( National Archives Identifier 24738363)Įvidence disputing Cook’s claim to being the first to the top of Denali quickly started to tarnish his reputation even before he came back from his attempt to the North Pole. Postcard petition campaign regarding Cook and the discovery of the North Pole, 1913.
![snake escape from the north pole snake escape from the north pole](https://bigsmacky3.github.io/images/catmario.jpg)
Having well-kept travel journals, photographic evidence, and the friendship of Ronald Amundsen, what could possibly go wrong for the young explorer? Cook quickly sought out grand trophies, starting with claiming first to the top of Denali in Alaska in 1906, then following with the claim to have been the first at the top of the world in 1908. An ambitious man who wanted to make his own mark, Cook decided to pursue his own path to fame rather than continuing under the shadow of Peary.
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Each failed expedition taught Peary and his crew how to navigate the ever-changing, fluid landscape until he believed that he finally reached his goal in 1909. Upon coming back to the United States, however, he was faced with a shocking discovery that someone else was trying to claim his prize.įrederick Cook, an explorer and surgeon, had accompanied Robert Peary on his second expedition to Greenland.
![snake escape from the north pole snake escape from the north pole](https://66.media.tumblr.com/46583bc7aec2fe0c39cd02f104d290ca/tumblr_o65qs9TuIb1t5e3l3o2_500.jpg)
His first attempt to the North Pole was in 1898, during the sixth Peary expedition, which was then followed by a second attempt in 1905. Having begun his explorations of the Arctic Circle in 1886, Peary led bigger and riskier expeditions up until his eighth and final expedition, ending in 1909.
![snake escape from the north pole snake escape from the north pole](https://cdn.video.nationalgeographic.com/dims4/default/79ab0c8/2147483647/thumbnail/354x199%3E/quality/90/?url=https:%2F%2Fpmdvod.nationalgeographic.com%2FNG_Video%2F499%2F419%2Fsmpost_1554401519855.jpg)
One of the most famous explorers of the area was Robert Peary, who manned multiple expeditions throughout Greenland and toward the North Pole. Realizing the limits of these vessels and the dangerously temperamental conditions of the ice, several explorers chose the safer route of making the trek by foot and sled. Many vessels became trapped, whether they were commanded by newcomers or seasoned explorers, due to the risky gamble of navigating the Arctic’s waters. Even when waiting until the summer months of the Northern Hemisphere, temperatures still average around freezing and below. Explorers not only had to deal with the extreme temperatures but with the unpredictability of the ice. While Antarctica is a land mass that can hold relics of the presence of humans, the Arctic Circle becomes nothing more than ice once it escapes the reaches of Canada and Greenland, the land masses that stretch closest to the North Pole. Robert Peary’s sledge party posing with flags at the North Pole.The question of the North Pole, however, is a much bigger challenge. Roald Amundsen’s claim to the South Pole in 1911 can be proved, so why not Robert Peary’s claim only two years earlier at the North Pole? The biggest trouble lies deep in the Arctic ice. One of the most famous being Christopher Columbus not being the first European to reach the New World. Several land discoveries have been disputed or are still in dispute with continued research and archeological digs. However, within this new, dangerous age of exploration, there lies a controversy that may never truly be answered: who exactly was the first to the North Pole? The industrial age allowed humans to stretch their imaginations and create structures that assisted us to explore the ocean’s depths, escape the earth’s gravity, and navigate both through and over treacherous frozen terrain. Exploration, instead, looked to the more dangerous reaches of the world and even beyond our atmosphere. Toward the end of the 19th century, exploration and the prize of discovering new lands had become a much smaller endeavor as the world figuratively shrank. Map of Arctic regions, Robert Peary North Pole Expedition, 1908-1909. The largest part of the collection belongs to Rear Admiral Robert Peary, the explorer who believed claiming first to the North Pole was his birthright and who continues to get credit to this day for his claim. Held at the National Archives at College Park, these records were donated mostly from the explorers or their families. The Polar Expeditions records, which this post is based on, includes papers, journals, and artifacts from Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.
![snake escape from the north pole snake escape from the north pole](http://newsinstact.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2-hollow-earth-hole.jpg)
Today’s post comes from Lori Norris, an archives technician at the National Archives at College Park.