Looking about me, I viewed the vacant expanse. In the first realization of actual victory, I felt the glory which the poet feels in his vision. I saw silver and crystal palaces, such as were never built by man. I had scaled the World, and I stood at the Pole!" - Dr. Frederick Cook, 21 April, 1908.
Like Antarctica's Pole, the lure of Earth's northern axis has drawn would-be explorers towards it ever since the early days of Arctic exploration and European expeditions in search of new lands, farthest-north positions, and navigable passages, dating back to the 15th century. In the late 19th century, attention turned from the Northeast and Northwest passages and Arctic islands to the North Pole, seemingly unattainable, obscured by miles of hummocky pack ice, jagged pressure ridges, and the threat of polar bears.
Expeditions such as the Jeannette expedition (1879-1882), the Björling–Kallstenius expedition (1892), the Fram expedition (1893-1896), and Andrée's Arctic balloon expedition of 1897 had all failed. Step forward Frederick Cook, veteran of several expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctica, a man shrouded in controversy and disputed success.
Early Polar Success & Controversy
Frederick Cook was born in New York State in 1865, and studied medicine at New York University. Just a year or so after receiving his doctorate in 1890, Cook joined renowned explorer Robert Peary's 1891-1892 Greenland expedition, serving as the expedition's surgeon at the age of 25. While much of his time was spent with the overwintering party and he was not part of Peary's overland sledding journey, Cook was deeply impacted by his time in the Arctic. He studied local Inuit, observing how they used tools, hunted, constructed shelters, and traveled efficiently with dog teams. He also learned local customs and languages, which would serve him in years to come.
Photo: Frederick Cook Sitting at Desk | Getty Images
While his relationship with Robert Peary was initially close - Cook had treated Peary's fractured leg early in the expedition - it would eventually sour following Cook's claims on the Pole. His time with Peary had also greatly influenced Cook's approach to Arctic exploration. Peary was unlike other contemporary explorers in that he embraced the Inuit approach and closely studied their survival techniques.
After returning from the Arctic and studying medicine for several years, Cook volunteered for the Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897-1899. Before joining, he had traveled to Tierra del Fuego, where he met the English missionary Thomas Bridges. Alongside medicine, Cook was an ethnographer and, with Bridges, studied the local Selk'nam and Yahgan people. Bridges, a well-known linguist and long-term resident of the area, had spent several decades compiling a manuscript and dictionary, detailing more than 30,000 words in local languages. Cook, before leaving aboard the Belgica for Antarctica, asked to borrow Bridges' manuscript. He never returned it and would later attempt to publish it under his own name following Thomas Bridges's death in 1898.
During the Belgian Antarctic Expedition, Cook would play a crucial role in saving the lives of the expedition team, which included Roald Amundsen and was led by Adrien de Gerlache. Cook, recognizing the men's failing health and the danger of scurvy, made repeated hunting trips, forcing the crew to eat fresh meat during the many ice-bound winter months. Amundsen later credited Cook with saving his life. The expedition had become the first to overwinter in Antarctica, and had taken a toll on the men aboard the Belgica, both mentally and physically.
After his return from Antarctica, Cook practiced medicine for several years before leading an expedition to Denali, the highest mountain in North America. In 1906, he claimed to have reached the summit, taking a photo of what he said was the mountain's highest point. Several years later, in 1909, Cook's companion on the climb announced that they had not reached the summit - yet, later research found Cook's opponents had paid him to sign an affidavit. It remains unclear and a cause of debate whether Cook did actually achieve the summit - his reported route was successfully followed in 2005, but no evidence of his journey to the top has ever been found. Perhaps most damningly, the photograph Cook took, which he claimed showed him at the summit, was later shown to be an outcrop, later dubbed Fake Peak, 15,000 feet (4,600 m) below the actual summit.
Cook's Controversial Push for the Pole
In 1907, Cook had returned to the Arctic, leading a small expedition from northern Greenland towards the North Pole. With two Inuit companions, Ahpellah and Etukishook, he led Annoatok in February 1908 and undertook a journey that would last 14 months. In his memoir of the expedition, published in 1911, Cook indicated that he reached the North Pole on 21 April 1908, following a route north from Axel Heiberg Island.
Photo: Cook and the two accompanying eskimos Photo taken allegdly at the North-pole 21.04.1909 | Getty Images
The group traveled by sled, pulled by teams of dogs, carrying supplies. However, they were, by Cook's account, forced to rely on hunting local game as they made their way between the islands of Northern Canada and out onto the pack ice west of Grant Land, at the very northern tip of Ellesmere Island. The men built igloos to shelter from the fierce wind, and when weariness grew too much, they huddled in a seal-skin tent packed onto the sled. The three men walked beside the sled or clung to the rear, muscles aching, faces whipped by the cold.
Cook reported discovering new land at around 84°N, a claim later proven inaccurate. It was, perhaps, a misidentification, although his companions would, in later years, indicate that the photographs taken of Bradley Land were actually taken close to the shores of Axel Heiberg Island.
On March 21, Cook recorded a position of 82°N. By the 30th, the group passed 84°N. On 14 April, 87°N, before eventually attaining the Pole on the morning of 21 April 1908. "At last, we step over colored fields of sparkle, climbing walls of purple and gold under skies of crystal blue. The soul awakes to a definite triumph - we are at the top of the World!" After taking measurements and readings, the group turned south once more. Their route was circuitous, interrupted by open water and a rush to find food and shelter in harsh conditions. They eventually returned to Annoatok in the spring of 1909, after reportedly almost starving during their return journey.
A Claim Disputed
Cook had claimed to be the first to reach the North Pole successfully. Initially, his claim was widely believed and supported, and his achievement was celebrated. However, his old companion and Arctic rival, Robert Peary, publicly disputed the veracity of Cook's claims. Peary himself had claimed to have reached the North Pole in 1909, and afterward, he began a campaign to discredit Cook.
Photo: Frederick Albert Cook received in triumph in New York at the end of the Arctic expedition, 1909 | Getty Images
Cook was unable to provide detailed evidence of his journey to the North Pole. According to Cook, records had been made, left at Annoatok, entrusted to an American hunter to return them on the next ship south. The next ship happened to be the Roosevelt, upon which Robert Peary was traveling following his attempt on the Pole. Supposedly, Peary refused to allow Cook's boxes of belongings on board, and they remained in Greenland, never to be seen again. "I do not regard those buried notes as being proof, or as being particularly valuable, except as proving Peary to be one of the most ungracious and selfish characters in history." - Frederick Cook, on Robert Peary and his lost records.
Cook would later publish limited navigational data and other information, some of which was found to be incorrect. His Inuit companions would also offer conflicting information regarding their route. Later, it would be shown that they had indeed discovered Meighen Island, as Cook had claimed, supporting, at least in part, their reported route.
Conflicting claims between Peary and Cook descended into a back-and-forth, with Cook's reputation dragged through the mud by prominent social supporters of Peary. Cook's reputation never truly recovered from the public mauling. Peary's claim, while recognized for most of the 20th century, has itself been called into question and discredited in recent years. Cook spent much of his time post-Arctic defending his actions and claim, writing his memoir of the trip, published in 1911, and threatening legal action against those who wrote against him. In the years following his North Pole expedition, Cook had also attempted to publish Thomas Bridges' dictionary. In 1923, he was indicted as part of a federal crackdown on fraudulent oil company promotions.
Photo: Cartoon from Le Petit Journal (Paris, 1909) showing Peary and Cook disputing the claim with fisticuffs, watched, somewhat incongruously, by penguins, which do not live in the northern hemisphere | Getty Images
Cook was charged with several counts of fraud and sentenced to 14 years in prison. During his time at Leavenworth Prison, Cook was visited several times by Roald Amundsen, who continued to support him following the Belgian Antarctic Expedition several decades earlier. He was released in 1930 after serving a shorter sentence and was eventually pardoned in 1940 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He died a short time later at the age of 75.
His life and achievements continue to be marred by controversy. Whether Cook truly did reach the Pole and the summit of Denali will perhaps never be known. Charlatan? Fraudster? Record breaker? Arctic Pioneer? It remains up for debate. What can be said for certain is that Frederick Cook knew the Arctic and Antarctica intimately and should be remembered for his role and exploits at both ends of the Earth.
"In this book I have stated by case, presented my proofs. As to the relative merits of my claim, and Mr. Peary's, place the two records side by side. Compare them. I shall be satisfied with your decision." - Frederick Cook, My Attainment of the Pole, 1911