Frederick A Cook

In 1891, Dr. Cook volunteered for Robert E. Peary’s expedition to North Greenland, serving in the role of surgeon, ethnologist and photographer. The goal of the expedition was to discover the northernmost extent of Greenland.  Peary’s underlying quest, however, was fame.  The press covered his plans for the expedition extensively and many men sent their applications. A total of seven members were taken for the wintering party, including the controversial decision to take Peary’s wife, Josephine, who would serve as cook and dietician. The party departed from Brooklyn, NY on 6 June 1891 in the sealer Kite.  Cook would make a good first impression on Peary, for Peary would break his leg in a freak accident just prior to the Kite reaching Whale Sound.  The expedition would continue anyway, with Dr. Cook and other members of the expedition sent out to hunt and make contact with the Inuit.

All members of the expedition, including Peary, were unprepared for the difficulty of life in the frigid conditions of Greenland.  According to Dr. Cook’s memoir, “we went through the first Arctic night with the usual half insane mentality of novices.  In our stupid stages of unpreparedness, we lived as brothers with the savages.  As the twilight of the long night returned, we were equipped for the task at hand…. Peary’s sublime courage saved the day.  In returning, all resolved never to venture into the Arctic again.”³

Of course, this statement proved to be untrue, as Cook would venture into the cold regions of the Arctic and Antarctic numerous times over the course of his exploring career. In 1893 and 1894, Cook organized his own expeditions to Greenland, “…in which the main purpose was to offer facilities to college professors and students for a vacation of study and research in the little known Arctic…”⁴

 

³Hell is a Cold Place: chapter 2.1, page 4.
⁴Hell is a Cold Place: chapter 2.1, page 7.