Volume VI, Number 2 Fall 2001
In this issue:
- President's Message
- Did Peary Really Make It to the North Pole? (Select)
- Fire Protection System Update (Select)
- The "Roosevelt" (painting) comes home (Select)
- Ahnighto (the meteorite) revisited (Select)
- Marine Intertidal Studies at Eagle Island (Select)
- Bird Survey: Numbers begin to Tell a Story (Select)
President's Message
Dear Friends,
The following editorial entitled "Did Admiral Peary Really Make it to the Pole?" is the first such statement in our nine year history. We agree that it is a rather unusual form of editorial. In fact, it does not look like an editorial at all. The reason for the unusual format is that a simple unsupported editorial statement without detailed supporting references would not amount to much. The purpose of this statement is to provide our readers with the major organizational and individual sources of information on which our affirmative conclusion is based. If any readers know of additional sources of information that support our views, we would be pleased to know about them.
If, on the other hand, there exists a document published by an organization or individual competent to draw the opposite conclusion, we would be pleased to hear about it as well. Be warned, however, that competence is the operative word here, and competence in this instance includes experience and expertise in polar and celestial navigation, forensic photogrammetry , polar travel of the type Peary was obliged to utilize, and other related areas of special expertise. The officers and directors do not believe that such a document exists, and therefore conclude well beyond a reasonable doubt that Peary did make it to the North Pole in April, 1909.
Very sincerely,
Oliver S. Brown, President
Editorial: Did Peary Really Make It to the North Pole?
A young kayaker, visiting the Peary library on Eagle Island one day last summer, was heard to ask of his companion, "Did he really make it?"
I The question was inspired by occasional articles and TV interviews, that cast doubt on the Admiral's accomplishments and credibility.
Let's look at the facts:
Since the announcement of his attainment of the Pole in 1909, there have been seven full-scale investigations* by governmental and professional bodies into the validity of Peary's reported success, including the initial one by a subcommittee of the House of Representatives after long and extensive hearings. Each investigation concluded that Peary's report, like the others he submitted over the years, whether of success or failure, was truthful and accurate in all respects. ( see Notes listed below)
The last such effort was conducted in 1989 by the prestigious Foundation for the Promotion of the Art of Navigation using the most modern analytical methods and equipment to examine hundreds of boxes of material including celestial observations, ocean depth soundings, written records, and photographs, comprising all known records of the 1909 Peary polar expedition. In addition, the report notes the helpful assistance of 25 governmental and private agencies including The National Geographic Society, NASA, The Office of Naval Research, and the Defense Mapping Agency. The report of the Navigation Foundation prepared under the direction of Rear Admiral Thomas Davies and published in December of 1989 concludes with these words:
"We, the directors of the Navigation Foundation, are pleased to announce that we have unanimously concluded that Robert E. Peary, Matt Henson, and four Eskimo companions reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909. Our analysis of the data that Peary brought back from his journey - his celestial sights, his diary, his ocean soundings, and his photographs - has convinced us that their final camp, named Camp Jesup , was no more than five miles from the Pole, allowing for some inaccuracy in their instruments." (Davies, Dec. 1989, page 5).
Lt Col. Molett (USAF Ret), a highly skilled and experienced polar navigator, came to virtually the same conclusion as the Navigation Foundation (that Peary reached the Pole). Colonel Molett , using the skills and knowledge of a lifetime in teaching and practicing arctic navigation, was able to interpret Admiral Peary's notes to prove that Peary was able to maintain a true compass course in an area where a magnetic compass would not work. This led ultimately to his successful sextant readings of April 5 and 6, 1909. "Peary's camp was 4 miles from the Pole." ( Molett , page iv )
A fascinating corollary to the above report amounts to a mathematical proof of Peary's accomplishment A study of photographs taken at his final camp utilizing a new process called photogrammetry and using a visible horizontal line, the focal length of the camera, shadows that begin and end within the frame of the photo, and the approximate time of day to derive intersecting bands of position, proves that Peary was within three miles of the Pole when the photographs were taken. (Davies, Dec. 1989, pages 9-10)
One has to wonder why, after 92 years, we are still asking the question in the title of this editorial. In the contemporary media climate, making an unsupported, sensational charge, however flimsy the evidence, is enough to get the desired attention. At the outset of the Foundation study mentioned above, the directors were asked to respond to the latest example of this type of journalism authored by an individual whose "analysis" of Peary's (navigational) worksheet created the impression of fraud on Peary's part. In fact, the author was not analyzing Peary's navigational data but the serial numbers of Peary's chronometers that he thought were navigational data. "( the author's) analysis of the numbers assumes that the chronometer serial numbers...are compass readings." (Davies, January, 1989, pages 9-10)
Did Peary "make it" to the Pole in April, 1909? The officers and directors of the Friends are satisfied well beyond a reasonable doubt that he did.
NOTES:
*The following refer to public and private sector studies that support Peary's claim:
a. Majority and minority reports of the Subcommittee of the Naval Affairs Committee of the U. S. House of Representatives, 1909, George Edmund Foss, Chairman. Both reports confirmed Admiral Peary's accomplishment.
b . The National Geographic Society (is)... " unanimously of the opinion that Commander Peary reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909." The investigating committee included Henry Gannet, Geographer of the United States Geological Survey; Admiral Colby M. Chester, a U. S. Navy navigational expert; and O. H. Tittmann of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.
c . The Royal Geographic Society ... corroborated the findings of The National Geographic Society.
d. Hugh Mitchell and Charles Duvall, mathematicians with the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, concluded that "Peary probably passed within one and six tenths miles of the North Pole" and it was possible that the march of the forenoon of April 7, 1909 carried (him) within a stone's throw..."
e. Heber D. Curtis, in the January, 1939 "Proceedings of the U. S. Naval Institute" states that "there can not be a shadow of a doubt from Peary's observations near the Pole that about 10:00 AM (60th meridian time) on April 6, 1909, he reached his final camp, called Camp Jesup , and that this camp was less than five miles from the true Pole." (Curtis was a distinguished astronomer, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, who was first to prove that there were galaxies beyond our Milky Way.)
f. Davies, Rear Admiral Thomas D. (USN Ret), et ai , Robert E. Peary at the North Pole, (Report of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Art of Navigation, December 11, 1989)
g. Molett , Lt. Co!. William E. (USAF, Ret.), Robert Peary and Matthew Henson at the North Pole, ( Southhaven , Mississippi, published by the author, March, 1996)
END NOTES:
1. Davies, Rear Admiral Thomas D. (USN Ret), et a !. Robert E. Peary at the North Pole, (Report of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Art of Navigation, December 11, 1989) pp. 5 and 9-10.
2. Davies, Rear Admiral Thomas D. (USN Ret), et a !. Robert E. Peary at the North Pole, (Report of the Foundation for the Promotion of the Art of Navigation, January 13, 1989) Appendix A, pp. 9-10
3. Molett , Lt. Co !. William E. (USAF, Ret), Robert Peary and Matthew Henson at the North Pole, ( Southhaven , Mississippi: published by the author, 1996) p. iv .
Plans for 2001
Although our schedule of projects for 2002 are not yet complete, we do know that we need your support for the Island Volunteer Days: to apply UV coatings to all the windows, to continue the cataloging and preservation of the Admiral's papers, to freshen up certain painted signs, to start replacing the ceilings of the west porch, kitchen, and dining room, in addition to mulching the trails and restoning the pier cribs. We also hope to start an educational video for adults.
In the last few years your help allowed us to complete the Composting Toilet project and the Fire Protection/Intrusion Alarm project. We hope you will continue this wonderful support for the coming year. An.envelope is enclosed...for your convenience.
A New Web Site for the Friends
On or about November 15th, 2001, a new and improved web site for the Friends was implemented after a long and tortuous gestation period. Edward Cobb, a South Portland resident and volunteer technical manager for the site now leads the effort to get and keep the project operational. Ed was assisted by Oliver Brown and Bob York. The site is organized into seven subject areas each under the direction of a section leader The new address is: pearyeagleisland.org
Installation of the mechanical portion of Eagle Island's fire protection and intrusion alarm system is complete and functional. Tanks, plumbing, and sprinkler heads are in. If a fire should occur, the self contained pressurized system will activate four heads in the vicinity of the fire, which will spray for 30 minutes. The alarm system that alerts the monitoring station on the mainland will be functional as soon as the power supply is installed. Solar panels and batteries will complete the system, we hope, before winter sets in.
Harry Rich
At the August annual meeting Ed Stafford, Admiral Peary's grandson, presented the Bureau of Parks and Lands, with a beautiful large oil painting of the "Roosevelt" under a "full head of steam" and all sails set, that once hung on the stairway at Eagle Island. The Roosevelt was especially designed by the Admiral to take all the men, supplies, equipment, and sled dogs as far north as possible and then be frozen into the ice for the winter, without being crushed by the ice.
Eagle Island Tours
A big THANK YOU to Edward and Peg Stafford for making our six tours to Eagle Island a great success. This year the Friends of Eagle Island offered four trips. The Highlands of Topsham and the A.N.A from the Brunswick Naval Air Station completed our list of trips, making six in all. We also thank our members who joined us to make all excursions possible. We hope to offer this again next summer.
Barbara Tucker
Meteorite " Ahnighito " revisted
Capt. Donald Taub , leading expert on Polar Eskimos, has advised that this big meteorite took Admiral Peary 2 trips to retrieve, and didn't arrive in New York until late summer 1897. It was first displayed outside the Museum, painted a khaki color to protect it from rusting. This later had to be removed with difficulty, for its current inside display. Thank you Captain, for this update and correction.
Marine Intertidal Studies at Eagle Island
Intertidal marine biological surveys, begun by John Davis in 1999, were resumed during August of 2001 when Dr. Davis returned to evaluate present ecological conditions on four previously established study transects on the western shore of Eagle Island. Reflecting the focus
employed in 1999, he concentrated on determining the abundance of three gastropod (snail) species along four transect lines extending from the approximate high tide level to the low tide line. One reoccupied transect was located directly north of the Island pier, and the other three transect lines were among those previously established south of the pier The work involved recording the abundance of each of the three species at previously established stations along each transect line. These values were then compared with those obtained at each station during the 1999 study with the intent of finding possible significant changes during the two year interval.
Although there were numerical differences between the two years, these differences were not sufficient to suggest any important changes or alterations in the Island's intertidal ecology. The work will resume next summer with the reoccupation of additional transect lines not studied since 1999.
The Friends are grateful for the ongoing work that Dr. Davis has put into these studies, and hope they will provide some insight into the stability or instability of the intertidal environment of Eagle Island.
Numbers Begin to Tell A Story: Bird Survey
Chuck Huntington and his crew - Teedy Bergstrom, Kathie and Maurice Dauphin, Libby Hyatt, Carol Jack, Chris Lupke , Lennie Pierce, and Miranda Rogers - surveyed the birds of Eagle Island in May, June, and July of 2001. This is the third year of the study, and although no conclusions are possible in such a short time, some interesting data are being recorded. The gull populations appear to be declining, perhaps due to the closing of landfills in many areas. Since gulls prey on baby eiders, this may be followed by more eiders. Stay tuned!
A total of 56 species of birds have been observed. Of these, ten are confirmed nesting birds: osprey (in 2000 - since then the nest tree has fallen), mourning dove, gray catbird, cedar waxwing, yellow warbler, American redstart, song sparrow, herring gull, great black-backed gull, and eider.
Professor Huntington advises keeping the trails closed to the public through the end of July. He wishes to thank all those who helped, including his "crew", Island Manager Jeanie Dorrington , Tim Williams, and the Dolphin Marina who provided transportation to and from the Island.
Dream of the Far North by Barbara King
A perfect holiday gift for a 10-110 year old student. $12.95 inclusive. Journey on an adventure with a fifteen-year-old boy as he meets the challenges of the far north on Peary's 1909 expedition to the North Pole. Published by the: Friends of Peary's Eagle Island P. O. Box 70, Bailey Island, ME 04003. Can be ordered through the Friend's Trading Post. Click HERE.
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