Americans at the North Pole

Wednesday, September 1, 1909

The message that turns everything upside down.

«North Pole reached,» write the Norwegian newspapers.

The American Frederick Cook claims that he and his Inuit companions Ittukusuk and Aapila have become the first to reach the North Pole. This is said to have happened on April 21, 1908.

On their way home from the Pole, they have overwintered in a shelter in the far north of Canada, but now Cook is on his way back and has set course for Copenhagen.

But it isn’t long before doubts arise.

Maybe Cook has not been as far north as he claims?

Amundsen does nothing but believe in his old friend from the Belgica expedition. He tells the newspapers that Cook's expedition was "planned as a sports affair," and that it will have no effect on his own expedition.

Tuesday, September 7, 1909

Another surprising news headline.

"Peary Also Reached the Pole!"

Robert Peary claims he too has been to the North Pole. According to him, he stood there as the first person on April 6, 1909.

But can he prove it?

Who is telling the truth?

Perhaps Cook, perhaps Peary, perhaps neither of them.

For Amundsen, it changes things in any case.

At the same instant I saw quite clearly that the original plan of the Fram's third voyage – the exploration of the North Polar basin – hung in the balance.

"The South Pole " (Murray, 1912, Vol 1:42)

At Amundsen's home, an undated note is later discovered.

The note is written by Roald Amundsen to his brother, Leon Amundsen.

Roald wants Leon to inform the crew that the expedition has been postponed until July 1910.

Roald Amundsen has a new plan.

If I was now to succeed in arousing interest in my undertaking, there was nothing left for me but to try to solve the last great problem – the South Pole

"The South Pole " (Murray, 1912, Vol 1:43)

Wednesday, September 8, 1909

It has been only a day since the newspapers wrote about Robert Peary's alleged North Pole expedition.

Now, Roald Amundsen boards a train to Copenhagen, heading for Hotel Phoenix, where Frederick Cook is staying.

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Hotel Phoenix, Copenhagen, September 1909. On the left sits the Norwegian polar explorer Otto Sverdrup, Frederick Cook in the center, and on the right sits Amundsen, his hand among a stack of papers on a small table. Photo: Arktisk Institut

Officially, Amundsen has taken the trip to be part of honouring Cook. Twenty-five years later, Cook will relate that there was also talk of other things:

Amundsen told me in confidence that he was about ready to take the Fram to the Bering Sea for another try at the Pole. He asked me about the currents, the weather, and what I thought of the prospects. I advised against the execution of the enterprize because at first I believed he could only duplicate the voyage of Nansen and Sverdrup. Furthermore, I said the North Pole is now out of the picture [,] why not try for the South Pole.

Amundsen is said to have been silent for a few seconds, before answering:

The Fram is not a good sea boat for the heavy South seas. But this is the thing to do. Let me think it over.

Sitatene fra Cook og Amundsen er hentet i Cooks upubliserte memoarer. Om det var dette som ble sagt vet bare Cook og Amundsen.

This is how it happened, if one can trust Frederick Cook.

But in Amundsen's archive, there is a document backing Cook's words.

Originally, Amundsen had planned to pick up dogs in Alaska on his way north.

However, while in Copenhagen, he writes a letter to Jens Daugaard-Jensen, Inspector of Greenland.

The letter contains an order for dogs and equipment from Greenland, which he now wishes to have delivered to Norway.

An indication that Amundsen may no longer be planning to head north after all.

The small detail that makes it interesting is:

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