Robert Peary

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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 was born in the Pittsburgh area town of Cresson, Pennsylvania. He moved to Maine, attended Portland High School, was a graduate of Bowdoin College, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. He was commissioned a Lieutenant in the United States Navy October 26, 1881.

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. Unlike many previous explorers, Peary studied Inuit survival techniques, built igloos, and dressed 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. His wife, Josephine, accompanied him on several of his expeditions. He also had 8 toes amputated but kept walking.

Peary made several attempts to reach the North Pole between 1898 and 1905. 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. They wintered near Cape Sheridan on Ellesmere Island and from there 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, Ootah, Egigingwah, Seegloo and Ooqueah, 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..."

Peary was promoted to Rear Admiral and given the thanks of Congress by a special act of March 30, 1911. In the same year, he retired to Eagle Island, located on the coast of Maine, in Freeport. (His home there is now a Maine State Historic Site.) 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 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Matthew Henson was reinterred nearby on April 6, 1988.

Peary was 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. With Inuit women, Peary and Henson both fathered illegitimate children. Peary's son Kali was brought the attention of the 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 entitled North Pole Legacy: Black, White and Eskimo.

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. The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum at Bowdoin College is named for Peary and fellow Arctic explorer Donald B. MacMillan.

Robert Peary in naval uniform

[edit] 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 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 claims of Cook and Peary prompted Roald Amundsen to take extensive precautions in navigation during his South Pole expedition so as 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 (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. 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.

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.

Robert Edwin Peary Married Josephine and had two children: Marie Peary and Robert Edwin Peary Jr.

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Robert Edwin Peary

[edit] References

Rawlins, Dennis (1973). Peary at the North Pole: fact or fiction?. Washington: Robert B. Luce. ISBN 0-88331-042-2 LCCN 72-097708 LCC G635.P4 R38.
Herbert, Wally (July 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 89-90 LCC G635.P4 H4 1989.
Bryce, Robert M. (February 1997). Cook & Peary: the polar controversy, resolved. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-689-12034-6 LCCN 96-38215 LCC G635.C66 H86 1997.
Fleming, Fergus (Sep 27, 2001). Ninety degrees north: the quest for the North Pole. London: Granta Books. ISBN 1-86207-449-6 LCCN 2004-426384 LCC G620.F54 2001.