Episode 21: The Top of the World

 

Robert Peary, 1909 - after returning from the North Pole

There are a few different definitions as to what constitutes the arctic region. The widely accepted definition is the lands laying north of 66.5 degrees latitude north, but as at least one of the maps below notes, some consider the arctic anywhere the warmest month's average temperature is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius)  

During the International Polar Year in 1881, American Adolphus Greely built Ft Conger on Ellesmere Island, Canada, just across from Greenland. Many future arctic expeditions started wither on Ellesmere Island or northwestern Greenland. Though abandoned by the Peary expeditions, Peary used Ft Conger as the basecamp for one of his later trips and had eight toes amputated there.

Today, Fort Conger is part of Ellesmere Island's Quttinirpaaq National Park

Fort Conger soon after construction in 1881

Fort Conger's interior. I imagine it was not this well furnished when Peary had his toes amputated after the fort was abandoned... but maybe it was. The government probably didn't take anything with them after closing down operations

A few of Fort Conger's buildings can still be seen today

Many western Arctic explorers used clothing, equipment, and methods they were familiar with, but which were wholly unsuited for the conditions on ground. Peary recognized the superiority of wearing native furs, which trapped a layer of warm air between the skin and furs, and using dogs to pull sledges, instead of having members of the expedition pull and push their own.

He also adopted the use of Inuit igloos which lightened the load of the dog sledges since tents and sleeping bags did not need to be brought along.

For Peary's final three or four expeditions, he was given use of the SS Roosevelt, named after President Theodore Roosevelt. Even though it was built to sail in the Arctic weather and waters, it still had to undergo significant repairs after every expedition.

Josephine Peary accompanied her husband as a member of his second and third expeditions and also came to visit during his fourth and fifth trips. This made her the first woman to be part of an arctic expedition and the first western woman to winter over in the arctic. 

Peary's third expedition started when Jo was eight month's pregnant with their first child, so a nurse was brought along to help with the birth. Marie Ahnighito Peary was born in 1893, less than 13 degrees longitude from the North Pole. Her middle name was given to her by the local Inuit for her light hair and pale skin and means Snow Baby.

Peary and Jo would round out their family with a son, Robert Peary, Jr., born in 1903 in the District of Columbia.

When Peary reached the North Pole in 1909, he planted a flag Jo had made him several years earlier, the same flag he had brought on most of his polar expeditions.

Each time Peary would gain a new "furthest north" record, he would plant this flag and then cut out a piece to leave behind; Jo replaced these pieces with white cloth. The diagonal cut was what Peary left at the North Pole. The flag was sold at auction in 2015 for $18,450.