Frederick Cook persisted in his claim, inserting a petition for readers to send to Congress in his 1911 book, My Attainment of the Pole. He also hired a lobbyist who submitted many resolutions calling for an investigation that were introduced in Congress ––provoking Representative S. D. Fess of Ohio to a lengthy speech in 1915 disparaging Cook and lauding Robert Peary.
Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration
Petition from B. G. Freeland to Representative Samuel Beakes, December 2, 1913
The Discoverer of the North Pole
In the early twentieth century, explorers from many countries vied to reach the North Pole first. In 1909 two Americans, Dr. Frederick Cook and Commander Robert Peary, each claimed to have made the “discovery.” Though neither explorer could provide indisputable proof of reaching the geographic pole, Peary’s claim was more credible. In 1911, after holding hearings on Peary’s expedition, Congress honored Peary’s achievement and promoted him to rear admiral in the United States Navy. Today it is widely held that neither man actually reached the North Pole.
Your committee believe. . . . that Robert Edwin Peary has performed a most remarkable and wonderful service, . . . that therefore the American people, through its Congress, shall render him thanks, and bestow upon him the highest rank of the service which he adorns.
House Committee on Naval Affairs, Recognition of Robert Peary, January 21, 1911
Frederick Cook persisted in his claim, inserting a petition for readers to send to Congress in his 1911 book, My Attainment of the Pole. He also hired a lobbyist who submitted many resolutions calling for an investigation that were introduced in Congress ––provoking Representative S. D. Fess of Ohio to a lengthy speech in 1915 disparaging Cook and lauding Robert Peary.
Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration
