From Hero to Humbug

A Busy Week
A hundred years ago, this was a busy week in the Polar Controversy.   Peary’s long awaited “proofs” that Dr. Cook had not been to the North Pole were released in the form of a statement alleged to have been made by the two Inuit who accompanied him, along with a map on which [...]

On September 21, 1909, Dr. Frederick Albert Cook arrived in the United Sates from Europe aboard the Oscar II. The liner had lain off Fire Island since three in the afternoon the day before so as not to upset the welcome plans for the Discoverer of the North Pole. She dressed in flags and proceeded [...]

It all began with these words sent in a telegram from Lerwick, Shetland Islands, on the morning of September 1, 1909:
REACHED NORTH POLE APRIL 21, 1908. DISCOVERED LAND FAR NORTH. RETURN TO COPENHAGEN BY STEAMER HANS EGEDE. FREDERICK COOK.
It will be 100 years ago tomorrow that those fateful words broke upon an unsuspecting world. For [...]