From Hero to Humbug

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 [...]

September 10 is a notable day in the history of the Polar Controversy.
On that day in 1909, Dr. Frederick A. Cook, loaded down with nearly every honor the Danish nation could bestow, departed Copenhagen on the first leg of his journey back to America.  The one exception was the exclusive Dannebrog, or Gold Medal of [...]

Full details appear in the October issue of Polar Record.

The unexpected recovery of the original drafts of Cook’s telegrams sent from Lerwick, Shetland Islands containing the claim that Cook had reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908, appears in full in the October number of Polar Record, a peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by Cambridge [...]

In September 1909, the name of Frederick Albert Cook was on the lips of the entire civilized world. Some said he was the greatest of heroes; others said he was the greatest of scoundrels. To this day Cook remains the most controversial figure in the history of exploration, and his claim to [...]

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 [...]