the Sphere and explains how to find relations In Mathematics, the logarithm of a number to a given base is the power or Exponent to which the base must be raised in order to produce

Inuit descendants

Some modern critics of Peary focus on his treatment of the Inuit, including Minik Wallace an Inuit boy who was brought to the United States of America from Greenland along with five other Inuit in 1897. Minik Wallace (ca 1890 &ndash October 29, 1918) was an Inuit who was brought to the United States of America from Greenland along Most of them died and Wallace had considerable difficulty in returning to his home. Other criticisms involve his theft of several enormous meteorites from the same Inuit band. These allegedly were the only local source of iron, and were sold by Peary for $50,000.

Peary and Henson both fathered children with Inuit women outside of marriage. This was brought up by Cook and his followers during Peary's lifetime and would have damaged his advancement if it had been widely believed. Peary appears to have started his relationship with his Inuit wife "Ally" when she was 14 years old. Furthermore, Peary's main financial backer was New York philanthropist Morris Ketchum Jesup, a major force in the founding of Anthony Comstock's New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. Morris Ketchum Jesup ( June 21 1830 - January 22 1908) United States Banker and Philanthropist, was born Anthony Comstock ( March 7 1844 &ndash September 21 1915) was a former United States Postal Inspector and politician dedicated Many of the explorers knew the facts, but had no wish to mention them publicly, in case this endangered their financial backing by scandal-shy geographical societies or their own Inuit relationships.

By the 1960s the truth was widely acknowledged and Peary’s son Kali was eventually brought to the attention of the broader American public by S. Allen Counter, who met him on a Greenland expedition. The "discovery" of these children and their meeting with their American relatives were documented in a book and documentary titled North Pole Legacy: Black, White and Eskimo.

Controversy

Peary's claim to have reached the North Pole has been subject to doubt for a number of reasons: He had no sooner returned from the Arctic when he learned Frederick Cook claimed to have reached the pole the previous year. Cook's claims were quickly dismissed after he submitted to the scientific community alleged 1908 North Pole logs that were obvious frauds. [5] Cook also was met with skepticism since his claim of being the first to climb Mt. McKinley in 1906 was found to be a hoax. [6]

A few weeks before Cook's pole pretension was rejected by a Danish panel of explorers and navigational experts, Peary (who did not make Cook's mistake of submitting to international neutrals or to explorers) saw his claim certified by the National Geographic Society whose chief Gilbert Grosvenor had persuaded the National Academy of Sciences not to get involved. Overview The NGS's historical mission is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural historical and natural Despite internal council splits (which only became known in the 1970s) the Royal Geographical Society of London gave Peary its gold medal in 1910. History Founding members of the Society include Sir John Barrow, Sir John Franklin and Francis Beaufort. Neither the American Geographical Society nor any of the geographical societies of semi-Arctic Scandinavia has recognized the North Pole claim. The American Geographical Society (AGS is an organization of professional Geographers It was founded in 1851 in New York City. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well

The party that accompanied Peary on the final stage of the journey included no one who was trained in navigation and could independently confirm his own navigational work, a point exacerbated by Peary's omission to produce records of observed data for steering: for the direction ("variation") of the compass, for his longitudinal position at any time, or for post-Bartlett Camp zeroing-in on the pole either latitudinally or transversely. The magnetic declination (also known as grid magnetic angle in military circles at any point on the Earth is the angle between the local magnetic field -- the direction Longitude (ˈlɒndʒɪˌtjuːd or ˈlɒŋgɪˌtjuːd symbolized by the Greek character Lambda (λ is the east-west Geographic coordinate measurement Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the Greek letter phi ( Φ) gives the location of a place on Earth (or other planetary body north or south of the Longitude (ˈlɒndʒɪˌtjuːd or ˈlɒŋgɪˌtjuːd symbolized by the Greek character Lambda (λ is the east-west Geographic coordinate measurement [7]

The last five marches when Peary was accompanied by a navigator (Capt. Bob Bartlett) averaged no better than 13 miles/march northing. But once the last support party turned back at "Camp Bartlett" from where Bartlett was ordered southward, at least 135 nautical miles (155 statute miles) from the pole, Peary's claimed speeds immediately double for the five marches to Camp Jesup, and then quadrupled during the 2½ day return to Camp Bartlett -- at which point his speed slowed drastically compared to that pace. Peary's account of a beeline journey to the pole and back — which would have assisted his claim of such speed — is contradicted by companion Henson's account of tortured detours to avoid "pressure ridges" (ice floes' rough edges, often a few meters high) and "leads" (of open water between those floes). Matthew Alexander Henson ( August 8 1866 March 9, 1955) was an African-American explorer and associate of Robert Peary; The conflicting and unverified claims of Cook and Peary prompted Roald Amundsen to take extensive precautions in navigation during his Antarctic expedition so as to leave no room for doubt concerning his 1911 attainment of the South Pole, which (like Robert Scott's a few weeks later in 1912) was supported by the sextant, theodolite, and compass observations of several other navigators. Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (ˈɾuːɑl ˈɑmʉnsən ( July 16, 1872 – c The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth. This article is about the sextant as used for Navigation. For the astronomer's sextant, see Sextant (astronomical. A theodolite ( is an instrument for measuring both horizontal and vertical Angles as used in Triangulation networks A compass, magnetic compass or mariner's compass is a navigational instrument for determining direction relative to the earth's Magnetic poles It consists See Polheim. Polheim, "Home of the Pole" was Roald Amundsen 's name for his camp (the first ever at the South Pole.

Some polar historians believe that Peary honestly thought he had reached the pole. Others have suggested that he was guilty of deliberately exaggerating his accomplishments. The latter class of skeptics are assisted by the fact that at the alleged victory moment Peary stopped writing in his diary until return to Bartlett Camp and permanently stopped conversing with Henson. Others have suggested that any hint that Peary did not reach the pole must be the work of pro-Cook conspirators who are simply out to discredit Peary, though no current leading explorer or scientist who is skeptical of Peary's pole claim believes in Cook's.

Ongoing defenses and time's end

In 1989, the National Geographic Society (a major sponsor of Peary's expeditions) concluded, based on the shadows in photographs and ocean depth measures taken by Peary, that he was no more than five miles away from the pole. Overview The NGS's historical mission is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural historical and natural But since Peary's original camera (a 1908 #4 Folding Pocket Kodak) has not survived, and the camera was made with at least six different lenses from various manufacturers, the focal length of the lens -- and hence the shadow analysis which is based upon it -- must be considered uncertain at best. The National Geographic Society has never released Peary's photos for independent analysis. Scientific specialists' reaction to the National Geographic's two dimensional photogrammetry has not been warm. [8]

The latest in Peary advocates' series[9] of attempts to generate the proof of his pole claim which he neglected to provide occurred in 2005 when the British explorer Tom Avery and four companions recreated the outward portion of Peary's journey with replica wooden sleds and Canadian Eskimo Dog teams, reaching the North Pole in 36 days, 22 hours – nearly five hours faster than Peary. Tom Avery was born on December 17 1975 in London, England and is an Explorer, Mountaineer, Author and Motivational The Canadian Eskimo Dog is a larger breed of Arctic Dogs which are often considered to be North America ’s oldest and Avery writes on his web site that "The admiration and respect which I hold for Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and the four Inuit men who ventured North in 1909, has grown enormously since we set out from Cape Columbia. Having now seen for myself how he travelled across the pack ice, I am more convinced than ever that Peary did indeed discover the North Pole. "[10] But analysis of the actual speeds made by Avery do more to cast doubt on Peary's claim than to confirm it. While Peary claimed 135 nautical miles made good in his last five marches, Avery managed only 71 in his last five marches, barely half Peary's claim. Indeed, Avery never exceeded 90 nautical miles made good in any five day stretch[11]. Avery managed to match Peary's overall 37 day total only because Peary was encamped for five days at the Big Lead, making no progress. And Avery and his team were airlifted off the pole instead of returning by dogsled, a circumstance which allowed his team to carry much less weight in food and supplies than would otherwise have been needed, and much less than Peary took.

It has been claimed by supporters of Peary and Henson that the depth soundings they made on the outward journey match recent surveys and so confirm that they reached the pole. [12] However, only the first few of the Peary party's soundings, taken nearest the shore, actually touched bottom; thus their usefulness is extremely limited. [13]

Following the Cook claim's quick collapse among scientists and explorers, Peary's adherents have for a century understandably portrayed Cook's few remaining believers as a quasi-religious cult by quoting a wise 1909 prediction that "there will be a Cook party to the end of time". Frederick Albert Cook ( June 10, 1865 &ndash August 5 1940) was an American Explorer and physician, noted The same is probably true of Peary as well.

Notes

  1. ^ For obvious reasons, this latitude was never published by Peary. It is in a typescript of his April, 1906 diary, discovered by Sir Wally Herbert (Herbert, 1989). The typescript suddenly stops there, one day before the April 21 purported Farthest, and the original of the April 1906 record is the only missing diary of Peary's exploration career (Rawlins, Contributions).
  2. ^ E. g. , R. Peary, Nearest the Pole, 1907, pages 202, 207, and 280
  3. ^ Rawlins, Contributions
  4. ^ See Congressman de Alva Alexander in Rawlins, 1973.
  5. ^ Bryce 1997; DIO, volume 9, numbers 2 and 3
  6. ^ Idem and DIO, volume 7, numbers 2 and 3
  7. ^ Herbert, 1989; Rawlins, Contributions
  8. ^ E. g. , "Washington Post", December 12, 1989; "Scientific American", March and June, 1990
  9. ^ Rawlins, Zero
  10. ^ Tom Avery website, retrieved May 2007
  11. ^ Avery's Route Barclay's Capital Ultimate North. Retrieved 10 March 2008.
  12. ^ "Proof Henson & Peary reached Pole." Matthew A Henson website. Retrieved 11 August 2007.
  13. ^ Peary's expedition possessed 4000 fathoms of sounding line but he took only 2000 with him over an ocean already established as being deeper in many regions. See, e. g. , D. Rawlins, U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings, June, 1970, page 38, and Polar Notes (Dartmouth College), volume 10, October, 1970, page 38.

References

External links

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