Peary and Henson Reach North Pole: The Summit of Exploration

Robert Peary and Matthew Henson claimed to reach the North Pole on April 6, 1909, after eight failed attempts spanning 23 years. Henson, an African American explorer who had accompanied Peary on every Arctic expedition since 1891, actually planted the American flag because Peary was too exhausted and frostbitten to stand at the final position. Four Inuit men, Ootah, Egingwah, Seegloo, and Ooqueah, were also present but received almost no recognition for decades. The achievement was immediately disputed and remains controversial. The final push from their base camp covered approximately 135 miles over five days, an average of 27 miles per day across pressure ridges and broken ice. Critics noted that this pace was roughly three times faster than the expedition's average speed during earlier stages, a discrepancy that Peary never satisfactorily explained. His navigational records were incomplete, and he did not take a longitudinal reading at the supposed pole, making independent verification impossible. Frederick Cook, a former member of an earlier Peary expedition, had claimed to reach the pole a year earlier but could provide even less evidence. Henson's role in the expedition exemplified the racial dynamics of early twentieth-century exploration. He was by far the most experienced member of the party, having spent more time in the Arctic than Peary himself. He spoke fluent Inuktitut, could build igloos, drive dog teams, and navigate ice conditions that defeated other members of the expedition. Peary relied on him completely but referred to him as his "servant" in publications and ensured that Henson received minimal credit. The National Geographic Society, which had funded Peary, certified his claim and largely ignored Henson's contribution. Henson published his own account of the expedition, "A Negro Explorer at the North Pole," in 1912, but it received little attention. He spent the rest of his working life as a customs clerk in New York. Recognition came slowly: the Explorers Club admitted him in 1937, President Eisenhower honored him in 1954, and he was posthumously awarded the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Medal in 2000, ninety-one years after the expedition. Modern analysis, including a 1989 National Geographic review, concluded that Peary probably came within five miles of the pole but may not have reached the exact point.