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PEARY’S
AGAINST
Alleges Cook Did Not
Reach North Pole.
PROOF OF STATEMENT.
Witnesses Quoted Are Cook's
Eskimo Boys.
NATIVES LAUSH AT CIO
Point Out Limit of Explorer’s Jour
ney on Carefully Prepared Map.
New York, October 12. —The follow
ing statement of Commander Robert
E. Peary, which he submitted, to
gether with the accompanying map. to
the Peary Arctic Club in support of
his contention that Dr. Cook did not,
reach the North Pole, is now made
public for the first time. The state
ment and map have been copyrighted
by the Peary Arctic Club.
(Entered according to Act of congress,
In the year 1909, by the Peary Arctic Club,
in the office of the Librarian of Congress,
at Washington, D. C.)
INTRODUCTION BY PEARY.
Some of my reasons for saying that
Dr. Cook did not go to the North Pole
will be understood by those who read
Che following statements of the two
Eskimo boys who went with him, and
who told me and others of my party
where he did go. Several Eskimos
who started with Dr. Cook from An
oratok in February, 1908, were at Etah
when I arrived there in August, 1908.1
They told me that Dr. Cook had with
him, after they left, two Eskimo boys ;
or young men, two sledges and some !
twenty dogs. The boys were I-took-a
shoo and Ah-pe-lah. I had known
them from their childhood. One was ■
about eighteen and the other about
nineteen years of age.
On my return from Cape Sheridan
and at the very first settlement I
touched (Nerke, near Cape Chalon) in
August, 1909, and nine days before
reaching Etah, the Eskimos told me. !
in a general way, where Dr. Cook had i
been; that he had wintered in Jones !
Sound and that he had told the white i
men at Etah that he had been a long i
way north, but that the boys who were j
with him, I-took-a-shoo and Ah-pe-lah,
said that this was not so. The Eski
mos laughed at Dr. Cook’s story. On
reaching Etah, I talked with the Eski-I
mos there and with the two boys and
asked them to describe Dr. Cook’s jour
ney to members of my party and my
self. This they did in the manner
stated below.
(Signed) R. E. Peary, j
SIGNED STATEMENT OF PEARY, ,
BARTLETT, McMILLAN, BORUP'
AND HENSON, IN REGARD TO
TESTIMONY OF COOK’S TWO
ESKIMO BOYS.
The two Eskimo boys, I-took-a-shoo
and Ah-pe-lah, who accompanied Dr.
Cook while he was away from Anora
tok in 1908 and 1909, were questioned
separately and independently, and
were corroborated by Panikpah, the
father of one of them (I-took-a-shoo).
who was personally familiar with the
first third and the last third of theiri
journey, and who said that the route
for the remaining third, as shown by ’
them, was as described to him by his
son after his return with Dr. Cook.
Notes of their statements were taken
by several of us. and no one of us has
any doubt that they told the truth.
Their testimony was unshaken by j
cross-examination, was corroborated!
by other men in the tribe, and was
elicited neither by threats nor prom
ises. the two boys and their father
talking of their journey and their ex
rrerlences in the same way that they
would talk of any hunting trip.
To go more into details: One of the
boys was called in. and. with a chart
on the table before him, was asked tc
show where he. had gone with Dr.
Cook. This he did, pointing out with
his finger on the map, but not making
any marks upon it.
As he went out. the other boy came
in and was asked to show where he
had gone with Dr. Cook. This he did,
also without making any marks, and
indicated the same route and the same
details as did the first boy.
When he was through, Panikpah.
the father of I-took-a-shoo. a very in
telligent man. who was in the party
of Eskimos that came back from Dr.
Cook from the northern end cf Nan
sen’s Strait, who is familiar as a hunt
er with the Jones Sound region, and
who has been In Commander Peary's
various expeditions for some fifteen
years, came in and indicated the same
localities and details as the two boys.
Then the first boy was brought in
again, and with a pencil he traced on
the map their route, members of our
party writing upon the chart whera,
according to the boy’s statement, they
EVIDENCE
DR. COOK
had killed deer, bear, some of their
dogs, seal, walrus and musk-oxen.
The second boy was then called in :
and the two went over the chart to-'
gether, the second boy suggesting
some changes as noted hereafter.
Finally, Panikpah, the father, was
again called in to verify details of the
portions of the route with which he
was personally familiar.
The bulk of the boys’ testimony was
not taken by Commander Peary, nor
in his presence, a fact that obviates
any possible claim that they were
awed by him.
Certain questions on independent
lines from the direct narrative of the
»R. COOK’S ROUTE TO
COMMANDER PEARY’S OFFICSAL i/TA’MENT
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The accompanying map is reproduced exactly from the original submitted by Commander Peary with his oltn lai
statement by which he hopes to prove that Dr. Frederick A. Cook never reached the north pole. The map pur
ports to have been traced out in the presence of the two Eskimos who were with Dr Cook and. aeem'dlng to
Peary, is based upon their actual statements as to Cook’s entire journey. The dotted lines in the small map in the
upper left hand corner is the route which Dr. Cook says he took on his journey to and from the pole after leaving
Cape Thomas Hubbard. The irregular line extending northeast from Isachsen Land is the edge of the land ice.
I.evond which. Peary declares, Dr. Cook did not venture.
Eskimo boys were suggested by Com
mander Peary to some of us, and were
put by us to the Eskimo boys.
Still later, Commander Peary asked
the Eskimo boys two or three casual
questions on minor points that had
occurred to him.
During the taking of this testimony,
it developed that Dr. Cook had told
these boys, as he told Mr. Whitney
and Billy Pritchard, the cabin boy,
that they must not tell Commander
Peary or any of us anything about
their journey, and the boys stated
Dr. Cook had threatened them if they
should tell anything.
Tbe narrative of these Eskimos is
as follows:
They, with Dr. Cook, Francke and
nine other Eskimos, left Anoratok,
crossed Smith’s Sound to Cape Sabine,
slept in Commander Peary’s old house
in Payer Harbor, then went through
Rice Strait to Buchanan Bay. After a
few marches Francke and three Eski
mos returned to Anoratok.
Dr. Cook, with the others, then pro
ceeded up Flagler Bay. a branch of
Buchanan Bay, and crossed Ellesmere
Land through the valley pass at the
head of Flagler Bay, indicated by Com
mander Peary in 1898. and utilized by
Sverdrup in 1899. to the head of Sver
drup’s “Bay Fiord” on the west side
of Ellesmere Land.
Their route then lay out through this
fiord, thence north through Sverdrup's
“Heuerka Sound” and Nansen Strait.
On their way they killed musk-oxen
and bear, and made caches, arriving
eventually at a point on the west side
of Nansen Strait (shore of Axel Hei
berg Land of Sverdrupi. south of Cape
Thomas Hubbard.
A cache was formed here and the
four Eskimos did not go beyond this
pH nt. Two others. Koolootlngwah and
Inughito. went on one more march
with Dr. Cook and the two boys, help
ed to build the snow igloo, then re
turned without sleeping.
(These two Eskimos brought beck a
THE SUMMERVILLE NEWS, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1909
letter from Dr. Cook to Frr.ncke, dnt
ed the 17th of March. The two mer
rejoined the other four men who hat!
been left behind, and the six returned
to Anoratok, arriving May 7th. This
Information was obtained not from th<
two Eskimo boys, but from the six
men who returned and from Franckr
himself, and was known to us in the
summer of 1908, when the Rooserelt
first arrived at Etah, The information
is inserted here as supplementary te
the narrative of the two boys.)
After sleeping at the camp where the
last two Eskimos turned back. Dr.
Cook and the two boys went in a
northerly or northwesterly direction
with two sledges and twenty odd dogs,
one more march, when they encoun
tered rough ice and a lead of open wa
ter. They did not enter this rough i e.
nor cross the lead, but turned xve t
ward or southwestward a short d!
tance and returned to Heiberg Land
at a point west of where they had left
the cache and where the four men had
turned back.
Here they remained four or five
sleeps, and during that time I-took-a
shoo went back io the cache and got
his gun which he had left there, and a
few items of supplies.
When asked why only a few supplies
were taken from the cache, the boys
replied that only a small amount of
provisions had been used in the few
days since they left tbe cache, and that
their sledges still had all they could
carry, so that they could not take more.
After being informed of the boys’
narrative thus far, Commander Peary
suggested as» l ies of questions to he
put to the boys in regard to this trip
from tbe land out and back to it.
These questions and answers were
as follows:
Did they cross many open leads or
much open water during this time?
Ans. None.
Did they make any caches out on the
ice? Ans. No.
Did they kill any bear or S'-al while
out on the ice north of Cape Thomas
Hubbard? Ans. No.
I>id they kill or lose any of their
dogs while on' ", the ice? Ans. No.
With how many sledges did they
start? Ans. Two.
How many dogs did they have? Ans.
Did not remember exactly, tint some
thing over twenty.
How many sledges did tliey have ■
when they got back to land? Ans. ;
Two.
Did they have any provisions left ou 1
their sledges when they came back to -
land? Ans. Yes: the sledges still had I
about all they could carry, so they were I
able to take but a few things from the
cache.
From here they then went southwest ,
along the northwest coast of Heiberg
Land to a point indicated on the map J
- i
(Sverdrup’s Cape Northwest).
From here they went west across
the ice, which was level and covered :
with snow, offering good going, to a ‘
low island which they had seen from ■
the shore of Heiberg Land al Cape
Northwest. On this island they camp
ea for one sleep.
The size and position of this island,
as drawn by the first hoy, was criti
cised by the second boy as being too
large and too far to the west, the sec
ond boy calling the attention of the
first to the fact that the position of
the island was more nearly In line
with the point where they had left
Heiberg Land (Cape Northwest) and
the channel between Amund Ringnes
Land and Ellel Ringnes Land.
Tins criticism and correction was ac
cepted by the first boy, who started to
change the position of the island, but
was stopped, as Commander Peary had
given Instructions that no changes or
erasures were to be made in the route
as drawn by the Eskimos on the chart.
From this island they could see two
lands beyond (Sverdrup’s Ellef Ring
nes and Amund Ringnes Lands).
From the Island they journeyed to
ward the left hand one of. these two
lands (Amund Ringnes Land), passing
a small island which they did not visit.
Arriving at the shore of Am*nd
Ringnes Land, the Eskimos killed a
deer as indicated on the chart.
The above itall' lsed portion of the
statement of the E 'dino boys covers
~~
• the period of time In wh! -h Dr. Cook
claims to have p ne to the I*o’t and
back, and the entire time during which
be could possibly have made any at
tempts to go to It.
The answers of the Eskimo boys to
Commander Peary’s series of inde
pendent questions, showing that they
killed no game, made no caches, lost
no dogs, and returned to the land with
loaded sledges, makes their attainment
of the Pole on the trip North of Cape
Thomas Hubbard a physical and math
ematical impossibility, as it would de
mand the subsistence of three men
and over twenty dogs during a jour
ney of ten hundred and forty geograph
ical miles on less than two sledge loads
Os supplies.
If it is suggested that perhaps Dr.
Cook got mixed and that he reached
the Pole, or thought he did. between
the time of leaving the nori Invest coast
of Heiberg Land at Cape Northwest,
and Ids arrival at Ringnes Lnud, where
they killed the deer, we must thou add
to the date of Dr. cook’s letter of
March 17th, al or near Cape Thomas
Hubbard, the subsequent four or five
sleeps at that point, and the number
of days required to march from Cape
Thomas Hubbard to Cape Northwest
(a distance of some sixty nautical
milost, which would advance his date
of departure from the land to at
least the 25th of March, and be pre
pared to accept the claim that Dr.
Cook went from Cape Northwest
(about latitude eighty and a half de
grees North) to the Pole, a distance of
five hundred and seventy geographical
miles, tn twenty seven days.
After killing the deer they then trav
elled south along the east side of Ring
nes Land to the point Indicated on the
chart, where they killed another deer.
They then went east across the south
part of Crown Prince Gustav Sea to
the south end of Heiberg Land, then
down through Norwegian Bay, where
they secured some bears, but not until
after they hud killed some of their
dogs, to the east side of Graham Is
land: then eastward Io the little bay
marked “Eld s Fiord” on Sverdrup’s
chart; then southwest to Hell’s Gate
and Simmon’s Peninsula.
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Hero for the first time during the
entire journey, excepi as nlrerdy noted
off Cape Thomas 11. Hubbard, they
encountered open wnter. On this point
the boys wore clear, emphatic, and un
shakable. They spent a good deal of
time in tills region, and finally aban
doned their dogs and one sledge, took
to their boat, crossed Hell’s Gate to
North Kent, up into Norfolk Inlet,
then back along the north coast of
Colin Archer Peninsula to Cape Vera,
where they obtained fresh e 'ler duck
eggs. Here they cut the remaining
sledge off, t mil is shortened it.asltwas
awkward to transport with the boat,
and near here they killed a walrus.
The statement in regard to the fresh
eider duck eggs permits the approxi
mate determination of the date at this
time as about the first of July. (This
statement also serves, if indeed any
thing more than the Inherent straight
forwardness and detail of their narra
tive were needed, to substantiate the
accuracy and truthfulness of the boys’
statement. This locality of Cape Vera
Is mentioned in Sverdrup's narrative
as the place where during his stay In
that region he obtained eider ducks’
eggs.i
From Cape Vera tliey went on down
into the southwest angle of Jones
Sound, where they killed a seal; thence
east along the south coast of the
Sound, killing three bears at the point
noted on the map, to the peninsula
known as Capo Spnrbo on the map,
about midway on the south side of
Jones Sound. Here they killed some
musk-oxen and, continuing east, killed
four more at the place indicated on
the chart, and were finally stopped by
tile pack lee at the mouth of Jones
Sound. From here they turned back
to Cape Sparbo, where they' wintered
and killed many musk-oxen.
After the sun returned in 1909 they
started, pushing their sledge, across
Jones Sound to Cape Tennyson; thence
along the coast to Clarence Head (pass
ing inside of two small Islands not
shown on the chart, but drawn on It
by the boys), where they killed a boar;
thence across the broad bight in the
const to Cadogan Fiord; thence around
Cape Isabella and up to Commander
Peary’s old house in Payer Harbor
near Cape Snbine, where they found a
seal cached for them by Panikpah,
I-took-a-shoo’s father. From here they
crossed Smith Sound on the Ice, ar
riving at Anoratok.
(Signed) R. E. PKanr, U. K. N.
Robert A. Baivh.ktt.
Master S.S. /foo«co«U.
D. H, McMtUAN.
Geoiuie Honor,
Matthew A. llemsoh.
Schooner’s Crew Released.
Progreso, PJex.—The crew of the
American fishing schooner Colt,
seized by the Mexican authorities for
poaching, who have been in Jail since
September 24, have been released.
The ship is held. Captain Joseph
Schlease, commanding the vessel,
states that he and his men had at
first been refused the request, to neo
the American consul. The captalo
states that his vessel was damaged
In a storm and carried to the coast
of Mexico, ami that he put In port for
repairs and immediately was seized
by a gunboat.