Page 54 - 2024 - Q3 - Minerva in Focus

MINERVA IN FOCUS Interesting Fact

Do you know

who the first person

to reach the North

Pole was?

Toward the end of the 19th century, discov-
ering new lands had become a much smaller
endeavour, with most lands already having
been explored. Thus, exploration started to Gerardus Mercator's map
look to the more dangerous reaches of the of the North Pole from 1595,
world and even beyond our atmosphere. the first map of the North Pole
The industrial age allowed humans to stretch Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
their imaginations and create structures that
assisted us to explore the ocean’s depths,
escape the earth’s gravity, and navigate both believed that he finally reached his goal his claim to the North Pole was accurate,
through and over treacherous frozen terrain. in 1909. Upon coming back to the Unit- interviews years after the expedition placed
However, within this new, dangerous age of ed States, however, he was faced with a his right-hand man, Matthew Henson, as
exploration, there lies a controversy that may shocking discovery that someone else was the expedition’s first. Henson, who had
never truly be answered: who exactly was trying to claim his prize. been beside Peary on all but his first ex-
the first to reach the North Pole? Frederick Cook, an explorer and surgeon, pedition to the Arctic, was sent ahead of
While Antarctica has evidence of human had accompanied Robert E. Peary on his the final exploration party to scout the area.
presence, the Arctic Circle becomes noth- second expedition to Greenland. Cook This meant that he was the first to walk on
ing more than ice after Canada and Green- decided to pursue his own path to fame top of the world.
land. Explorers not only had to deal with rather than continuing under the shadow Since the Peary claim to the North Pole
the extreme temperatures but also with of Peary. He quickly sought out grand tro- wasn’t disputed until the 1980s, scientists
the unpredictability of the ice. Even during phies, claiming to have been the first at and explorers looked to new challenges in
the summer months of the Northern Hemi- the top of the world in 1908. The young the Arctic. In 1948 a Soviet scientific expe-
sphere, temperatures still average around explorer had well-kept travel journals and dition flew to and landed on the North Pole.
freezing and below. Many vessels became photographic evidence. Consisting of four scientists, the expedition
trapped, whether they were commanded by However, previous claims of his expedi- was kept secret during and briefly after, but
newcomers or seasoned explorers. tions had begun to be disputed, tarnishing it was acknowledged by Guinness World
Recognising the limitations of ships and the his reputation and creating doubt. More- Records in 1997 as the first to be at the
perilous nature of Arctic ice, some explorers over, Robert Peary tried to secure his claim North Pole at ground level.
opted for a safer approach, traveling on to the North Pole and worked to expose From the claims of Robert Peary and Fred-
foot and by sled. One of the most famous Frederick Cook as a fraud. In the end, Rob- erick Cook to other later expeditions, the
explorers of the area was Robert Peary, who ert Peary prevailed. quest for the North Pole has captured the
manned multiple expeditions throughout Robert Peary, however, was not without imagination of generations. Yet, amid the
Greenland and toward the North Pole. His his flaws. His journals were locked away tales of courage and ambition, the question
first attempt to the North Pole was in 1898, by the National Geographic Society and of who truly first set foot on the top of the
during the sixth Peary expedition, which were never used as evidence in the Peary world remains shrouded in mystery and
was then followed by a second attempt vs. Cook case. Peary’s claim rested on controversy.
in 1905. Each failed expedition taught the proof of Cook’s fraud and his repu-
Peary and his crew how to navigate the tation as an experienced explorer of the Source:
ever-changing, fluid landscape until he Arctic, not on his own evidence. Even if National Archives Blog

54 ISSUE 29 / Q3 2024