to help lift it over tumbled ice ridges or mates; he alone among them would stand hundred miles away. Setting our with across deep chasms. Only Peary rode on a triumphant with Peary and their four Inuit many sleds and two dozen men, he sent individuals back to camp as the group regular basis. The loss of his toes ten years guides at the North Pole. before left him unable to walk far or keep After fourteen years of toiling side-by- used up another sled's cargo of supplies. the pace. side to achieve their shared dream, Robert Each man hoped to stay with Peary to the Between Greenland trips in the mid- Peary and Matthew Henson were middle- end, but they also understood that the 1890s, Henson sweated under stage lights, aged men when they set off for Greenland expedition's success depended upon Peary's donning his fur Arctic suit, while touring for the final time in 1908. Leaving New ability to travel light and not be held back by extra men, dogs, or sleds. One with Peary on a national lecture cirLIBRARY OF CON GRESS by one, they were ordered to turn cuit. He also toured in a one-man around until April 1, when only play Peary had written to raise monPeary, Henson , the ship's captain, ey and increase publicity. Back in Newfoundlander Robert Bartlett, Greenland, when the 1895 expediand the four Inuit guides, Ootah, tion teetered on the verge of failure Seegloo, Oqueah, and Egingwah, because of bad weather and weak remained. It was then that Peary ice, Henson suggested that they inmade his most respectful, generous, vestigate Inuit reports of giant meand ultimately controversial gesture teori res nearby. After returning to toward Henson, allowing him to New York with two of the smaller stay while sending Bartlett back to (but still massive) meteorites on the base camp after having reached latiship's deck, Peary was greeted with tude 87° 47' North. The six remainmuch fanfare by his sponsors and ing men would spend the next week the public. New York's Natural Histoi ling to reach the long-elusive goal tory Museum paid enough for the of 90° North. When they finally specimens that the team had sufmade it on 6 April, Peary snapped ficient funds for another try at the a photo of Henson and the guides Pole. on an ice hill, beneath a flapping Henson's promotion to chief American flag. assistant created mixed reactions The racism Henson encounamongst his fellow teammates. 6 April 1909: "Ooqueah, holding the Navy League flag; tered from his fellow expedition Some respected Henson for his skills Ootah, holding the D.KE. fraternity flag; Matthew Henand character. Donald MacMillan, son [center}, holding the polar flag; Egingwah, holding members was nothing compared to who accompanied Peary and Henthe D.A.R. peace flag; and Seegloo, holding the Red Cross the cold indifference he faced upon son on their last expedition, later flag. " 1his famous photo shows five ofthe six discoverers of returning home. White society defended Peary's decision to place a the North Pole. Ironically, the only one whose name would had no interest in acknowledging black man above the others: "With be honored and rememberedfor the feat was the sixth, not the accomplishments of any black explorer. Many outspoken critics years of experience equal to that of pictured because he was the photographer, Robert Peary. considered Henson a liability to the Peary himself, an expert dog driver, a master mechanic, physically strong and York harbor aboard the custom-built, expedition and could not understand why most popular with the Eskimos, talking three-masted auxiliary schooner USS Roos- Peary had chosen to make the last push for the language like a native, clean, full of evelt, they stopped in Oyster Bay, Long the Pole in the company of a black man grit, [Henson) ... was easily the most effi- Island, to receive a warm send-off from instead of Bartlett, an experienced navigacient of all Peary's assistants." When Hen- the vessel's namesake, President Theodore tor and dogsled driver in his own right. son needed to convalesce from a severe case Roosevelt. The 182-foot vessel was built Matthew Henson at the North Pole added of snow blindness, the team doctor, Fred- with an extra-strong hull to withstand fuel to the firestorm of controversy over erick Cook, treated him and even arranged the pressures of being iced-in during the whether Peary's team had actually made it for him to be a guest at his mother's New winter and was fitted with a high-powered all the way there. Frederick Cook, the team York City apartment. Others were un- steam engine to muscle the ship through doctor who had nursed Henson following the 1891 expedition, claimed that he had able to leave their prejudices behind. They the ice floes in Baffin Bay. criticized Henson for being "uppity" and In late February 1909, the team left reached the Pole a year earlier than Peary's grumbled that Peary allowed his "man-ser- the ship and, with their Inuit guides, team. Cook's charisma, contrasted against vant" to boss them around. Henson always trekked inland for a week before estab- Peary's aloof and arrogant reputation, did refused to back down when faced with such lishing Camp Crane on the edge of the not help their case. Racists argued that irrational personal hatred. In the end, he ice. Peary had devised an efficient plan Peary had deliberately chosen the black outworked and outlasted most of his team- to reach the Pole, still more than four man and the four Inuit as his companions
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SEA HISTORY 117, WINTER 2006-07