Frederick Cook's polar journey: a reconstruction

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Osczevski, Randall J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1990
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; North Pole; Meighen Island; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400011475; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400011475

Abstract The data used by Dr Frederick A. Cook in support of his claim to have reached the North Pole on 21 April 1908 are reinterpreted to support a hypothesis that Cook did not reach the Pole, that his journey towards the Pole lasted only one week, and thathe subsequently discovered and visited Meighen Island. This reconstruction explains how Dr Cook could have made observations of ice conditions and drift, and of an ice island, without having travelled far out on the Arctic Ocean. A possible reason for his failure to announce discovery of Meighen Island is also offered.