Frederick Cook
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{{otherpeople|Frederick Cook}}
'''Frederick Albert Cook''' ([[June 10]], [[1865]] – [[August 5]] [[1940]]) was an [[United States|American]] [[explorer]] and [[medical doctor|physician]], noted for his claim of having reached the [[North Pole]] in April, 1908, a year before [[Robert Peary]] claimed to.
==Life==
[[Image:Frederick Cook2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Frederick Cook on South Michigan Avenue in [[Chicago]]]]
Cook was born in [[Hortonville, New York|Hortonville]], [[New York]]. His parents were Dr. Theodore A. Koch and Magdalena Koch (''nee'' Long), recent [[Germany|German]] immigrants to the [[USA]].
Cook attended [[Columbia University]] and subsequently [[New York University]], from which he received his [[M.D.]] in 1890. In 1889 he married Libby Forbes, who died in childbirth in 1890. On his 37th birthday he married Marie Fidele Hunt; they had one daughter, Helene. In 1923 they were [[divorce]]d.
===Early expeditions===
Cook was the [[surgery|surgeon]] on [[Robert Peary]]'s 1891-92 [[Arctic]] expedition, and on the [[Belgian Antarctic Expedition]] of 1897-99 led by [[Adrien de Gerlache]]. He contributed greatly to saving the lives of the crew when their ship (the ''Belgica'') was ice-bound during the winter. A fellow crew-member was [[Norway|Norwegian]] explorer [[Roald Amundsen]], with whom he established a friendship and life-long relationship of mutual respect. In 1898, during this expedition, Cook visited [[Tierra del Fuego]], where he met [[Thomas Bridges]] shortly before his death. As a result of that meeting, Cook brought back the manuscript of Bridges' [[Yaghan language|Yamana]] dictionary, and several years later acquiesced in the attempted publication of the dictionary as his own work.<ref>Bridges, E L (1948) ''The Uttermost Part of the Earth'' Republished 2008, Overlook Press ISBN 978-1585679560, Appendix II
</ref>
In 1903 Cook led an expedition to [[Mount McKinley]], and claimed to have made the first ascent in 1906 on his second attempt.
===The Arctic Club and The Explorers Club===
Dr. Cook was a founding member of two New York-based clubs: the Arctic Club (1894-1913) and The Explorers Club (1904-present). In 1907-1908 Cook served as the second President of The Explorers Club.
==North Pole==
[[Image:FCook Expedition.gif|thumb|right|A photo from Cook's 1909 arctic expedition, which he alleged was taken at or near the North Pole]]
After the Mount McKinley expedition, Cook returned to the [[Arctic]] in 1907. He planned to attempt to reach the [[North Pole]], although his intention was not announced until August 1907, when he was in the Arctic. He left [[Annoatok]], a small settlement in the north of [[Greenland]], in February of 1908. Cook claimed that he reached the pole on [[April 22]], [[1908]] after travelling north from [[Axel Heiberg Island]], taking with him only two Inuit men, [[Ahwelah]] and [[Etukishook]]. On the journey south, he claimed to have been cut off from his intended route to Annoatok by open water. Living off local game, his party was forced to push south to Jones Sound, spending the open water season and part of the winter on [[Devon Island]]. From there they traveled north, eventually crossing [[Nares Strait]] to Annoatok on the Greenland side in the spring of 1909, allegedly <ref>Contra R. Bryce, 1997</ref> almost dying of starvation during the journey.
Cook and his two companions were gone from Annoatok for 14 months, and their whereabouts in that period is a matter of intense controversy. In the view of Canadian historian [[Pierre Berton]] (Berton, 2001), Cook's story of his trek around the Arctic islands is probably legitimate; others put more faith in the story told by Cook's companions to later investigators. It has been suggested that Cook’s account actually describes his attainment of [[Jules Verne]]’s "Pole du Froid" (Pole of Cold), which was much easier to reach and to locate than the North Pole (See Fake Peak, below). If so, Cook might have altered the geographical details of his journey south through the islands to mislead investigators and cover up this fictional and largely forgotten pole. This would account for the discrepancy between his account and that of his companions. There are striking similarities between Ahpellah and Etukishook's sketched route of their journey south and the route taken by the fictional shipwrecked explorers in Jules Verne's novel "The English at the North Pole". For example, the route the two Inuit traced on a map goes right over both the Pole of Cold and the wintering site of the fictional expedition, and both expeditions went to the same area of Jones Sound in hope of finding a whaling ship to take them to civilization. For details, see Osczevski (2003) "Frederick Cook and the Forgotten Pole".
Cook's claim was initially widely believed. But it was disputed by Cook's now-rival polar explorer Robert Peary, who claimed to have reached the North Pole himself in April 1909. Cook initially congratulated Peary for his achievement, but Peary and his supporters launched a campaign to discredit Cook, even enlisting the aid of socially-prominent persons outside the field of science such as [[American football|football]] [[Coach (sport)|coach]] [[Fielding Yost]] (as related in [[Fred Russell]]'s 1943 book, ''I'll Go Quietly'').
Cook never produced detailed original navigational records to substantiate his claim to have reached the North Pole. He claimed that his detailed records were part of his belongings contained in three boxes, which he left at Annoatok in April 1909 in the keeping of Harry Whitney, an American hunter who had travelled to Greenland with Peary the previous year. According to Cook's account, he was unable to bring back the boxes, because his two companions had returned to their village and there was insufficient manpower at Annoatok for a second sledge for the onward 700 mile journey south to [[Upernavik]]. When Whitney tried to bring Cook's belongings with him on his return to the USA on Peary's ship, Peary refused to allow them on board. So Whitney left Cook's boxes in a cache in Greenland. They were never found.
Cook intermittently claimed he had kept copies of his sextant navigational data and in 1911 published some <ref>F. Cook, ''My Attainment of the Pole'', 1911, pages 258 and 274. Cook's first account of what he left with Whitney did not mention data, and Whitney knew of no data in what was left with him. See Rawlins, 1973, pages 87, 166, 301-302.</ref> which have the incorrect solar diameter. <ref>Rawlins, ''Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift'' (Oslo University), volume 26, pages 135-140, 1972</ref> Ahwelah and Etukishook, Cook's Inuit companions, gave seemingly conflicting details about where they had gone with him. The major conflicts have been resolved in the light of improved geographical knowledge<ref>Osczevski, R. J. (2003)Arctic Vol. 56, no. 4</ref>. Whitney was convinced that they had reached the North Pole with Cook, but hesitant to be drawn into the controversy. The Peary expedition's people (primarily Matthew Henson, who had a working knowledge of their language, and George Borup, who did not) claimed that Ahwelah and Etukishook told them that they had traveled only a few days journey from land. A map allegedly drawn by Ahwelaw and Etukishook correctly located and accurately depicted then-unknown Meighen Island, which strongly suggests that they visited it, as they claimed. <ref >Osczevski R. J.(2003a) Frederick Cook and the Forgotten Pole, Arctic, vol 56, no.2 p207-217</ref> <ref>Rawlins, 1973, Chapter 6. A genuine Cook discovery, Meighen Island is the [http://www.dioi.org/cot.htm#mvmn only] island discovered in the American arctic by a United States expedition.</ref>
For more detail see Bryce, 1997 and Henderson, 2005. The conflicting, and possibly dual fraudulent claims, of Cook and Peary prompted [[Roald Amundsen]] to take particularly extensive precautions in navigation during his South Pole expedition to leave no room for doubt concerning attainment of the pole. See [[Polheim]]. (Amundsen also had the advantage of travelling over an actual continent and was able to leave unmistakable evidence of his presence at the South Pole, whereas any ice on which Cook might or might not have camped would have drifted many miles in the year between the competing claims.)
==The 1906 Mt. McKinley Climb==
[[Image:Frederick Cook.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Frederick Cook in arctic gear]]
Though some members of Cook's 1906 expedition (e. g., Belmore Browne) had privately doubted the 1906 McKinley attainment, it was in the newpaper-war atmosphere of the 1909 Polar Controversy that it was first publicly alleged by Peary's supporters that Cook's ascent of Mt McKinley was fraudulent. Ed Barrill, Cook's sole companion during the September, 1906 climb, signed an affidavit in 1909 denying that they had reached the top. He was paid by Peary supporters to do so (Henderson, 2005) (a fact which Henderson claims was covered up and Bryce claims was never a secret <ref>[http://www.dioi.org/vols/w93.pdf ''DIO''], volume 9, number 3, page 129, note 18</ref>), although Barrill had consistently until a month before asserted that he and Cook had reached the summit. Unlike Hudson Stuck in 1913 (''Ascent of Denali'', 1914, photograph opposite p.102) Cook took no photograph of the view from atop McKinley, and his photograph of what he claimed was the summit was found to have been taken of [[Fake Peak|a tiny peak]] <ref>An aerial photograph by Bradford Washburn
([http://www.dioi.org/vols/w73.pdf ''DIO''], volume 7, number 2, page 40) dramatizes the mountain-versus-molehill contrast of claim-versus-reality.</ref> 19 miles away. One expedition by the Mazama Club in 1910 reported that Cook's map departed abruptly from reality while the summit was still 10 miles distant, but another 1910 expedition allegedly verified much of Cook's account (Henderson, 2005){{Fact|date=March 2008}}. The validity of the latter claim may be weighed by comparing <ref>[http://www.dioi.org/vols/w73.pdf ''DIO''], volume 7, number 3, page 96 versus page 97</ref> Cook's map of his alleged 1906 route versus reality, over the last 10 miles. Modern climber [[Bradford Washburn]] made it a personal mission to reveal the exact truth of Cook's 1906 claim. Washburn and Brian Okonek ultimately (1956-1995) were able to identify the location of every single photograph Cook took during his 1906 McKinley foray, including his "summit" photograph <ref>Compare rock-by-rock the left side of Cook's 1906 "summit" photo to the corresponding parts of the 1957 photo by Adams Carter and Bradford Washburn. Photos juxtaposed at [http://www.dioi.org/vols/w93.pdf ''DIO''], volume 9, number 3, page 116. Compare also the background features in Cook's "summit" photo versus those in his own photo taken a few minutes later (towards the same direction) from the top of Fake Peak:
[http://www.dioi.org/vols/w73.pdf ''DIO''], volume 7, number 2, figure 4 versus figure 18;
detailed-blowup comparisons in figures 6 and 8.</ref>, and reproduce them. None were taken anywhere near the summit (and, as the thousands who have climbed McKinley subsequently can verify, Cook's descriptions of the summit ridge bear no resemblance to the actual mountain).<ref>{{cite book | title = The Dishonorable Dr. Cook: Debunking the Notorious Mount McKinley Hoax | first = Bradford | last = Washburn | authorlink = Bradford Washburn | coauthors = Peter Cherici | year = 2001 | location = Seattle | publisher = Mountaineers Books | oclc = 47054650}}</ref> Washburn showed that none of Cook's 1906 photos was taken past the "Gateway" (north end of the Great Gorge), 12 horizontal bee-line miles from McKinley and 3 miles below its top. Barrill's 1909 affidavit included a map <ref>R. Bryce, [http://www.dioi.org/vols/w73.pdf ''DIO''], volume 7, number 2, page 57</ref> correctly locating the [[Fake Peak]] of Cook's "summit" photo and showing that Cook and he had turned back at the Gateway. No evidence of Cook's presence between the Gateway and McKinley has ever been found: his photos' vistas, his two sketch maps' markers and peak-numberings <ref>''Ibid'', pages 60-61</ref> for points attained, his compass bearings, his barometer readings, his route-map's accuracy, even his camp trash — though samples of all such evidences are found short of the Gateway. <ref>[http://www.dioi.org/vols/w93.pdf ''DIO''], volume 9, number 3, pages 124-125</ref>
==Failed Reputation==
[[Image:Cook Forest lawn.JPG|thumb|right|200px|Frederick Cook's final resting place]]
Cook's reputation never recovered, while Peary's North Pole claim was widely accepted for most of the 20th century. Cook spent the next few years defending his claim and attempting to sue writers who claimed that he had faked the trip. In 1922 he became involved in the Texas oil business. In 1923 he was convicted of using the mails to defraud by signing mailers which overstated the oil discovery prospects of his company, and was imprisoned until 1930. ([[Roald Amundsen]], who felt he owed his life to Cook's extrication of the ''Belgica'', visited several times.) It has been claimed (Henderson, 2005) that the sentence was considered excessive even by the district attorney, and that the judge was a friend of the Peary family. More to the point, the actual oil finds eventually ''exceeded'' the expectations outlined by Cook. He was [[pardon]]ed by [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|President Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in 1940, shortly before his death on [[August 5]] of that year.
Cook is a major character in a fiction book, ''The Navigator of New York'', by [[Wayne Johnston (author)|Wayne Johnston]], published in 2003. In recent years Peary's account has encountered renewed criticism and skepticism (Rawlins, 1973; Berton, 2001; Henderson, 2005). Which man, if either, was first to reach the North Pole continues to be a matter of considerable controversy in the arena of popular publications, though among professionals Peary's North Pole claim is now generally disbelieved and both of Cook's claims have been almost unanimously rejected for nearly a century.
At the end of his 1911 book, Cook wrote: ''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.'' Frederick Cook’s remains are at the Chapel of [[Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo]].
==Notes==
<references/>
==References==
* {{cite book | last=Berton|first=Pierre|authorlink=Pierre Berton|title=The Arctic Grail |publisher=Anchor Canada (originally published 1988)| year=2001 |isbn=0-385-65845-1 | oclc = 46661513 }}
* {{cite book | last=Bryce|first=Robert M.|title=Cook & Peary: The Polar Controversy, Resolved|publisher=Stackpole Books |year=1997|isbn=0811703177 | oclc = 35280718}}
* {{cite journal | last=Bryce |first=Robert M.| month=December| year=1997| title=The Fake Peak revisited |journal=DIO |volume=7 | number=3 | pages=41–76 | url=http://www.dioi.org/vols/w73.pdf|issn=1041-5440 | id = {{oclc|18798426}} }}
* {{cite book | last=Henderson| first=Bruce| title=True North: Peary, Cook, and the Race to the Pole | publisher=W. W. Norton and Company|year=2005| isbn=0393327388 | oclc = 63397177 }}
* {{cite journal | last=Osczevski |first=Randall J. |year=2003|title=Frederick Cook and the Forgotten Pole|journal=Arctic| volume=56| issue=2| pages=207–217 | issn = 0004-0843 | id = {{oclc|108412472}} }}
* {{cite book | last=Rawlins|first=Dennis|authorlink=Dennis Rawlins|title=Peary at the North Pole, Fact or Fiction?|publisher=Luce|year=1973|isbn=0883310422 }}
* {{cite book | last=Robinson| first=Michael|title=The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture |publisher=University of Chicago Press| location=Chicago| year=2006: isbn=978-0226721842 }}
==External links==
* [http://www.cookpolar.org/ Frederick A. Cook Society]
* [http://humbug.polarhist.com Frederick A. Cook: from Hero to Humbug]
[[Category:1865 births|Cook, Frederick]]
[[Category:1940 deaths|Cook, Frederick]]
[[Category:American explorers|Cook, Frederick]]
[[Category:German-American scientists|Cook, Frederick]]
[[Category:Explorers of the Arctic|Cook, Frederick]]
[[Category:American physicians|Cook, Frederick]]
[[Category:New York University School of Medicine alumni|Cook, Frederick]]
[[Category:Discovery and invention controversies]]
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