Why write a book about Cook?
by Rusty Robinson

Peary and Henson are legendary explorers, men of determination who reached the North Pole with a huge assault team of skilled individuals who broke trails, made base camps and left provisions ahead for the elite team which only had to dash the last 150 miles. Peary with Henson spent 15 years in the Arctic to gain the knowledge and skill needed to reach the North Pole. On the other hand, Cook was a rogue con artist who made a fortune selling his bogus story to the press and giving lectures. When Peary came back from his successful 1909 Arctic expedition he was shocked to learn that Cook went to Europe, claimed to have reached the Pole and the press on two continents believed him. "Polar Controversy" reopens these old wounds; to what good purpose? Cook was ultimately exposed and fled from the public's presence. Discredited as an explorer his next scam was mail fraud which landed him in Federal Prison for many years. So much for Cook.

It was proven in 1909 that Cook was a fraud; this is NOT a controversy. Why write a book about it today? Well, I can believe that the descendants of Cook may want to discredit Peary....Hmmm.... And perhaps the reason may be the same today, with some individuals, as it was in 1909 - racism. Peary did not take a white man to the North Pole! He took Eskimos and a Negro to the North Pole! Vicious rumors of the day were that the "dumb Negro" and (dumber) Eskimos didn't know where Peary took them and would say whatever Peary told them to say. Is this the sort of muck anyone today needs to stir up?

Historical fact is that an African-American with 4 Inuit team members reached the Pole and waited for Peary to arrive 45 minutes later by dog sled. Yes, that is exactly how it happened - the first man at the Pole was Matt Henson, a black man. Peary was not pleased! Matt was to have stopped short of the Pole but he didn't. We can smile today, and give a wink for Matt's "mistake" but the public never forgave Peary for "taking a Negro to the North Pole".

Today Matt Henson is a legend; his Inuit descendents live on in Greenland, a Naval ship proudly bears his name, his body rests at Arlington National Cemetery, he is the subject of many books and 2 movies are planned. Henson and Peary were commemorated on a US Postage stamp, they received this country's highest award - The Medal Of Honor. Author Bryce seems pleased with himself for inventing this "controversy" to discredit them.

Henson-Peary in 1909 absolutely reached 90 degrees North Latitude. Everyone involved with the expedition, the National Geographical Society and other explorers knew this. But skeptics, much like Polar Controversy's author, have made headlines and book sales with "controversy theories". It is a sickness, perhaps, like conspiracy theories? Any doubt about Peary's expedition was put to rest with the January, 1990 National Geographic (P.44). If you have any serious interest in this matter read their article. The revelation is that Peary took depth records of the ocean floor and he took photographs at the Pole. In 1909 these were not extraordinary. But then a techniques was developed during the cold-war spy era to determine geographic latitude from a photograph if it has shadows, a visible horizon and the camera's focal length is known. Experts have examined Peary's photos from several expeditions and verified his position. His North Pole photos are within 5 miles of the Pole!

Peary's ocean depth records? At the pole he could not reach bottom with his 9,000 foot reel of wire. Submarines mapped the Arctic trench depth 50 years later. Guess what? At the Pole the ocean floor is deeper than 9,000 ft! On the way there Peary's records accurately trace the various shelves under the sea. So why is author Bryce doubting Peary? Cook we can understand - he had no witnesses, no expedition crew, no ocean floor depth records and his faked sextant readings were made for him by a sea captain he paid off.

A person can not sit in a library reading old letters and press clippings to disprove an event which occurred almost a century ago. That kind of arrogance is similar to that which Aristotle inflicted upon Western culture. Aristotle knew, for instance, that a heavy object fell faster than a lighter one. Why? Certainly not from any empirical evidence - but because he asserted that anything could be understood by using reason alone. Why? Because he said so! It was almost 2,000 years later that Galileo did a few experiments which disproved the "obvious" truth of heavy objects falling faster. Aristotle was absolutely wrong. So much for Aristotle. The author of this muckraking tomb, Polar Controversy, is likewise putting to the task only his personal logic to solve a controversy which he has created. Like Aristotle, he believes he can succeed by using his reason alone.

Bryce's errors in research were of no interest to real experts in the polar fraternity for several years. As a Peary descendant puts it "People who have nothing better to do with their time produce this rubbish, while those of us who know it is garbage have better things to do with our time." But after a certain point those who "know better" began to speak up to at least keep the media from being completely seduced with revisionist history. Read the Davies review to grasp just how far out of bounds Bryce went.

The Dewey Decimal System needs a new category to contain conspiracy theories, revisionist history on this magnitude, Atlantis myths and those hate monger pamphlets which prove  the holocaust never happened. In the mean time winter is coming and Bryce's attempt to rewrite history should keep you warm as you incinerate it in your fireplace. In fact, with the number of volumes being discarded from libraries, plus the ones almost given away on ebay this could be less expensive than firewood.

Rusty Robinson