The Long Journey: Matthew Henson Level P

The

WorldWise

Long Journey Matthew Henson

Written by Nancy O’Connor

WorldWise

ÂŽ

Content-based Learning

WorldWise

Content-based Learning

The Long Journey: Matthew Henson Social Studies

Informational text types: Report/Journal

Level: P (38)* C3 Social Studies Curriculum links • D.2.Geo.7.3–5 Explain how cultural and environmental characteristics affect the distribution and movement of people, goods, and ideas • D.2.Geo.8.3–5 Explain how human settlements and movements relate to the locations and use of various natural resources • D2.Hist.3.3–5 Generate questions about individuals and groups who have shaped significant historical changes and continuities • D2.Hist.2.3–5 Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today

Key concepts • Exploring unknown places is difficult and dangerous • Matthew Henson’s participation in the first expedition to reach the North Pole is a significant achievement for humankind and in particular African Americans

Text features • Maps, time line, captions, text boxes, glossary

Reading strategy • Interpreting information from photos, illustrations, and time lines © 2019 EC Licensing Pty Ltd. This work is protected by US copyright law, and under international copyright conventions, applicable in the jurisdictions in which it is published. All rights reserved. The trademark “Flying Start to Literacy” and Star device is a registered trademark of EC Licensing Pty Ltd in the US. The trademark “WorldWise Content-based Learning” and Star device is owned by EC Licensing Pty Ltd.

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Cover (background) © Denis Burdin | Shutterstock; cover, p.3, p.12 (b), p.20, p.22-23 (t, b) © Bettmann | Getty Images; p.1 (l), p.9 (t), p.13 (t) © Maksimilian | Shutterstock; p.1 (m), p. 10 (r) © Library of Congress | Wikimedia Commons; p.1 (r), p. 13 (b) © Historical | Getty Images; p.2 © Robert E. Peary | Getty Images; p.2-3 © Christopher Wood | Shutterstock; p.4 © Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-60719, LOT 12353-9 [P&P]; p.5 © Dan Thornberg | Shutterstock; p.6 (l) © Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-68077, LOT 11692 [P&P], (r) © Jan Miko | Shutterstock; p.6-7 © Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ppmsca-39745, LOT 14107, no. 153 [P&P]; p.7 © Joseph H. Bailey | Getty Images; p.8 © Hein Nouwens | Shutterstock; p.9 (b) © Peter Hermes Furian | Shutterstock; p.10 (l) © Hulton Archive | Getty Images p.11 (t) © Belovodchenko Anton | Shutterstock, (b) © Michele Aldeghi | Shutterstock; p.12 (m) © Paul Thompson/FPG | Getty Images; p.14 © Granger Historical Picture Archive | Alamy Stock Photo; p.15 (l) Library of Congress, LC-USZC4-7505 © Marie Peary Stafford; p.15 (r) © Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-128546, LOT 11059 [P&P]; p.16 © GraphicaArtis | Getty Images; p.17 (t, b) © Granger Historical Picture Archive | Alamy Stock Photo; p.18 © Robert E. Peary | Getty Images; p.19 Library of Congress, LC-USZC4-9010 © Frederick A. Stokes Company; p.20-21 © Bob Thomas/Popperfoto | Getty Images; p.21 © Feng Yu | Shutterstock; p.22 © IgorGolovnoiv | Shutterstock; p.24 © zhukovvvlad | Shutterstock.

While the publisher has made every effort to acknowledge copyright holders, any omissions should be emailed in the first instance to info@ecpublishing.com.au, including all details for appropriate acknowledgement at the next reprint. * Levels indicated by letters are Okapi’s unique measurements, comparable to the Guided Reading levels of Fountas and Pinnell. Numerical levels in parentheses align with DRA.

www.worldwise-reading.com ISBN: 978-1-76067-780-0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 19 20 21 22 23 24

okapi educational publishing

The Long Journey Matthew Henson

WorldWise

Written by Nancy O’Connor Series Consultant: Linda Hoyt

WorldWise

™

Content-based Learning

Introduction Contents Introduction 3 Chapter 1: A fortunate meeting 4

Henson’s early life 5

Life as a cabin boy 6

Central America 7 Chapter 2: The Arctic adventures 8

“Matthew, the kind one” 10 Food 12 Clothing 12 Determination 13 Chapter 3: The last polar trip 14

“I think I’m the first man to sit on top of the world.”

On April 6, 1909, Matthew Henson and Robert Peary raised the American flag at the North Pole. Explorers had been trying to reach the North Pole for a very long time. In 1909, Henson, Peary, and their team finally succeeded.

Matthew Henson played a major role in the expedition’s success. He was always willing to take on challenges, learn, adapt, and solve problems.

So, who was Matthew Henson, and why did Peary once comment, “I cannot get along without him”?

Matthew Henson, April 6, 1909

The first successful expedition to the North Pole was in 1909. Matthew Henson, second from the right, was part of this expedition.

Conclusion 22 Glossary 23 Index 24

3

Chapter 1

A fortunate meeting The American explorer Robert Peary first met Matthew Henson in a hat store in Washington, DC, in 1887. Peary was a US Navy officer at the time and was planning a trip to Central America.

He was investigating whether a canal could be built to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Peary needed a sun helmet for his journey and went to a store to buy one. There he mentioned to the store owner that he needed not only a helmet but also a personal servant to accompany him to the tropics. The store owner suggested one of his stock boys, Matthew Henson, who was 21 years old at the time.

Did you know?

During the 1800s, children made up about 20 percent of the workforce in the United States. They often worked 12 hours a day, six days a week.

A sailing ship similar to the Katie Hines

Henson’s early life Henson’s childhood in Charles County, Maryland, in the United States, had not been easy. His mother had died when he was an infant, and by the time he was eight years old, he was an orphan.

Steinmetz and Sons on G Street, Washington, DC. This is the hat store where explorer Robert Peary met Henson.

Henson helped support himself by washing dishes in a restaurant. When he turned 12, he was hired as a cabin boy on a ship, the Katie Hines. For the next five years, he worked aboard this ship as it sailed around the world.

Matthew Henson’s childhood August 8, 1866 Matthew Henson is born to poor African American farmers.

4

1874 Henson becomes an orphan.

1877 At the age of 11, he walks from Washington, DC, to Baltimore, Maryland, a distance of about 40 miles, to look for a job.

1878 Henson becomes a cabin boy on the Katie Hines. He sails with Captain Childs around the world, visiting China, Japan, and Africa.

1883 Captain Childs dies.

Henson returns to Washington, DC.

1887 Explorer Robert Peary meets Henson and hires him to travel with him on an expedition to Nicaragua.

5

A fortunate meeting Left: Many goods were transported by ship in the late 1800s, and many people worked at wharfs loading and unloading ships.

Life as a cabin boy The skipper of the ship, named Captain Childs, took a special interest in Henson. He lent him books and helped him learn to read and write.

Henson became an able seaman.

When Captain Childs died, Henson got a job on another ship, but he left because of poor working conditions and racial prejudice.

Left: African American workers at the docks in Charleston, South Carolina,1879

Henson then tried various jobs that were open to African Americans in those days. He worked at the docks loading and unloading ships, and as a chauffeur, a messenger boy, a night watchman, and, finally, as a stock clerk in a hat store. And that is how he met Peary.

6

Central America When Peary found out that Henson had experience at sea as a cabin boy, he offered him a job as his personal assistant. Henson was excited at the chance for another adventure. On their two-year expedition to Central America, Peary was impressed by Henson. Not only was he loyal, hardworking, and well traveled, he was also a skilled carpenter, mechanic, and navigator.

Robert Peary in Nicaragua, Central America, in 1887

When Peary planned his next sailing expedition in 1891 to Greenland, to prove that Greenland was an island and not part of the North Pole, he asked Henson to join him. Peary dreamed of discovering and marking the location of the North Pole. This became Henson’s dream, too.

7

Chapter 2

The Arctic adventures In 1891, Henson and Peary set off on the first of many expeditions to Greenland, the closest land to the Arctic ice cap. Crossing the Arctic ice cap and getting to the North Pole was going to be a risky adventure, but they wanted to try anyway.

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ARCTIC OCEAN

Ru s s ia

This aerial photograph of the frozen Arctic Ocean shows open areas of sea water called leads.

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A sailing ship stuck in ice, Davis Strait, Greenland

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North Pole

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The Arctic ice cap is a frozen ocean. It expands during the freezing cold winter, and, in the summer, it melts and breaks apart. The challenge for Henson and Peary was to know how to survive these dangerous conditions, as well as the fierce Arctic weather – high winds, thick fog, and freezing temperatures.

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Polar expeditions

8

1891

1893

Henson goes with Peary to Greenland. It is the first of many trips they make there.

Henson joins Peary on a two-year expedition to Greenland. Their goal is to chart the whole of the polar ice cap. The expedition runs out of food; Peary and his team survive by eating their sled dogs.

1896 Henson and Peary return to Greenland.

1897–1902 Peary and Henson explore Greenland to try to reach the North Pole, but six Inuit perish because of lack of food and supplies.

1906

1908

Peary and his team, in a new ship, make a second attempt to reach the North Pole. The ship is damaged, and the expedition is a failure.

Peary and his team set out on their final attempt to reach the North Pole.

On April 6, 1909, they achieve their goal of being the first people to reach the North Pole.

9

The Arctic adventures

“Matthew, the kind one”

An igloo village in the Arctic.

These dwellings provided shelter from the harsh Arctic conditions.

Peary and Henson had an idea about how to survive in the Arctic. They knew they had to learn more about the survival skills of the First People, the Inuit, who had lived in the Arctic for thousands of years, if they wanted to reach the North Pole.

In this task, Henson proved invaluable. He quickly learned the native language, and before long, he spoke it better than anyone else in the expedition.

Peary often used Henson as his translator. When the Inuit men didn’t understand something Peary needed, Henson could explain it.

Matthew Henson

Henson also studied the Inuit way of life.

The men taught him how to drive a sledge.

He learned how to train and care for the dog teams. They showed him how to build igloos out of blocks of ice. These lessons and Henson’s new building and survival skills would save his life and the lives of other team members on their expeditions.

The Arctic explorers used teams of dogs and sledges to travel across the Arctic ice cap.

10

On one occasion, Henson saved Peary’s life by shooting an angry musk ox. Another time, when Peary suffered frostbite to his feet, Henson carried his friend by dogsled for 11 days back to the ship. The ship’s doctor had to cut off all but Peary’s baby toes. For the rest of his life, Peary suffered great pain in his feet when the weather was cold.

Henson said of the Inuit:

Wild musk oxen in the Arctic

Many and many a time, for periods covering more than twelve months, I have been to all intents an Esquimo [sic], with Esquimos for companions, speaking their language, dressing in the same kind of clothing, living in the same kind of dens, eating the same food, enjoying their pleasures, and frequently sharing their griefs. I have come to love these people. I know every man, woman, and child in their tribe. They are my friends and they regard me as theirs.

Most of all, Henson won the confidence and friendship of the Inuit. They called him Maripaluk, which means “Dear little Matthew” or “Matthew, the kind one.”

Did you know?

The Arctic explorers called the native Arctic people Eskimos, which they spelled Esquimos.

11

The Arctic adventures

Food The Inuit taught Henson and the other explorers how to hunt and fish for food.

Blubber – the fat from whales, walruses, and narwhals – was the main food of the Inuit.

They also hunted hares, foxes, and musk oxen.

Large areas of water open up when the ice melts and cracks.

In addition, the explorers brought some food with them to the Arctic. It was pemmican, a type of dried meat. This meat was used as food for the men and their dogs.

Clothing The Inuit women made clothes for the explorers to protect them from the cold.

Each man wore a long shirt made from a type of flannel that came from the skins of swans.

Their bearskin pants were also lined with this flannel. The flannel absorbed sweat. The pants were wrapped with a band of bearskin around each leg. Over the top of these clothes, the men wore deerskin coats with hoods, bearskin mittens, and sealskin boots.

At night, they slept in their clothes.

Determination Henson and Peary were determined to reach the North Pole. For over 17 years, they continued to plan and make new expeditions together. Henson was the navigator and builder on these expeditions. Time after time, their expeditions ended in disappointment. Dangerous melting ice often kept them from reaching their goal.

On one expedition, Peary’s ship was surrounded by ice and could not move.

On one occasion, without warning, the ice cap cracked open, creating large areas of open water called leads. Dogs fell in, and the team had to wait until the water froze to cross over it. The expedition had to be abandoned, and only 41 of the original dogs survived.

But they kept planning and setting out on new expeditions.

Peary (top) and Henson (right) dressed in fur and skins.

They learned from the First People of the Arctic that these clothes would protect them from the freezing Arctic conditions.

12

“The path is not easy, the climbing is rugged and hard, but the glory at the end is worthwhile.”

Matthew Henson 13

Chapter 3

The last polar trip

Matthew Henson wrote about the ship’s journey north in his 1912 memoir: Now began 21 days of the hardest kind of work imaginable for a ship, actually fighting for every foot of the way against the impassable ice. The constant jolting, bumping, jarring, made work and comfort all but impossible.

The ship smashed through the ice, its front rising up on the ice and then crashing down onto it to open the way.

On July 6, 1908, Peary, Henson, and a hand-picked crew sailed out of New York Harbor on their latest attempt to reach the North Pole. Crowds cheered, and tugboat whistles blew.

Their ship, the Roosevelt, was the first vessel built strong enough to break through polar ice. As the ship sailed north, it stopped at several villages to take on board 49 Inuit – 22 men to handle the sledges, 17 women to sew winter clothes for the members of the expedition, and 10 children.

14

The Roosevelt.

Peary and Henson sailed in the Roosevelt on their 1908 expedition.

On September 5, 1908, the Roosevelt reached the far north of Canada. Peary and Henson knew that preparation, timing, and speed were essential to the success of their expedition. The explorers had to wait for spring and sunlight to return to the Arctic, but they also had to complete the journey before great sections of the polar ice melted during the Arctic summer.

Did you know?

During the Arctic winter, the days are short and the nights are long. From early November to late January, there is less than six hours of daylight each day.

Above left: Peary handing out gifts to the Inuit Above: The expedition’s headquarters, 1908

15

The last polar trip

March 4, 1909 Commander routed out all hands by 7 a.m. We reached heavy, old floes . . . the best traveling on sea ice I had ever encountered.

March 5, 1909 First view of the sun today.

Makes us all cheerful.

Peary’s expedition set up its winter camp on Ellesmere Island, Canada. The map shows Peary’s route to the North Pole.

16

In the spring of 1909, just before the first Arctic thaw, Peary and his crew set out for the Pole. This is the journey in Henson’s own words: March 1, 1909 By 6 a.m. we were ready and standing at . . . our sledges, awaiting the command, “Forward! March!” With a crack of the whip and a “Huk! Huk!” to the dogs, they were off – 23 men, 19 sledges, and 133 barking dogs – across the Arctic Ocean. An easy start soon turned rough, and the men used pickaxes to clear a path through ice ridges. Sledges broke and had to be repaired. Exhausted, they made only 12 miles.

For the expedition to reach the North Pole, they had to travel 20 to 25 miles every day. When the expedition ran into a big lead – an open stretch of water a quarter-mile wide – they started to lose valuable time. They had to wait for days for the lead to freeze over.

Some of the teams complained and wanted to return to land.

Peary paced up and down in frustration. But finally, on March 11, the lead froze over, and they continued.

17

The last polar trip

March 22, 1909 Daylight lasted for the full 24 hours. The men marched from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. – a full 15 hours. Temperatures as low as –40° Fahrenheit froze their hoods to their beards.

March 29, 1909 We turned in for a rest and sleep, but soon turned out again . . . ; the ice [was] moving in all directions, our igloos wrecked, and every instant our very lives in danger. With eyes dazed by sleep, we tried to guide the terrorstricken dogs and push the sledges to safety, but rapidly we saw the party being separated and the black water beginning to appear amid the roar of the breaking ice floes.

Henson with a fur seal

A few days later, Henson recalls almost dying: April 3, 1909 I was standing and pushing at the sledge, when the block of ice I was using as a support slipped from underneath my feet, and before I knew it the sledge was out of my grasp, and I was floundering in the water of the lead. . . . I tore my hood from off my head and struggled frantically. My hands were gloved and could not take hold of the ice, but . . . faithful old Ootah . . . grabbed me by the nape of the neck, same as he would have grabbed a dog, and with one hand he pulled me out of the water. . . . He had saved my life.

By April 6, Peary believed they were close to their goal. He took sightings of the sun to determine their location and calculated that they were about three miles from the Pole.

The expedition encounters a lead.

By April 1, 1909, they were now at 88 degrees north latitude. Four teams had been sent back to the ship. Six men remained – Peary, four Inuit, and Henson.

18

Did you know?

The Inuit who accompanied Peary and Henson were Greenlandic Inuit.

Formerly known as Polar Eskimos, they are the northernmost group of Inuit, and the world’s northernmost people, living in Greenland. They are also called Inughuit.

19

The last polar trip

Finally, on April 6, Henson wrote: The Commander gave the word, “We will plant the stars and stripes – at the North Pole!” And it was done; on the peak of a huge floeberg the glorious banner was unfurled in the breeze.

Henson felt honored to be the first African American to reach the North Pole. And Peary had finally achieved his dream of discovering and marking the location of the North Pole. He wrote in his journal:

But when Peary finally returned to the United States, he learned that just days before him, Dr. Frederick A. Cook, a physician and explorer from New York, had announced his discovery of the North Pole. Peary spent the next decade fighting to have his claim of being first recognized. After a number of court trials, Peary was finally declared to have reached the North Pole first.

The Pole at last! The prize of three centuries, my dream and goal of 23 years. Mine at last! I cannot bring myself to realize it. It all seems so simple and commonplace.

THURSDAY,

SEPTEMBER

9, 1909

– ia b m lu o C e p a C From in 16 days k c a b , s y a d 7 3 up in E, SAYS L O P R A E N T O N K COO The party spent only 30 hours at the Pole. Peary left a strip of flag in a glass jar and at 4:00 p.m. gave the order to depart. The men made it back to the Roosevelt in 17 days.

20

PEARY

to be s a summary d n se ry a e P By radio, cord of his report – a re ll fu is h y b followed ost north. ss to the utm re g ro p t if sw 21

Conclusion

Glossary

After their last polar trip, Peary and Henson were no longer friends. Peary took all the glory for being “the first man at the North Pole” and was celebrated for his achievement.

Henson’s important role was mostly ignored. He wrote a book about his adventure, which was published in 1912, but it took more than 30 years for Henson to get any recognition for his extraordinary achievement.

able seaman a person who works on the deck of a ship and is qualified to perform routine jobs

In 1945, the US Navy awarded Henson a medal, and in 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower welcomed him and his wife at the White House.

frostbite a condition in which part of your body (such as your fingers or toes) freezes or almost freezes

For some years after his death in 1955, Henson’s body lay in a grave in New York City. Then, on April 6, 1988, Matthew Henson was buried with full military honors next to Robert Peary in Arlington National Cemetery. Henson finally received the recognition that he deserved.

expedition a journey planned by a person or a group of people with a specific purpose, such as discovering something or finding out scientific information floeberg a large ridge of ice that looks like an iceberg

Matthew Henson, 1926

Henson was buried next to Peary on the 79th anniversary of their historic expedition.

leads areas in the sea ice that are not frozen; ships often use leads to sail through ice pemmican meat that has been dried and mixed with melted fat; it can last for a long time without going bad racial prejudice a dislike of someone based solely on race; unfriendly feelings and sometimes actions directed against an individual because of his or her race stock boys boys or young men who were often employed by store owners to stock shelves

Did you know?

In 1986, the US Postal Service isued a stamp to commemorate Peary and Henson’s expedition to the North Pole.

22

23

Index Arctic ice cap 8, 10, 13 blubber 12 Canada 9, 15, 16 Central America 4, 7 Childs, Captain 5, 6 clothing 11, 12, 14 Cook, Dr. Frederick A. 21 dog teams 8, 10, 13, 16, 18–19 First People 10, 12 food 8, 9, 11, 12 frostbite 10, 23 Greenland 7, 8, 9, 18

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ice 8, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 igloos 10, 11, 18 Inuit 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18 leads 9, 13, 17, 19, 23 musk ox 10, 11, 12 North Pole 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22 pemmican 12, 23 Roosevelt, the 14, 15, 20 sledges 10, 14, 16, 18, 19 thaw 16 weather 8, 10

WorldWise: Content-based Learning | Grade 3 Curriculum-linked titles Guided Reading Levels N (30), O (34), P (38)*

Next Generation Science

C3 Social Studies

The Nature of our World

Relationships, Roles, Responsibilities

Change and Continuity

Animal Parents – N (30)

Caring for Animals – N (30)

Animal Lifetimes – N (30)

The Weather Today – N (30)

Looking After Our World – N (30)

The Land Where I Live – N (30)

Busy Highways – O (34)

The Coral Reef – O (34)

Amazing Animal Survivors – O (34)

The Animal Kingdom – P (38)

Plants: The Key to Life – O (34)

Bicycles by Design – O (34)

Everything Moves – P (38)

Keeping Well – P (38)

Animals and their Ancestors – P (38)

Going, Going, Gone? – P (38)

Monarch Butterflies: The Long Migration – P (38)

Finding Our Way – P (38)

New Country, New Life – O (34)

My Neighborhood – N (30)

Tell Me a Story – N (30)

The Long Journey: Matthew Henson – P (38)

What Is Work? – O (34)

Then and Now: Four Generations of My Family – O (34)

* Levels indicated by letters are Okapi’s unique measurements, comparable to the Guided Reading levels of Fountas and Pinnell. Numerical levels in parentheses align with DRA.

WorldWise: Content-based learning | Grade 3 Curriculum-linked titles Next Generation Science

C3 Social Studies

okapi educational publishing