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  [Illustration: Frederick A. Cook]




  _Press Edition_

  MY ATTAINMENT
  OF THE POLE


  _Being the Record of the Expedition that First Reached the Boreal
  Center, 1907-1909. With the Final Summary of the Polar Controversy_


  _By_

  DR. FREDERICK A. COOK


  THIRD PRINTING, 60TH THOUSAND


  [Illustration]


  NEW YORK AND LONDON
  MITCHELL KENNERLEY
  MCMXIII

  By Special arrangements this edition is marketed by
  The Polar Publishing Co., 601 Steinway Hall, Chicago



  COPYRIGHT 1913
  BY
  DR. FREDERICK A. COOK




_OTHER BOOKS BY DR. COOK_


  Through the First Antarctic Night
    A Narrative of the Belgian South Polar Expedition.

  To the Top of the Continent
    Exploration in Sub-Arctic Alaska--The First Ascent of Mt. McKinley

  My Attainment of the Pole
    Edition de Luxe


  Each of above series will be sent post paid for $5.00. All to one
  address for $14.00.

  Address: THE POLAR PUBLISHING CO.
  601 Steinway Hall, Chicago




_To the Pathfinders_


  To the Indian who invented pemmican and snowshoes;
  To the Eskimo who gave the art of sled traveling;
  To this twin family of wild folk who have no flag
  Goes the first credit.
  To the forgotten trail makers whose book of experience has been a
    guide;
  To the fallen victors whose bleached bones mark steps in the ascent
    of the ladder of latitudes;
  To these, the pathfinders--past, present and future--I inscribe the
    first page.
  In the ultimate success there is glory enough
  To go to the graves of the dead and to the heads of the living.




THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE POLAR CONTROVERSY


DR. COOK IS VINDICATED. HIS DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH POLE IS ENDORSED BY
THE EXPLORERS OF ALL THE WORLD.

In placing Dr. Cook on the Chautauqua platform as a lecturer, we have
been compelled to study the statements issued for and against the rival
polar claims with special reference to the facts bearing upon the
present status of the Polar Controversy.

Though the question has been argued during four years, we find that it
is almost the unanimous opinion of arctic explorers today, that Dr. Cook
reached the North Pole on April 21, 1909.

With officer Peary's first announcement he chose to force a press
campaign to deny Dr. Cook's success and to proclaim himself as the sole
Polar Victor. Peary aimed to be retired as a Rear-Admiral on a pension
of $6,000 per year. This ambition was granted; but the American Congress
rejected his claim for priority by eliminating from the pension bill the
words "Discovery of the Pole." The European geographical societies,
forced under diplomatic pressure to honor Peary, have also refused him
the title of "Discoverer." By a final verdict of the American government
and of the highest European authorities, Peary is therefore denied the
assumption of being the discoverer of the Pole, though his claim as a
re-discoverer is allowed. The evasive inscriptions on the Peary medals
prove this statement.

Following the acute excitement of the first announcement, it seemed to
be desirable to bring the question to a focus by submitting to some
authoritative body for decision. Such an institution, however, did not
exist. Previously, explorers had been rated by the slow process of
historic digestion and assimilation of the facts offered, but it was
thought that an academic examination would meet the demands. Officer
Peary first submitted his case to a commission appointed by the National
Geographical Society of Washington, D. C. This jury promptly said that
in their "opinion" Peary reached the Pole on April 6, 1909; but a year
later in congress the same men unwillingly admitted that in the Peary
proofs there was no positive proof.

Dr. Cook's data was sent to a commission appointed by the University of
Copenhagen. The Danes reported that the material presented was
incomplete and did not constitute positive proof. This verdict, however,
did not carry the interpretation that the Pole had not been reached. The
Danes have never said, as they have been quoted by the press, that Dr.
Cook did not reach the Pole; quite to the contrary, the University of
Copenhagen conferred the degree of Ph. D. and the Royal Danish
Geographical Society gave a gold medal, both in recognition of the
merits of the Polar effort.

This early examination was based mostly upon the nautical calculations
for position, and both verdicts when analyzed gave the version that in
such observations there was no positive proof. The Washington jury
ventured an opinion. The Danes refused to give an opinion, but showed
their belief in Dr. Cook's success by conferring honorary degrees.

It is the unfair interpretation of the respective verdicts by the
newspapers which has precipitated the turbulent air of distrust which
previously rested over the entire Polar achievement. All this, however,
has now been cleared by the final word of fifty of the foremost Polar
explorers and scientific experts.

In so far as they were able to judge from all the data presented in the
final books of both claimants the following experts have given it as
their opinion that Dr. Cook reached the Pole, and that officer Peary's
similar report coming later is supplementary proof of the first victory:

General A. W. Greely, U. S. A., commander of the Lady Franklin Bay
Expedition, who spent four years in the region under discussion.

Rear Admiral W. S. Schley, U. S. N., commander of the Greely Relief
Expedition.

Capt. Otto Sverdrup, discoverer of the land over which Dr. Cook's route
was forced.

Capt. J. E. Bernier, commanding the Canadian Arctic Expeditions.

Prof. G. Frederick Wright,