The Great Polar Fraud by Anthony Galvin

Author:Anthony Galvin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2013-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

21

PEARY AND COOK MEET AGAIN

The reputations of both Peary and Cook were riding high by the end of 1906. Peary had wrested the coveted Farthest North from his European rivals, and was planning his final assault on the Pole. As far as the public knew, Cook had climbed the unclimbable mountain and planted Old Glory on the top of the continent. There were questions about both men, but the questions were asked in private, among a select few men who were experts in the fields of exploration. To the public, America had two heroic explorers to celebrate. And celebrate them they did.

On December 15 of that year the two men were both guests at the National Geographic Society’s annual dinner in Washington, DC. Both were seated at the top table, in positions of honor, rubbing shoulders with cabinet ministers, congressmen, senators, foreign dignitaries, industrial giants, and academic heavyweights. Not just rubbing shoulders, but lording it over them. Peary had finally achieved his “fame.” Cook, driven more by the desire to succeed and secure his family, had also achieved what he wanted.

There had been tensions between the men in the past, but there had also been a long period where they were firm friends. This evening was an event which emphasized the friendship, and both men greeted each other cordially. With four hundred guests looking on, neither was going to let themselves down. The Italian ambassador was one of those who addressed the gathering. Italy had held the Farthest North record until Peary took it back to America. Peary was magnanimous in victory, replying that the search for the Pole was: “The most manly example of friendly international rivalry that exists.”

Frederick Cook was a special guest, and was introduced by one of the most famous men in America, inventor Alexander Graham Bell.

The man behind the telephone acknowledged Peary at the top table, then said: “But in Dr. Cook we have one of the few Americans, if not the only American, who has explored both extremes of the world, the Arctic and the Antarctic regions. And now he had been to the top of the American continent, and therefore to the top of the world.”

Cook smiled as the audience burst into applause, then he stood to tell his story. Round one to the Brooklyn doctor. Peary smiled too. He knew that his moment was coming.

Halfway through Cook’s exciting tale of climbing Mount McKinley the door of the function room banged open, and all eyes turned. Striding into the hall was a figure familiar to everyone in the room. The usher made his announcement in stentorian tones, but it was unnecessary. Everyone knew the President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.

Cook knew his moment had suddenly passed. He stepped aside and sat down, while the President took his place behind the podium to address the room.

“Civilized people usually live under conditions of life so easy that there is a certain tendency to atrophy of the hardier virtues. And it is a relief to

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