Robert Peary

Robert Edwin Peary (May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer who is usually credited as the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole.

References

• {{Book reference | Title = Peary at the North Pole: fact or fiction? | Author = Dennis Rawlins | Year = 1973 | Publisher = Robert B. Luce, Inc. | ID = ISBN 0883310422}}
• {{Book reference | Title = The Noose of Laurels: Robert E. Peary and the race for the North Pole | Author = Wally Herbert | Year = 1989 | Publisher = Atheneum | ID = ISBN 0689120346}}
• {{Book reference | Title = Cook & Peary: the polar controversy resolved | Author = Robert M. Bryce | Year = 1997 | Publisher = Stackpole Books | ID = ISBN 0811703177}}
• {{Book reference | Title = Ninety Degrees North: The Quest for the North Pole | Author = Fergus Fleming | Year = 2002 | Publisher = Granta Books | ID = ISBN 1862075352}}
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Robert Peary was a famous explorer, but he also had a personal life. Robert Peary?s wife was Josephine. Josephine didn?t like being left home alone while her husband was off exploring so she accompanied him on many expeditions. She was a strange member of his group, but she was brave and courageous. Once when Peary broke his leg she stood guard and watched over him in the harsh weather. One of Peary?s very close friends was Matthew Henson. He was born on August 8, 1886 in Maryland. At the age of 13, Henson got a job as a cabin boy on a merchant ship where he learned much about sailing. However, because of racism he quit at the age of 18. When Henson traveled to the east coast he met Robert Peary who offered him a job on an expedition to Nicaragua. On this expedition Henson showed valuable skills so Peary then asked him to join him on his trip to the North Pole. On the expedition Henson taught the Inuit men and even Peary himself how to do certain things. Even though Peary is famous he still had a normal family life.

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Peary had quite a few jobs. Peary was once a civil engineer working for the Navy. He also worked on the Nicaragua canal before he left the Navy. Peary also had some other jobs. Peary worked as a local surveyor in his town. He surveyed things such as the coast. He also did a geodetic survey which is a survey which takes into account the size and shape of the earth. After a while he stopped all of these jobs and started artic exploring. As you can see Peary didn?t just suddenly become famous. He had to work through other not very good jobs to reach his exploration jobs.

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When Peary started exploring, he didn?t go straight to the North Pole. Peary first explored Greenland for 16 years. He went to the center of Greenland and also went on a sled journey to the northeast coast. He was amazingly able to collect two meteorites on two of his journeys. On Peary?s first Pole try in April 1902 he had to turn back after 15 days because of horrible weather. He reached 84 degrees16?north breaking no records. Three years later, Peary tried his second journey to the Pole and reached 87 degrees16? north breaking the world record. This time, he was stopped by a giant lead (a long gap in the ice). The ice didn?t close so they had to turn back. Peary?s last expedition started in 1908 and ended Aril 6, 1909. In this expedition Peary reached his goal, he made it to the North Pole. This was Peary?s last expedition and nothing stopped him on this expedition. It took Peary several tries to reach his goal.

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To survive in the Pole Robert Peary had to live through many things. Peary learned how to survive in the cold North Pole from the Inuit people. Four of the people on Peary?s expedition were Inuit people. Their names were Oatah, Egingwah, Ookeah, and Seegloo. Because nothing really grows in the artic, Peary and his group mostly brought food with them. They did fish in places where there were blow holes in the ice where animals would come up to breathe. They also hunted sometimes. Since it was freezing cold in the artic, they had to wear very heavy and warm clothing. Peary and his group dressed in reindeer hide and bearskins. They also wore fox furs and sealskins. That probably wasn?t the most comfortable thing to wear. While they were at the North Pole they had to overcome many different things. The horrible weather would always delay them and cause them to stop their journey until there was better weather. On Peary?s second expedition the weather was so bad he lost eight toes to frostbite and had them removed. Also they would have to wait for giant leads to close before they could move on. Even with all of this Peary and his team were still able to make it to the North Pole.

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When Peary came back, at first, not everyone believed that he had made it to the Pole. Frederick Cook claimed that he had made it a year earlier. For quite a while there was an argument going on between Cook and his supporters against Peary and his supporters. Eventually, people and scientists realized that Cooks photos were off by miles. Cook fled town and was later arrested for breaking the law. Even to this day some people are supporters of Cook and doubt Peary really made it to the pole.

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After Peary?s trip to the North Pole people were still fascinated by it. Peary died on February 20, 1920. Peary?s monument is in Cape York, Greenland. After Peary died people still made attempts to reach the North Pole. Some of these attempts ended in horrible catastrophes while others ended in success. People have now traveled to the North Pole on skies having supplies dropped off by planes so they could travel light. Other people have traveled on sleds just like Peary did while others traveled by plane. Some people even traveled in hot air balloons and zeppelins but most of these trips ended in disaster. It is even true that some people raced to the North Pole on snow mobiles. People have still traveled to the North Pole mainly to be the first to fly there or ski there or something like that. Few people did it for a good reason, to explore. The main person to explore the North Pole was Robert Peary.

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