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Frederick Albert Cook
10th June, 1865 in Hortonville, New York - 5th August, 1940 in New Rochelle, NY
Interesting Trivia:
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The most controversial figure in the history of polar exploration
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During his prison stay, his Federal prisoner number was 23118
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College of Physicians and Surgeons at New York University
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Was the first President of the Arctic Club of America
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Was the second President of the Explorers Club
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He got called "the American Dreyfus of the North"
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Was president of Texas Eagle Oil Company in Fort Worth
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In prison, he served as physician in the hospital, but also edited the prison newspaper, New Era
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He got knighted by the King of Belgium
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Wrote a total of five books about his experiences
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He was buried in Forest Lawn, Buffalo, NY.
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Ahwelah and Etukishook were the two Inuit men who reached the North Pole with him
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Married to: Libby Forbes (1889-1890, she died in childbirth), Marie Fidele Hunt (1902-1923) Has one daughter, Helene, by his second wife.
His Story:
Before he became an Arctic explorer, Frederick Cook was a doctor in a medical practice. He developed his love for the Arctic one year after he graduated, in 1890, as a doctor and jumped at the opportunity to join various expeditions as a surgeon. His reputation as a doctor grew with each expedition.
On his first expedition to the north of Greenland with Robert Peary in 1891 he stood out for his attitude. Peary stated that Cook had shown "unruffled patience and coolness in an emergency."
Again, in another expedition (1897-99), this time with the Belgian Antarctic Expedition team which was led by Adrien de Gerlache (Roald Amundsen was amongst the crew), Cook proved his worth. The party got trapped in the ice of the Bellingshausen Sea and because of Cook’s courage and actions, it survived. He had the crew eat raw meat so they would not die from scurvy.
The expedition with Peary in 1902 was the last one they did together. He was not happy with Peary’s approach and he had other plans. His next expedition was undertaken with the aim to conquer Mount McKinley in Alaska and in 1903, was the first person to circumnavigate in. In 1906 he made the claim to have reached the summit. This was later refuted by his climbing partner, Ed Barrill, who stated that Cook’s diary was false and even the picture, apparently taken of the summit, was not in fact from another peak, miles away. In Cook’s defence, Barrill got paid a hefty sum to claim this (by Peary’s supporters)….. This first controversy was the beginning of the end for Cook’s reputation and career.
Then came his eight, and probably most controversial, expedition. It was to take him almost two years, something he surely had not planned when he left his base camp at Annoatok in February 1908. He claims to have reached the geographical North Pole on 21st April 1908. The controversy started when Peary claimed to have reached the geographical North Pole as well. That he could not produce detailed original navigational records to substantiate his claim did not do him any favours either. He said he had left them behind in Greenland. The two Inuit men that were with him were not believed either as their stories did not match.
This controversy of who reached the North Pole first, (if at all) did not stop after both men died. In 1930, he was sent to prison for a five year term for fraud, undermining his credibility. He got pardoned by the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but the damage was well and truly done
Cook spent many years sueing everybody and anybody who was disagreeing with him which did not help his reputation much. His last years were spent writing his memoirs and shortly before he died, the Cook Arctic Club was established. This club has changed since then and is now called The Frederick A. Cook Society, which purpose is "to gain official recognition for the scientific and geographic accomplishments of Dr. Frederick A. Cook."
In the last 40 years or so, many books have been published, both championing his achievements and refuting them. There was a symposium on him at the Byrd Polar Research Centre in 1993 which came to the conclusion that his claims were authentic. Some think he was just the innocent victim of the merciless and unrelenting persecution by Robert Peary and those who supported Peary's claim to have reached the pole first.
Whatever the case might be, it is fairly certain that he did not reach the summit of Mount McKinley (proven by various other climbers that came after him and who took pictures of the “summit” Cook claimed to have reached). Whether he reached the North Pole first will probably never be known. However, he would be glad to know that Peary’s claim for the North Pole is generally disbelieved as well.
He himself wrote in his book “I have stated my 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.”
Te Papa Whale exhibition in Washington, DC