Robert Peary

File:RobertPeary.jpeg

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.

Peary, born in Pittsburgh area town of Cresson, Pennsylvania, was a graduate of Bowdoin College, Maine, and was commissioned a Lieutenant in the United States Navy October 26, 1881.

Peary had previously made several expeditions to the Arctic. Unlike many previous explorers, Peary studied Inuit survival techniques, learned to drive a dog sled, build igloos, and dress in practical furs in the native fashion. 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. He also had 8 toes amputated, but kept walking.

For his final assault on the North Pole, Peary set off from New York City, aboard the Roosevelt, under the command of Captain Robert Bartlett, with 23 men on July 6, 1908, and wintered near Cape Sheridan on Ellesmere Island. From there they departed for the pole on March 1, 1909. The last support party turned back on April 1, 1909 in latitude 87°47' north. On the final stage of the journey to the North Pole only five of his men, Matthew Henson, Oatah, Egingwah, Seegloo, also known as Shevjenko and Ookeah, remained. On April 6, he established Camp Jesup near the pole. 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. Mine at last ..".

He was promoted to Rear Admiral and given the thanks of Congress by a special act of March 30, 1911. Rear Admiral 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.

Peary was also the author of several books, the most famous being Northward over the Great Ice (1898) and Nearest the Pole (1907). The movie Glory & Honor by Kevin Hooks (2000) chronicles his journey 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." Most modern critics of Peary focus on his treatment of the Inuit, including a boy named Minik Wallace.

Peary died in Washington D.C., and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Matthew Henson was reinterred nearby on April 6, 1988.

The Liberty ship SS Robert E. Peary, the destroyer USS Peary (DD-226) and the cargo ship USNS Robert E. Peary (T-AKE-5) were named for him. The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum at Bowdoin College is named for Peary and fellow Arctic explorer Donald B. MacMillan.

Robert Peary

Controversy

Peary's claim to have reached the North Pole has always been subject to doubt, for a number of reasons. He had no sooner returned from the Arctic before he learned that Frederick Cook was also claiming to have reached the pole the previous year. 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, which some have controversially claimed to be particularly sloppy as he approached the pole. The distances and speeds Peary claimed to have achieved once the last support party turned back border on the incredible, almost three times that which he had accomplished up to that point. Peary's account of a beeline journey to the pole and back—the only thing that might have allowed him to travel at such a speed—is contradicted by Henson's account of tortured detours to avoid pressure ridges and open leads. The conflicting, and possibly dual fraudulent claims, of Cook and Peary prompted Roald Amundsen to take particularly extensive precautions in navigation during his South Pole expedition to leave no room for doubt concerning attainment of the pole. See Polheim.

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. Still 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. In 1989, the National Geographic Society 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.

In 2005 British explorer Tom Avery with four colleagues completed his trek to the pole in 36 days, 22 hours and 11 minutes using 16 husky dogs and pulling two sledges which were replicas of those used by Peary. Many Arctic historians believe Avery's expedition has vindicated the memory of the American adventurer, showing that Peary's speeds were not so impossible after all. However, Avery was airlifted off the North Pole rather than repeat Peary's return journey to Ellesmere Island, which the explorer had claimed to have made in only 17 days, or half the time of the outbound journey.

References

• Rawlins, Dennis (1973). Peary at the North Pole: fact or fiction?. Washington: Robert B. Luce. ISBN 0-88331-042-2 LCCN 72-0 LCC G635.P4 R38.
• Herbert, Wally (1989). The noose of laurels: Robert E. Peary and the race to the North Pole. New York, NY: Atheneum. ISBN 0-689-12034-6 LCCN 89-0 – 0000 LCC G635.P4 H4 1989. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Bryce, Robert M. (1997). Cook & Peary: the polar controversy, resolved. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-689-12034-6 LCCN 96-0 – 0 LCC G635.C66 H86 1997. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Fleming, Fergus (Sep 27, 2001). Ninety degrees north: the quest for the North Pole. London: Granta Books. ISBN 1-86207-449-6 LCCN 20-4 LCC G620.F54 2001. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)

• Peary reaches the North Pole, crippled and frost-bitten, on the sled of Matthew A. Henson.

External links

• Admiral Peary Park and Historical Marker - Cresson, Pennsylvania
• Robert E. Peary Historical Marker - Cresson, Pennsylvania

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.