Preparing at Cape Sheridan

A few weeks after the S.S. Roosevelt left New York she was cruising along the west coast of Greenland, picking up a deckload of 150 tons of whale and walrus flesh, 246 dogs, and 49 Eskimo men, women, and children, before nosing into the ice-choked passage between Greenland and Ellesmere Island. After battering through the ice floes for 350 miles, she made fast to the ice off Cape Sheridan, 500 miles from the North Pole, on September 5.

Peary with some of the dogs destined to pull sledges on his trek to the North Pole, aboard the Roosevelt.

Food for the dogs comes from catches such as this two-tusked narwhal, which was harpooned and shot when it surfaced for air.

Meat for the table and skins for clothing and sleeping robes are piled on sledges as the hunters return after bagging a supply of caribou.

The S.S. Roosevelt frozen fast in the coastal ice north of Cape Sheridan. It was dynamited free for the trip home.

Peary's Eskimo Friends

For 18 years Peary had relied on the skills and endurance of Eskimos to help him explore northern Greenland and push closer and closer to the pole. Always respectful to them and truly grateful for their help, he had no difficulty getting their help again for his 1908-09 expedition.

Six Eskimo girls perform a song-and-dance number they learned from the Roosevelt crew.

An Eskimo child strips raw caribou meat from an old bone. He was one of 10 children aboard the Roosevelt.

Crossing the Ice

The Peary Expedition began its "march" toward the pole on March 1, 1909. The party consisted of 24 men, 133 dogs, and 19 sledges loaded with 6,500 pounds of supplies. Most of the party was organized into supporting divisions, whose sole function was to get Peary's hand-picked six-man group within striking distance of the pole with enough dogs, food, and energy for the final "dash."

An ice ridge caused by violent shifts in the pack is surmounted when sledges are hauled up steep paths cut with pickaxes.

A shelter built of packed snow is littered with gear after an overnight stop. Although they provided some protection from the elements, the temperature inside such shelters was often well below zero.

A raft chopped out of the ice serves as a ferryboat to carry an Eskimo driver, his dogs, and a loaded sledge across a lead of open water.

The Conquest

On April 1, the last of Peary's supporting divisions turned back. For his final dash, Peary kept the best of the dogs, four picked Eskimos, and Matthew Henson, a trusted companion of 20 years of arctic exploring. The party made good progress, and on April 6 Peary was able to confirm that the North Pole had been reached.

Flanked by flags, Peary prepares his sextant for observations showing he had reached 90º North.

SOURCE
Willy Ley The Poles New York, New York: Time Incorporated, 1962 (source of both pictures and text)

SEE ALSO
Robert E. Peary
Matthew A. Henson

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This page was last updated on 05/06/2017.