Editing Robert Peary

{{Short description|American Arctic explorer (1856–1920)}}
{{for|United States Navy ships named after Robert Peary|USS Robert E. Peary}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Robert Peary
| image              = Robert Peary self-portrait, 1909.jpg
| caption            = At [[Cape Sheridan]] on [[Ellesmere Island]], 1909
| birth_name         = Robert Edwin Peary
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1856|05|06}}
| birth_place        = [[Cresson, Pennsylvania|Cresson]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1920|02|20|1856|05|06}}
| death_place        = [[Washington, D.C.]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| resting_place      = [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
| alma_mater         = [[Bowdoin College]]
| known_for          = Reaching the [[geographic North Pole]] (claimed)
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Josephine Diebitsch Peary|Josephine Diebitsch]]|August 11, 1888}}
| children           = 4
| awards             = {{ubl|[[Cullum Geographical Medal]]|[[Charles P. Daly Medal]]|[[Hubbard Medal]]}}
| module             = {{infobox military person|embed=yes
 |allegiance         = [[United States of America]]
 |branch_label       = Branch
 |branch             = {{naval|US|1864}}
 |serviceyears_label = Service&nbsp;years
 |serviceyears       = 1881–1911
 |rank               = [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear admiral]]
 |unit               = [[Civil Engineer Corps]]
  }}
}}

'''Robert Edwin Peary Sr.''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|ɪər|i}}; May 6, 1856&nbsp;– February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the [[United States Navy]] who made several expeditions to the [[Arctic]] in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was long credited as being the discoverer of the geographic [[North Pole]] in April 1909, having led the first expedition to have claimed this achievement, although it is now considered unlikely that he actually reached the Pole.

Peary was born in [[Gallitzin, Pennsylvania|Cresson, Pennsylvania]], but, following his father's death at a young age, was raised in [[Cape Elizabeth, Maine]]. He attended [[Bowdoin College]], then joined the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]] as a draftsman. He enlisted in the navy in 1881 as a civil engineer. In 1885, he was made chief of surveying for the [[Nicaragua Canal]], which was never built. He visited the [[Arctic]] for the first time in 1886, making an unsuccessful attempt to cross [[Greenland]] by [[dogsled]]. In the [[Peary expedition to Greenland of 1891–1892]], he was much better prepared, and by reaching [[Independence Fjord]] in what is now known as [[Peary Land]], he proved conclusively that Greenland was an island. He was one of the first Arctic explorers to study [[Inuit]] survival techniques.{{efn|Many Inuit consider the term "[[Eskimo]]" to be unacceptable and even pejorative, although it continues to be used within historical, linguistic, archaeological, and cultural contexts.}} During an expedition in 1894, he was the first Western explorer to reach the [[Cape York meteorite]] and its fragments, which were then taken from the native Inuit population who had relied on it for creating tools. During that expedition, Peary deceived six indigenous individuals, including [[Minik Wallace]], into traveling to America with him by promising they would be able to return with tools, weapons and gifts within the year. This promise was unfulfilled and four of the six Inuit died of illnesses within a few months.<ref name=Northern/>

On his 1898–1902 expedition, Peary set a new "[[Farthest North]]" record by reaching Greenland's northernmost point, [[Cape Morris Jesup]]. Peary made two more expeditions to the Arctic, in 1905–1906 and in 1908–1909. During the latter, he claimed to have reached the North Pole. Peary received several [[learned society]] awards during his lifetime, and, in 1911, received the [[Thanks of Congress]] and was promoted to [[Rear admiral (United States)|rear admiral]]. He served two terms as president of [[The Explorers Club]] before retiring in 1911.

Peary's claim to have reached the North Pole was widely debated along with a competing claim made by [[Frederick Cook]], but eventually won widespread acceptance. In 1989, British explorer [[Wally Herbert]] concluded Peary did not reach the pole, although he may have come within {{convert|60|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Noose/>

==Early life, education, and career==
[[File:Peary.jpg|thumb|alt= Photographic portrait of Peary |Peary {{circa|1900}}]]
Robert Edwin Peary was born on May 6, 1856, in [[Cresson, Pennsylvania]], to Charles N. and Mary P. Peary. After his father died in 1859, Peary and his mother moved to [[Portland, Maine]].<ref name=NavalHistory>{{cite web | url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/seabee/explore/civil-engineer-corps-history/robert-e--peary.html | title=Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary, US Navy 1856–1920 | publisher=[[Naval History and Heritage Command]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107040240/http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/peary_roberte.htm | archive-date=November 7, 2012 | url-status=live}}</ref> Peary attended [[Portland High  School (Maine)]] where he graduated in 1873.  Peary made his way to [[Bowdoin College]], some {{convert|36|mi|abbr=on}} to the north, where he was a member of the [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]] fraternity and the [[Phi Beta Kappa]] [[honor society]].<ref name=bowdoin>{{cite web | url=https://www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum/educational-resources/arctic-biographies/peary.html | title=Robert E. Peary | publisher=[[Bowdoin College]]}}</ref> He was also part of the rowing team.<ref name=bowdoin/> He graduated in 1877 with a [[civil engineering]] degree.<ref name=bowdoin/><ref name=Mills510>Mills 2003, p.&nbsp;510.</ref>

From 1878 to 1879, Peary lived in [[Fryeburg, Maine|Fryeburg]], [[Maine]]. During that time, he made a profile survey from the top of Fryeburg's Jockey Cap Rock. The 360-degree survey names the larger hills and mountains visible from the summit. After Peary's death, his boyhood friend, Alfred E. Burton, suggested that the profile survey be made into a monument. It was cast in bronze and set atop a granite cylinder and erected to his memory by the Peary family in 1938.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.mainetrailfinder.com/trails/trail/jockey-cap | title=Jockey Cap – Maine Trail Finder | publisher=Maine Trail Finder}}</ref>

After college, Peary worked as a draftsman making technical drawings at the [[United States Coast and Geodetic Survey]] office in Washington, D.C. He joined the [[United States Navy]] and on October 26, 1881, was commissioned in the [[Civil Engineer Corps]], with the relative rank of lieutenant.<ref name=NavalHistory/> From 1884 to 1885, he was an assistant engineer on the surveys for the [[Nicaragua Canal]] and later became the engineer in charge. As reflected in a diary entry he made in 1885, during his time in the Navy, he resolved to be the first man to reach the [[North Pole]].<ref name=Mills510/>

In April 1886, he wrote a paper for the [[National Academy of Sciences]] proposing two methods for crossing Greenland's ice cap. One was to start from the west coast and trek about {{convert|400|mi|abbr=on}} to the east coast. The second, more difficult path, was to start from [[Whale Sound]] at the top of the known portion of [[Baffin Bay]] and travel north to determine whether Greenland was an island or if it extended all the way across the Arctic.<ref name=Mills511/> Peary was promoted to the rank of lieutenant commander on January 5, 1901, and to commander on April 6, 1902.<ref name=NavalHistory/>

==Initial Arctic expeditions==
Peary made his first expedition to the [[Arctic]] in 1886, intending to cross Greenland by [[dog sled]], taking the first of his own suggested paths. He was given six months' leave from the Navy, and he received $500 from his mother to book passage north and buy supplies. He sailed on a [[whaler]] to Greenland, arriving in [[Qeqertarsuaq|Godhavn]] on June 6, 1886.<ref name=Mills510/> Peary wanted to make a solo trek, but [[Christian Maigaard]], a young Danish official, convinced him he would die if he went out alone. Maigaard and Peary set off together and traveled nearly {{convert|100|mi|abbr=on}} due east before turning back because they were short on food. This was the second-farthest penetration of Greenland's ice sheet at the time. Peary returned home knowing more of what was required for long-distance ice trekking.<ref name=Mills511>Mills 2003, p.&nbsp;511.</ref>

[[File:Matthew Henson 1910.jpg|thumb|upright|alt= Photograph of Matthew Henson dressed in polar gear | [[Matthew Henson]], Peary's assistant, in 1910]]
Back in Washington attending with the US Navy, in November 1887 Peary was ordered to survey likely routes for a proposed Nicaragua Canal. To complete his tropical outfit he needed a sun hat. He went to a men's clothing store where he met 21-year-old [[Matthew Henson]], a black man working as a sales clerk. Learning that Henson had six years of seagoing experience as a [[cabin boy]], Peary immediately hired him as a personal [[valet]].<ref name=Nuttall855>Nuttall 2012, p.&nbsp;855–856.</ref>

On assignment in the jungles of Nicaragua, Peary told Henson of his dream of Arctic exploration. Henson accompanied Peary on every one of his subsequent Arctic expeditions, becoming his field assistant and "first man", a critical member of his team.<ref name=Mills511/><ref name=Nuttall855/>

==Second Greenland expedition==
In the [[Peary expedition to Greenland of 1891–1892]], Peary took the second, more difficult route that he laid out in 1886: traveling farther north to find out whether Greenland was a larger landmass extending to the North Pole. He was financed by several groups, including the [[American Geographic Society]], the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences (now the [[Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University]]), and the [[Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences]]. Members of this expedition included Peary's aide Henson, [[Frederick A. Cook]], who served as the group's surgeon; the expedition's ethnologist, Norwegian skier [[Eivind Astrup]]; bird expert and marksman [[Langdon Gibson]], and [[John M. Verhoeff]], who was a weatherman and mineralogist. Peary also took his wife,  Josephine, along as dietitian, though she had no formal training.<ref name=Mills511/> Newspaper reports criticized Peary for bringing his wife.<ref name="Conefrey">{{cite book | title=How to Climb Mt. Blanc in a Skirt: A Handbook for the Lady Adventurer | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q4UbYjoz0-EC&pg=PT103 | page=103 | first=Mick | last=Conefrey | publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] | year=2011 | isbn=9780230112421}}</ref>

[[File:Portrait of Robert Edwin Peary.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt= Photograph of Peary in civilian clothing | Peary in civilian clothing]]
On June 6, 1891, the party left Brooklyn, New York, in the seal hunting ship SS ''Kite''. In July, as ''Kite'' was ramming through sheets of surface ice, the ship's iron [[tiller]] suddenly spun around and broke Peary's lower right leg; both bones snapped between the knee and ankle.<ref name=Mills511/><ref name=Conefrey/><ref name=Journal>{{cite book | title=My Arctic Journal: A Year among Ice-fields and Eskimos | url=https://archive.org/details/myarcticjournaly00pear | page=[https://archive.org/details/myarcticjournaly00pear/page/24 24] | last=Peary | first=Josephine Diebitsch | author-link=Josephine Diebitsch Peary | publisher=[[Longmans Green]] | year=1894}}</ref> Peary was unloaded with the rest of the supplies at a camp they called Red Cliff, at the mouth of [[MacCormick Fjord]] at the north west end of [[Inglefield Gulf]]. A dwelling was built for his recuperation during the next six months. [[Josephine Diebitsch Peary|Josephine Peary]] stayed with Peary. Gibson, Cook, Verhoeff, and Astrup hunted game by boat and became familiar with the area and the [[Inuit]].<ref name=Mills511/>

[[File:Robert Edwin Peary.jpg|thumb|right|upright| alt= Photograph of Peary dressed in furs to survive winter | Peary was one of the first Arctic explorers to study Inuit survival techniques.]]
Unlike most previous explorers, Peary had studied [[Inuit]] survival techniques; he built [[igloo]]s during the expedition and dressed in practical furs in the native fashion. By wearing furs to preserve body heat and building igloos, he was able to dispense with the extra weight of tents and sleeping bags when on the march. Peary also relied on the Inuit as hunters and dog-drivers on his expeditions. He pioneered the system of using support teams and establishing supply caches for Arctic travel, which he called the "Peary system". The Inuit were curious about the Americans and came to visit Red Cliff. Josephine was bothered by the Inuit body odor from not bathing, their flea infestations, and their food. She studied the people and kept a journal of her experiences.<ref name=Conefrey/><ref name=Journal/> In September 1891, Peary's men and dog sled teams pushed inland onto the ice sheet to lay caches of supplies. They did not go farther than {{convert|30|mi|abbr=on}} from Red Cliff.<ref name=Mills511/>

In 1891, Peary shattered his right leg in a shipyard accident but it healed by February 1892. By April 1892, he made some short trips with Josephine and an Inuk dog sled driver to native villages to purchase supplies. On May 3, 1892, Peary finally set out on the intended trek with Henson, Gibson, Cook, and Astrup. After {{convert|150|mi|abbr=on}}, Peary continued on with Astrup. They found the {{convert|1000|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} high view from Navy Cliff, saw [[Independence Fjord]], and concluded that [[Greenland]] was an island, and not connected to some yet unknown landmass further north in the Arctic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/154453/secrets-greenlands-ice|title=The Secrets in Greenland's Ice|publisher=The New Republic|author=Colin Dickey|language=English|date=11 July 2019|accessdate=26 March 2025}}</ref> They trekked back to Red Cliff and arrived on August 6, having traveled a total of {{convert|1250|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref name=Mills511/>

In 1896, Peary, a [[Master Mason]], received his degrees in Kane Lodge No. 454, [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/textfiles/famous.html | title=List of famous freemasons | website=freemasonry.bcy.ca | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011004153632/http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/textfiles/famous.html | archive-date=October 4, 2001 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Freemasons>{{cite web | url=https://stjohnslodgedc.org/famous-masons | title=Famous Freemasons in the course of history | publisher=St. John's Lodge, Washington, D.C. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151116030150/http://www.stjohnslodgedc.org/famous-masons | archive-date=November 16, 2015 | url-status=live}}</ref>

==1898–1902 expeditions==
[[File:Ipy-conger1 figure-01.jpg|thumb| alt= Photograph of a building at Fort Conger | Peary used abandoned [[Fort Conger]] on [[Ellesmere Island]] during his 1898–1902 expedition]]
As a result of Peary's 1898–1902 expedition, he claimed an 1899 visual discovery of "Jesup Land" west of [[Ellesmere Island]].<ref>{{cite journal | author=William Herbert Hobbs | title=The Progress of Discovery and Exploration Within the Arctic Region | journal=[[Annals of the Association of American Geographers]] | year=1937 | volume=27 | issue=1 | page=16 | doi=10.1080/00045603709357155}}</ref> He claimed that this sighting of [[Axel Heiberg Island]] was prior to its discovery by Norwegian explorer [[Otto Sverdrup]]'s expedition around the same time. This contention has been universally rejected by exploration societies and historians.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v6THcynQQDMC | author=Harold Horwood | title=Bartlett: The Great Explorer | publisher=[[Doubleday Canada]] | year=2010 | page=56| isbn=9780385674355 }}</ref> However, the American Geographical Society and the [[Royal Geographical Society of London]] honored Peary for tenacity, mapping of previously uncharted areas, and his discovery in 1900 of [[Cape Morris Jesup]] at the north tip of Greenland. Peary also achieved a "farthest north" for the western hemisphere in 1902 north of Canada's [[Ellesmere Island]]. Peary was promoted to [[Lieutenant commander (Royal Navy)|lieutenant commander]] in the Navy in 1901 and to [[Commander (Royal Navy)|commander]] in 1902.<ref>Register of Commissioned Officers of the United States Navy. Editions of 1902 and 1903.</ref>

==1905–1906 expedition==
Peary's next expedition was supported by fundraising through the [[Peary Arctic Club]], with gifts of $50,000 from George Crocker, the youngest son of banker [[Charles Crocker]], and $25,000 from [[Morris K. Jesup]], to buy Peary a new ship.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1905/07/13/archives/peary-gets-50000-mk-jesup-gives-25000-fund-for-trip-to-reach-north.html | title=Peary Gets $50,000; M.K. Jesup Gives $25,000 | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=July 13, 1905 | page=7}}</ref> The {{SS|Roosevelt|1905|6}} navigated through the ice between [[Greenland]] and [[Ellesmere Island]], establishing an American hemisphere "farthest north by ship". The 1906 "Peary System" dogsled drive for the pole across the rough sea ice of the Arctic Ocean started from the north tip of Ellesmere at 83° north latitude. The parties{{who?|date=April 2025}} made well under {{convert|10|mi|abbr=on}} a day until they became separated by a storm.

[[File:Peary's steamer Roosevelt, Hudson-Fulton Parade.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of the SS ''Roosevelt'' |''Roosevelt'' in the [[Hudson–Fulton Celebration|Hudson–Fulton parade]] in 1909]]
As a result, Peary was without a companion sufficiently trained in navigation to verify his account from that point northward. With insufficient food, and uncertainty whether he could negotiate the ice between himself and land, he made the best possible dash and barely escaped with his life from the melting ice. On April 20, he was no farther north than 86°30' latitude. This latitude was never published by Peary. It is in a typescript of his April 1906 diary, discovered by [[Wally Herbert]] in his assessment commissioned by the [[National Geographic Society]]. The typescript suddenly stopped there, one day before Peary's April 21 purported "farthest". The original of the April 1906 record is the only missing diary of Peary's exploration career.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://collections.dartmouth.edu/arctica-beta/html/EA15-55.html | title=Robert Edwin Peary | publisher=[[Dartmouth College]]}}</ref> He claimed the next day to have achieved a [[Farthest North]] world record at 87°06' and returned to 86°30' without camping. This implied a trip of at least {{convert|72|nmi|lk=in}} between sleeping, even assuming direct travel with no detours.

After returning to ''Roosevelt'' in May, Peary began weeks of difficult travel in June heading west along the shore of Ellesmere. He discovered [[Cape Colgate]], from whose summit he claimed in his 1907 book<ref>R. Peary, ''Nearest the Pole'', 1907, pp.&nbsp;202, 207, 280.</ref> that he had seen a previously undiscovered far-north "[[Crocker Land]]" to the northwest on June 24, 1906. A later review of his diary for this time and place found that he had written, "No land visible."<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.dioi.org/cot.htm#ypcx | title=Contributions Dennis Rawlins 2 | website=dioi.org | publisher=The International Journal of Scientific History}}</ref> On December 15, 1906, the National Geographic Society of the United States, certified Peary's 1905–1906 expedition and "Farthest" with its highest honor, the [[Hubbard Medal]]. No major professional geographical society followed suit. In 1914, [[Donald Baxter MacMillan]] and [[Fitzhugh Green, Sr.]]'s expedition found that Crocker Land did not exist.

==Reaching the North Pole==
[[File:Photograph of the Robert Peary Sledge Party Posing with Flags at the North Pole - NARA - 542472.jpg|thumb|upright| alt=Photograph of the Robert Peary Sledge Party Posing with Flags at what was assumed to be the North Pole | The party at what was assumed to be the North Pole]]
On July 6, 1908, the ''Roosevelt'' departed New York City with Peary's eighth Arctic expedition of 22 men. Besides Peary as expedition commander, it included master of the ''Roosevelt'' [[Robert Bartlett (explorer)|Robert Bartlett]], surgeon Dr. J.W. Goodsell, along with [[Ross Gilmore Marvin]], [[Donald Baxter MacMillan]], [[George Borup]], and [[Matthew Henson]]. After recruiting several Inuit and their families at [[Cape York (Greenland)]], the expedition wintered near [[Cape Sheridan]] on [[Ellesmere Island]]. The expedition used the "Peary system" for the sledge journey, with Bartlett and the Inuit, Poodloonah, "Harrigan," and Ooqueah, composing the pioneer division. Borup, with three Inuit, Keshunghaw, Seegloo, and Karko, composed the advance supporting party. On February 15, Bartlett's pioneer division departed the ''Roosevelt'' for [[Cape Columbia]], followed by 5 advance divisions. Peary, with the two Inuit, Arco and Kudlooktoo, departed on February 22, bringing to the total effort 7 expedition members, 19 Inuit, 140 dogs, and 28 sledges. On February 28, Bartlett, with three Inuit, Ooqueah, Pooadloonah, and Harrigan, accompanied by Borup, with three Inuit, Karko, Seegloo, and Keshungwah, headed North.<ref name="rp">{{cite book |last=Peary | first=Robert | title=The North Pole: Its Discovery in 1906 Under the Auspices of the Peary Arctic Club | date=1986 | publisher=Dover Publications, Inc. | location=New York | isbn=0486251292 | pages=23,25,42,72,121,201–203,213–214,298}}</ref>{{rp|41}}

On March 14, the first supporting party, composed of Dr. Goodsell and the two Inuit, Arco and Wesharkoupsi, turned back towards the ship. Peary states this was at a latitude of 84°29'. On March 20, Borup's third supporting party, with three Inuit, started back to the ship. Peary states this was at a latitude of 85°23'. On March 26, Marvin, with Kudlooktoo and Harrigan, headed back to the ship, from a latitude estimated by Marvin as 86°38'. Marvin died on this return trip south. On 1 April, Bartlett's party started their return to the ship, after Bartlett estimated a latitude of 87°46'49". Peary, with two Inuit, Egingwah and Seeglo, and Henson, with two Inuit, Ootah and Ooqueah, using 5 sledges and 40 dogs, planned 5 marches over the estimated 130 [[nautical mile]]s to the pole. On 2 April, Peary led the way north.<ref name=rp/>{{rp|235,243,252–254,268–271,274}}<ref name=Negro>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vfvfyQEACAAJ | last=Henson | first=Matthew | authorlink=Matthew Henson | title=A Negro Explorer at the North Pole | date=1912 | publisher=[[Dodo Press]]  | isbn=9781406553741 | pages=52,57,61,63,68–71,318–319}}</ref>

On the final stage of the journey toward the North Pole, Peary told Bartlett to stay behind. He continued with five others: Henson, Ootah, Egigingwah, Seegloo, and Ooqueah. No one except Henson, who had served on the [[Peary expedition to Greenland of 1891–1892]], had experience of naval-type observations. On April 6, 1909, Peary established Camp Jesup within {{convert|3|mi|abbr=on|0}} of the pole, according to his own readings.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Profile: African-American North Pole Explorer Matthew Henson | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/profile-african-american-north-pole-explorer-matthew-henson | first=ANNA | last=BRENDLE | publisher=[[National Geographic]] |date=January 10, 2003}}</ref> Peary estimated the latitude as 89°57', after making an observation at approximate local noon using the Columbia meridian. Peary used a sextant, with a mercury trough and glass roof for an artificial horizon, to make measurements of the Sun. Peary claims, "I had now taken in all thirteen single, or six and one-half double, altitudes of the sun, at two different stations, in three different directions, at four different times." Peary states some of these observations were "beyond the Pole," and "...at some moment during these marches and counter-marches, I had passed over or very near the point where north and south and east and west blend into one."<ref name=rp/>{{rp|287–298}}<ref name=Negro/>{{rp|72–75}} Henson scouted ahead to what was thought to be the North Pole site; he returned with the greeting, "I think I'm the first man to sit on top of the world," much to Peary's chagrin.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.cbp.gov/about/history/did-you-know/first-man | title=Did You Know... A Customs Employee was the 'First Man to Sit on Top of the World?' | publisher=[[U.S. Customs and Border Protection]]}}</ref>

On April 7, 1909, Peary's group started their return journey, reaching Cape Columbia on April 23, and the ''Roosevelt'' on April 26. MacMillan and the doctor's party had reached the ship earlier, on March 21, Borup's party on April 11, Marvin's Inuit on April 17, and Bartlett's party on April 24. On July 18, the ''Roosevelt'' departed for home.<ref name=rp/>{{rp|302,316–317,325,332}}<ref name=Negro/>{{rp|78–81}}

Upon returning, Peary learned that Dr. [[Frederick A. Cook]], a surgeon and ethnographer on the [[Peary expedition to Greenland of 1891–1892]], claimed to have reached the North pole in 1908.<ref name=Discovered/> Despite remaining doubts, a committee of the National Geographic Society, as well as the Naval Affairs Subcommittee of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]], credited Peary with reaching the North Pole.<ref name=Discovered>{{cite magazine | last=Henderson | first=Bruce | title=Who Discovered the North Pole? | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-discovered-the-north-pole-116633746/ | magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian Magazine]] | date=April 2009}}</ref>

A reassessment of Peary's notebook in 1988 by polar explorer [[Wally Herbert]] found it "lacking in essential data", thus renewing doubts about Peary's discovery.<ref name=Doubts>{{cite news | last=Wilford | first=John N. | title=Doubts cast on Peary's claim to Pole | url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1988/08/22/031988.html?zoom=14.63&pageNumber=27 | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=August 22, 1988}}</ref><ref name=First>{{cite news | last=Tierney | first=John | title=Who Was First at the North Pole?| url=https://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/who-was-first-at-the-north-pole | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=September 7, 2009}}</ref>

==Later life and death==
[[File:The Three Polar Stars, 1913 (8889621500).jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of Roald Amundsen, Ernest Shackleton and Peary | [[Roald Amundsen|Amundsen]], [[Ernest Shackleton|Shackleton]], and Peary, in January 1913]]
[[File:Peary daughter at grave.jpg|thumb|left|Edwin Denby and Peary's daughter at grave, [[Arlington National Cemetery]], April 6, 1922]]
Peary was promoted to the rank of captain in the Navy in October 1910.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/research-guides/z-files/zb-files/zb-files-p/peary-robert-e.html | title=Robert Edwin Peary | publisher=[[Naval History and Heritage Command]]}}</ref> By his lobbying, Peary headed off a move among some U.S. Congressmen to have his claim to the pole evaluated by other explorers. Eventually recognized by Congress for "reaching" the pole, Peary was given the [[Thanks of Congress]] by a special act in March 1911.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.navalhistory.org/2013/01/18/peary-at-the-north-pole | title=Peary at the North pole | publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] | date=January 18, 2013}}</ref> By the same Act of Congress, Peary was promoted to the rank of [[Rear admiral (United States)|rear admiral]] in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps, retroactive to April 6, 1909. He retired from the Navy the same day, to [[Eagle Island (Casco Bay, Maine)|Eagle Island]] on the coast of [[Maine]], in the town of Harpswell. His home there has been designated a Maine State Historic Site.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://bangordailynews.com/2013/12/09/news/north-pole-explorers-maine-home-nominated-as-national-historic-landmark/ | title=North Pole explorer's Maine home nominated as National Historic Landmark | first=Abigail | last=Curtis | work=[[Bangor Daily News]] | date=December 9, 2013}}</ref>

After retiring, Peary received many honors from scientific societies for his Arctic explorations and discoveries. He served twice as president of [[The Explorers Club]], from 1909 to 1911, and from 1913 to 1916.

In early 1916, Peary became chairman of the National Aerial Coast Patrol Commission, a private organization created by the [[Aero Club of America]]. It advocated the use of aircraft to detect warships and submarines off the U.S. coast.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/dictionary-of-american-naval-aviation-squadrons-volume-2/pdfs/Chap_1.pdf | title=Origins of Navy Patrol Aviation, 1911 to 1920s}}</ref> Peary used his celebrity to promote the use of military and naval aviation, which led directly to the formation of [[United States Navy Reserve]] aerial coastal patrol units during [[World War I]]. After the war, Peary proposed a system of eight airmail routes, which became the genesis of the U.S. Postal Service's airmail system.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c84q815p/entire_text/ | title=Guide to the Frederick A. Cook and Robert E. Peary Collection MSS.2017.07.14 | publisher=[[Santa Clara University]]}}</ref>

In 1914, Peary bought the house at 1831 Wyoming Avenue NW in the [[Adams Morgan]] neighborhood of [[Washington, D.C.]], where he lived until his death on February 20, 1920.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-06-25-1995176044-story.html | title=Washington's present meets the past in Adams-Morgan NEIGHBORHOOD TOUR | first=Ralph | last=Vigoda | work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] | date=June 25, 1995 | url-access=limited}}</ref> He began renovating the house in 1920, shortly before his death, after which the renovation was taken over by Josephine. She sold the house in 1927, receiving a $12,000 promissory note.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/ade/item/95858654/ | title=Architectural drawing for alterations to a row house ("residence") for Josephine D. Peary (originally for Adm. Robert E. Peary), 1831 Wyoming Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. | year=1920 | publisher=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref>

He was buried in [[Arlington National Cemetery]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Notable-Graves/Explorers/Robert-Peary | title=Robert Peary | publisher=[[Arlington National Cemetery]]}}</ref> Matthew Henson was honored by being re-interred nearby on April 6, 1988.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Explore/Notable-Graves/Explorers/Matthew-Henson | title=Matthew Alexander Henson | publisher=[[Arlington National Cemetery]]}}</ref>

==Marriage and family==
[[File:Josephine Peary portrait 1892.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Photograph of Josephine Diebitsch | [[Josephine Diebitsch Peary|Josephine Diebitsch]] in 1892]]
On August 11, 1888, Peary married [[Josephine Diebitsch Peary|Josephine Diebitsch]], a business school valedictorian who thought that women should be more than just mothers. Diebitsch had started working at the [[Smithsonian Institution]] when she was 19 or 20 years old, replacing her father after he became ill and filling his position as a [[linguist]]. In 1886, she resigned from the Smithsonian upon becoming engaged to Peary.

The newlyweds honeymooned in [[Atlantic City, New Jersey]], then moved to [[Philadelphia]], where Peary was assigned. Peary's mother accompanied them on their honeymoon, and she moved into their Philadelphia apartment, which caused friction between the two women. Josephine told Peary that his mother should return to live in Maine.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://arcticportal.org/ap-library/arctic-deeply/1945-the-forgotten-indigenous-women-of-robert-peary-s-arctic-expeditions | title=The Forgotten Indigenous Women of Robert Peary's Arctic Expeditions | publisher=Arctic Portal | date=August 10, 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Marie Peary.jpg|thumb|upright| alt=Photograph of Peary's daughter, Marie Ahnighito Peary|Peary's daughter, Marie Ahnighito Peary (born 1893)]]
They had two children together, Marie Ahnighito (born 1893) and Robert Peary, Jr. His daughter wrote several books, including ''The Red Caboose'' (1932) a children's book about the Arctic adventures published by [[William Morrow and Company]]. As an explorer, Peary was frequently gone for years at a time. In their first 23 years of marriage, he spent only three with his wife and family.

Peary and his aide, Henson, both had relationships with Inuit women outside of marriage and fathered children with them.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sherman | first=Josepha | author-link=Josepha Sherman | date=2005 | title=Exploring the North Pole: The Story of Robert Edwin Peary and Matthew Henson | publisher=Mitchell Lane Publishers | isbn=9781584154020 | url=https://archive.org/details/exploringnorthpo0000sher |url-access=registration}}</ref> Peary appears to have started a relationship with Aleqasina (''Alakahsingwah'') when she was about 14 years old.<ref name=Noose>{{cite book | last=Herbert | first=Wally | author-link=Wally Herbert | date=1989 | title=The Noose of Laurels | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780689120343 | url-access=registration | pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780689120343/page/206 206–207]| publisher=Atheneum | isbn=9780689120343 }}</ref><ref name=plug>{{Cite news |url=https://nativetimes.com/life/people/5994-us-explorers-inuit-kin-plug-into-globalized-world | title=US explorers' Inuit kin plug into globalized world | last=Hanley | first=Charles J. | work=[[Native Times]] | date=September 7, 2011}}</ref> They had at least two children, including a son called Kaala,<ref name=plug/> Karree,<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1987/07/13/anaukaq-henson-80-dies/5406beb9-9bf7-4f31-839d-f1ac55079fe8/ | title=Anaukaq Henson, 80, dies | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=July 13, 1987}}</ref> or Kali.<ref name=shoulders>{{Cite news | url=http://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/Matthew_Hensons_descendants_honour_their_ancestor/ | first=Jane | last=George | title=Standing on the shoulders of a giant; Matthew Henson's descendants honour their ancestor | work=Nunatsiaq News Online | date=April 9, 2009}}</ref> French explorer and ethnologist [[Jean Malaurie]] was the first to report on Peary's descendants after spending a year in Greenland in 1951–52.<ref name=plug/><ref>[https://nativetimes.com/life/people/5994-us-explorers-inuit-kin-plug-into-globalized-world US explorers' Inuit kin plug into globalized world ]</ref>

[[S. Allen Counter]], a [[Harvard]] neuroscience professor interested in Henson's role in the Arctic expeditions, went to Greenland in 1986. He found Peary's son Kali and Henson's son Anaukaq, then octogenarians, and some of their descendants.<ref name=shoulders/> Counter arranged to bring the men and their families to the United States to meet their American relatives and see their fathers' gravesites.<ref name=shoulders/> In 1991, Counter wrote about the episode in his book, ''North Pole Legacy: Black, White, and Eskimo'' (1991). He also gained national recognition of Henson's role in the expeditions.<ref name=shoulders/> A documentary by the same name was also released. Wally Herbert also noted the relationship and children in his book ''The Noose of Laurels'', published in 1989.<ref name=Noose/>

==Treatment of the Inuit==
[[File:Meteorite iron harpoon.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Narwhal]] tusk lance with an iron head made from the [[Cape York meteorite]].]]
[[File:Minik in New York.jpg|thumb|right|[[Minik Wallace|Minik]], one of the Inuit whom Peary took back to America for study.]]

Peary has received criticism for his treatment of the Inuit, including fathering children with Aleqasina. Renée Hulan and Lyle Dick have both reported that Peary and his crew sexually exploited Inuit women on his 1908&ndash;1909 expedition.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hulan |first1=Renée |title=Alnayah's People: Archival Photographs from West Greenland, 1908–1909 |journal=Interventions |date=2023 |volume=25 |issue=8 |pages=1088–1109|doi=10.1080/1369801X.2023.2169621 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dick |first1=Lyle |title='"Pibloktoq"(Arctic Hysteria): A Construction of European-Inuit Relations?' |journal=Arctic Anthropology |date=1995 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=1–42 |jstor=40316385 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40316385}}</ref> Peary has also been harshly criticized for bringing back a group of [[Inughuit|Inughuit Greenlandic Inuit]] to the United States along with the [[Cape York meteorite]]. The meteorite  was of significant local economic importance: Although the Greenlanders had been obtaining the iron they needed from whalers, the Cape York meteorite was the only source of iron for tools. Peary sold it for $40,000 in 1897.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/the-legacy-of-arctic-explorer-matthew-henson | title=The Legacy of Arctic Explorer Matthew Henson | work=[[National Geographic]] | date=February 28, 2014}}</ref>

Working at the [[American Museum of Natural History]], [[anthropologist]] [[Franz Boas]] had requested that Peary bring back an Inuk for study.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=47HtAAAAMAAJ | last=Thomas | first=David H. | title=Skull Wars: Kennewick Man, Archaeology, and the Battle for Native American Identity | date=March 14, 2000 | page=78 | publisher=[[Basic Books]]| isbn=9780465092246 }}</ref><ref name=GiveMe>{{Cite book | last=Harper | first=Kenn | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wK2-ONmUk0YC | title=Give Me My Father's Body: The Life of Minik, the New York Eskimo' | publisher=[[Washington Square Press]] | year=2001| isbn=9780743410052 }}</ref><ref name=Meteor>{{cite web | last1=Meier | first1=Allison | title=Minik and the Meteor | work=Narratively | date=March 19, 2013 | url=https://narratively.com/minik-and-the-meteor/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726233201/https://narratively.com/minik-and-the-meteor/ | archive-date=July 26, 2020 | url-status=live}}</ref> During his expedition to retrieve the  meteorite, Peary convinced six people, including a man named Qisuk and his child [[Minik Wallace|Minik]], to travel to America with him by promising they would be able to return with tools, weapons and gifts within the year.<ref name=Northern>{{cite book | last1=Petrone | first1=Penny | title=Northern Voices: Inuit Writing in English | date=January 1992 | publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] | isbn=9780802077172}}</ref> Peary left the people at the museum when he returned with the meteorite in 1897, where they were kept in damp, humid conditions unlike their homeland. Within a few months, four died of [[tuberculosis]]; their remains were dissected and the bones of Qisuk were put on display after Minik was shown a fake burial.<ref name=Meteor/><ref name=GiveMe/>

Speaking as a teenager to the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'' about Peary, [[Minik Wallace|Minik]] said:

{{blockquote|At the start, Peary was kind enough to my people. He made them presents of ornaments, a few knives and guns for hunting and wood to build sledges. But as soon as he was ready to start home his other work began. Before our eyes he packed up the bones of our dead friends and ancestors. To the women’s crying and the men’s questioning he answered that he was taking our dead friends to a warm and pleasant land to bury them. Our sole supply of flint for lighting and iron for hunting and cooking implements was furnished by a huge meteorite. This Peary put aboard his steamer and took from my poor people, who needed it so much. After this he coaxed my father and that brave man Natooka, who were the strongest hunters and the wisest heads for our tribe, to go with him to America. Our people were afraid to let them go, but Peary promised them that they should have Natooka and my father back within a year, and that with them would come a great stock of guns and ammunition, and wood and metal and presents for the women and children … We were crowded into the hold of the vessel and treated like dogs. Peary seldom came near us.<ref name=Northern/>}}

Peary eventually helped Minik travel home in 1909, though it is speculated that this was to avoid any bad press surrounding his anticipated celebratory return after reaching the North Pole.<ref name=Meteor/> In 1986, [[Kenn Harper]] wrote a book about Minik, entitled ''Give Me My Father's Body''.  Convinced that the remains of Qisuk and the three adult Inuit should be returned to Greenland, he tried to persuade the Museum of Natural History to do this, as well as working through the "red tape" of the US and Canadian governments.  In 1993, Harper succeeded in having the Inuit remains returned.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Harper |first=Kenn |date=2002-01-01 |title=The Minik Affair: The Role of the American Museum of Natural History |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/789609352 |journal=Polar Geography |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=39–52 |doi=10.1080/789609352 |bibcode=2002PolGe..26...39H |s2cid=140717778 |issn=1088-937X}}</ref>  In [[Qaanaaq]], he witnessed the Inuit funeral ceremony for the remains of Qisuk and the three tribesmen [Shaman Atangana (ca. 1840–1898) with her husband, renowned hunter Nuktaq (ca. 1848–1898), their adoptive daughter Aviaq (ca. 1885–1898)] that had been taken to New York.

Peary had employed the Inughuit in his expeditions for more than a decade, paying them in firearms, ammunition and other Western goods on which they had come to rely, and leaving them in a dire situation in 1909. The demands of the American expeditions had also resulted in the caribou of North Greenland being hunted to near extinction.<ref name="Schledermann2003">{{cite journal
|title=The Muskox Patrol: High Arctic Sovereignty Revisited
|first=Peter 
|last=Schledermann
|journal=[[Arctic (journal)|Arctic]]
|volume=56
|number=1
|date=March 2003
|pages=102
|jstor=40512169
|doi=10.14430/arctic606
|url=https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/63665/47601
|doi-access=free
}}</ref>

==Controversy surrounding North Pole claim==
[[File:Commander Robert E. Peary - 10713770703.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Commander Robert E. Peary speaks at the [[Appalachian Mountain Club]] in February 1910]]
Peary's claim to have reached the North Pole has long been subject to doubt.<ref name=Doubts/><ref>{{cite news |title=A Correction |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/23/opinion/c-a-correction-310788.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 24, 2024 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 23, 1988 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908201355/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/23/opinion/c-a-correction-310788.html?scp=3&sq=%20Cook%20Peary%20correction%20north%20pole%20neither&st=cse |archive-date=September 8, 2009}}</ref><ref name=Discovered/> Some polar historians believe that Peary honestly thought he had reached the pole. Others have suggested that he was guilty of deliberately exaggerating his accomplishments. Peary's account has been newly criticized by [[Pierre Berton]] (2001) and Bruce Henderson (2005).

===Lack of independent validation===
Peary did not submit his evidence for review to neutral national or international parties or to other explorers.<ref name=Discovered/> Peary's claim was certified by the [[National Geographic Society]] (NGS) in 1909 after a cursory examination of Peary's records, as NGS was a major sponsor of his expedition.<ref name=Discovered/> This was a few weeks before Cook's Pole claim was rejected by a Danish panel of explorers and navigational experts.

The National Geographic Society limited access to Peary's records. At the time, his proofs were not made available for scrutiny by other professionals, as had been done by the Danish panel.<ref name=Discovered/> [[Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor]] persuaded the [[United States National Academy of Sciences]] not to get involved. The [[Royal Geographical Society]] (RGS) of London gave Peary a one-off medal (created by sculptor [[Kathleen Scott]], later widow of [[Robert Falcon Scott]]), in 1910,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/12/16/archives/nations-hail-peary-as-pole-discoverer-felicitations-from-england.html | title=Nations Hail Peary as Pole Discoverer | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=December 16, 1909}}</ref> despite internal council splits which only became known in the 1970s. The RGS based their decision on the belief that the NGS had performed a serious scrutiny of the "proofs", which was not the case.{{citation needed|date=April 2013}} Neither the [[American Geographical Society]] nor any of the geographical societies of semi-Arctic [[Scandinavia]] has recognized Peary's North Pole claim.

===Criticisms===
{{see also|Peary Channel (Greenland)}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2019}}

====Omissions in navigational documentation====
The party that accompanied Peary on the final stage of the journey did not include anyone trained in navigation who could either confirm or contradict Peary's own navigational work. This was further exacerbated by Peary's failure to produce records of observed data for steering, for the direction ("[[Magnetic declination|variation]]") of the compass, for his longitudinal position at any time, or for zeroing-in on the pole either latitudinally or transversely beyond Bartlett Camp.<ref>Herbert, 1989; Rawlins, [http://www.dioi.org/cot.htm#wpst Contributions]</ref>

====Inconsistent speeds====
[[File:PearyBartlett.png|thumb|alt= Photograph of Peary and Robert Bartlett | Peary and Robert Bartlett at [[Battle Harbour]] in 1909]]
The last five marches when Peary was accompanied by a navigator (Capt. Bob Bartlett) averaged no better than {{convert|13|mi|abbr=on}} marching north. But once the last support party turned back at "Camp Bartlett", where Bartlett was ordered southward, at least {{convert|133|nmi|abbr=on}} from the pole, Peary's claimed speeds immediately doubled for the five marches to Camp Jesup. The recorded speeds quadrupled during the two and a half-day return to Camp Bartlett&nbsp;– at which point his speed slowed drastically. Peary's account of a beeline journey to the pole and back—which would have assisted his claim of such speed—is contradicted by his companion Henson's account of tortured detours to avoid "pressure ridges" (ice floes' rough edges, often a few meters high) and "leads" (open water between those floes).

In his official report, Peary claimed to have traveled a total of 304 nautical miles between April 2, 1909, (when he left Bartlett's last camp) and April 9 (when he returned there), {{convert|133|nmi|abbr=on}} to the pole, the same distance back, and {{convert|38|nmi|abbr=on}} in the vicinity of the pole.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}} These distances are counted without detours due to drift, leads and difficult ice, i.e. the distance traveled must have been significantly higher to make good the distance claimed.{{citation needed|date=April 2013}} Peary and his party arrived back in Cape Columbia on the morning of April 23, 1909, only about two and a half days after Capt Bartlett, yet Peary claimed he had traveled a minimum of {{convert|304|nmi|abbr=on}} more than Bartlett (to the Pole and vicinity).{{citation needed|date=April 2013}}

The conflicting and unverified claims of Cook and Peary prompted [[Roald Amundsen]] to take extensive precautions in navigation during [[Amundsen's South Pole expedition]] so as to leave no room for doubt concerning his 1911 attainment of the [[South Pole]], which—like [[Robert Falcon Scott]]'s a month later in 1912—was supported by the sextant, [[theodolite]], and compass observations of several other navigators.

====Review of Peary's diary====
[[File:Diary of Robert E. Peary - NARA - 304960.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|alt= Photograph of Peary's diary entry for his arrival at the North pole | Peary's diary entry for arrival at the [[North Pole]]]]
The diary that Robert E. Peary kept on his 1909 polar expedition was finally made available for research in 1986. Historian [[Larry Schweikart]] examined it, finding that: the writing was consistent throughout (giving no evidence of post-expedition alteration), there were consistent [[pemmican]] and other stains on all pages, and all evidence was consistent with a conclusion that Peary's observations were made on the spot he claimed. Schweikart compared the reports and experiences of Japanese explorer [[Naomi Uemura]], who reached the North Pole alone in 1978, to those of Peary and found they were consistent.<ref>{{Cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24447539 | first=Larry | last=Schweikart | authorlink=Larry Schweikart | title=Polar Revisionism and the Peary Claim: The Diary of Robert E. Peary | journal=The Historian | date=May 1986| volume=48 | issue=3 | pages=341–358 | doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.1986.tb00698.x | jstor=24447539 }}</ref> However, Peary made no entries in the diary on the crucial days of April 6 and 7, 1909, and his famous words "The Pole at Last!", allegedly written in his diary at the pole, were written on loose slips of paper that were inserted into the diary.

====1984 and 1989 National Geographic Society studies====
In 1984, the [[National Geographic Society]] (NGS), a major sponsor of Peary's expeditions, commissioned [[Wally Herbert]], an Arctic explorer himself, to write an assessment of Peary's original 1909 diary and astronomical observations. As Herbert researched the material, he came to believe that Peary falsified his records and concluded that he did not reach the North Pole.<ref name=Doubts/> His book, ''The Noose of Laurels'', caused a furor when it was published in 1989. If Peary did not reach the pole in 1909, Herbert would claim the record of being the first to reach the pole on foot.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/13/books/not-quite-on-top-of-the-world.html | title=NOT QUITE ON TOP OF THE WORLD | first=Katherine | last=Bouton | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=August 13, 1989}}</ref><ref name=Noose/>

In 1989, the NGS also conducted a two-dimensional photogrammetric analysis of the shadows in photographs and a review of ocean depth measures taken by Peary; its staff concluded that he was no more than {{convert|5|mi|abbr=on|0}} away from the pole. Peary's original camera, a 1908 #4 Folding Pocket [[Kodak]], did not survive. As such cameras were made with at least six different lenses from various manufacturers, the focal length of the lens, and hence the shadow analysis based on it, must be considered uncertain at best. The NGS has never released Peary's photos for an independent analysis. Specialists questioned the conclusions of the NGS. The NGS commissioned the Foundation for the Promotion of the Art of Navigation to resolve the issue, which concluded that Peary had indeed reached the North Pole.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/12/us/peary-made-it-to-the-pole-after-all-study-concludes.html | title=Peary Made It to the Pole After All, Study Concludes | first=Warren E. | last=Leary | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=August 13, 1989}}</ref><ref name=First/><ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1991/06/09/pearys-polar-mystery/7655c951-fb71-423d-a6c7-c5b75f9817fe/ | title=PEARY'S POLAR MYSTERY | first=Boyce | last=Rensberger | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | date=June 9, 1991}}</ref>

====Review of depth soundings====
Supporters of Peary and Henson assert that the depth soundings they made on the outward journey have been matched by recent surveys, and so their claim of having reached the Pole is confirmed.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://matthewhenson.com/northpoleproofDEPTH2.htm | url-status=usurped | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020603060320/https://matthewhenson.com/northpoleproofDEPTH2.htm | archive-date=June 3, 2002 | title=Proof Henson & Peary reached Pole (1909 Depth Soundings) | date=August 16, 2022 | publisher=[[Matthew Henson]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Since only the first few of the Peary party's soundings, taken nearest the shore, touched bottom; experts have said their usefulness is limited to showing that he was above deep water. Peary's expedition possessed 4,000 fathoms of sounding line, but he took only 2,000 with him over an ocean already established as being deeper in many regions. Peary stated in 1909 Congressional hearings about the expedition that he made no longitudinal observations during his trip, only latitude observations, yet he maintained he stayed on the "Columbia meridian" all along, and that his soundings were made on this meridian.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} The pack ice was moving all the time, so he had no way of knowing where he was without longitudinal observations.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

===Re-creation of expedition in 2005===
In 2005, British explorer [[Tom Avery]] and four companions re-created the outward portion of Peary's journey using replica wooden sleds and [[Canadian Eskimo Dog]] teams. They ensured their sled weights were the same as Peary's sleds throughout their journey. They reached the North Pole in 36 days, 22 hours—nearly five hours faster than Peary. However, Avery's fastest 5-day march was 90 nautical miles (170 km), significantly short of the 135 nautical miles (250 km) claimed by Peary. 

After reaching the Pole, Avery and his team were airlifted off the ice rather than returning by dogsled.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.countrylife.co.uk/out-and-about/sporting-country-pursuits/interview-tom-avery-polar-explorer-29629 | title=Interview: Tom Avery, polar explorer | work=[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]] | date=April 30, 2009}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Robert Peary monument at Cape York, Greenland.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=Photograph of the Peary monument at Cape York, Greenland | Peary monument at [[Cape York, Greenland|Cape York]], northwest [[Greenland]]]]
Several United States Navy ships have been named {{USS|Robert E. Peary}}. The [[Peary–MacMillan Arctic Museum]] at Bowdoin College is named for Peary and fellow Arctic explorer [[Donald Baxter MacMillan]]. Robert E. Peary Middle School in Gardena, CA, and Robert E. Peary High School in Rockvile, MD, were named after him. In 1986, the [[United States Postal Service]] issued a 22-cent postage stamp in honor of Peary and Henson;<ref name=postal>{{Cite web | url=https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/the-black-experience/exploration-matthew-henson | title=Exploration: Matthew Henson | publisher=[[National Postal Museum]]}}</ref>

[[Peary Land]], [[Peary Glacier]], [[Peary Nunatak]] and [[Cape Peary]] in Greenland, [[Peary Bay]] and [[Peary Channel]] in [[Canada]], as well as [[Mount Peary]] in Antarctica, are named in his honor. The lunar crater [[Peary (crater)|Peary]], located at the Moon's north pole, is also named after him.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4627 | title=Planetary Names: Crater, craters: Peary on Moon | publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]}}</ref>

[[Camp Peary]] in York County, Virginia is named for Admiral Peary. Originally established as a Navy [[Seabee]] training center during World War II, it was repurposed in the 1950s as a [[Central Intelligence Agency]] training facility. It is commonly called "The Farm".

Admiral Peary Vocational Technical School, located in a neighboring community very close to his birthplace of Cresson, PA, was named for him and was opened in 1972. Today the school educates over 600 students each year in numerous technical education disciplines.

A section of [[U.S. Route 22]] in [[Cambria County, Pennsylvania]], is named the Admiral Peary Highway

Major General [[Adolphus Greely]], leader of the ill-fated [[Lady Franklin Bay Expedition]] from 1881 to 1884, noted that no Arctic expert questioned that Peary courageously risked his life traveling hundreds of miles from land, and that he reached regions adjacent to the pole. After initial acceptance of Peary's claim, he later came to doubt Peary's having reached 90°.

In his book ''Ninety Degrees North'', polar historian Fergus Fleming describes Peary as "undoubtedly the most driven, possibly the most successful and probably the most unpleasant man in the annals of polar exploration".<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news-the-race-to-the-north-pole-6600156/ | title=The race to the North Pole and a controversy that has yet to thaw | first=MICK | last=O'HARE | work=[[The New European]] | date=December 19, 2020}}</ref>

In 1932, an expedition was made by Robert Bartlett and Marie Ahnighito Peary Stafford, Peary's daughter, on the ''[[Effie M. Morrissey]]'' to erect a monument to Peary at [[Cape York, Greenland]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum/exhibits/2004/peary-monument.html | title=Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, Exhibition: Building the Peary Monument | publisher=[[Bowdoin College]]}}</ref>

==Honors==
{{more citations needed|section|date=April 2017}}
Medals
* American Geographical Society, [[Cullum Geographical Medal]] (1896)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://americangeo.org/honors/medals-and-awards/cullum-geographical-medal/ | title=CULLUM GEOGRAPHICAL MEDAL | publisher=[[American Geographical Society]]}}</ref>
* American Geographical Society, [[Charles P. Daly Medal]] (1902)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://americangeo.org/honors/medals-and-awards/charles-p-daly-medal/ | title=CHARLES P. DALY MEDAL | publisher=[[American Geographical Society]]}}</ref>
* National Geographic Society, [[Hubbard Medal]] (1906)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.org/events/awards/hubbard/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914170715/https://www.nationalgeographic.org/events/awards/hubbard/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=September 14, 2021 | title=HUBBARD MEDAL | publisher=[[National Geographic]]}}</ref>
* Royal Geographical Society of London, special great gold medal
* National Geographic Society of Washington, the special great gold medal
* [[Geographical Society of Philadelphia]], great gold medal
* Chicago Geographical Society, Helen Culver medal
* Imperial German Geographical Society, Nachtigall gold medal
* Royal Italian Geographical Society, King Humbert gold medal
* Imperial Austrian Geographical Society
* Hungarian Geographical Society gold medal
* Royal Belgian Geographical Society gold medal
* Royal Geographical Society of Antwerp gold medal
* [[Spanish Campaign Medal]]

Honorary degrees
* Bowdoin College – Doctor of laws
* Edinburgh University – Doctor of laws

Honorary memberships
* New York Chamber of Commerce honorary member.
* Pennsylvania Society Honorary member
* Manchester Geographical Society Honorary membership
* Royal Netherlands Geographical Society of Amsterdam Honorary membership<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g1ugAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA365 | title=The North Pole: its discovery in 1909 under the auspices of the Peary Arctic club | first=Robert Edwin | last=Peary | publisher=[[Frederick A. Stokes]] | year=1910}}</ref>

Other
* Royal Scottish Geographical Society, special trophy, a replica in silver of the ships used by Hudson, Baffin, and Davis.
* Grand Officer of the [[Legion of Honor]], awarded 1913<ref>{{Cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2560855 | title=Memoir of Robert Edwin Peary | first=William Herbert | last=Hobbs | journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers | year=1921 | volume=11 | pages=93–108 | doi=10.1080/00045602109357023 | jstor=2560855 | authorlink=William Herbert Hobbs}}</ref>
* In Arlington National Cemetery on April 6, 1922, the Admiral Robert Edwin Peary monument was unveiled by his daughter, Mrs. Marie Peary Stafford.<ref>{{cite news | title=Dignitaries of the Nation Brave Rain to Honor Peary | url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1922-04-07/ed-1/seq-15/ | work=[[The Washington Times]] |date=April 7, 1922}}</ref> Numerous government officials, including [[President Harding]] and Former [[United States Secretary of the Navy]] [[Edwin Denby (politician)|Edwin Denby]] were in attendance.
* On May 28, 1986, the [[United States Postal Service]] issued a 22 cent [[postage stamp]] in his and Matthew Henson's honor.<ref name=postal/>

==Popular culture==
[[Neil Munro (writer)|Neil Munro]] gives a satirical account of the rival claims of Peary and Cook in his Erchie Macpherson story "Erchie Explains the Polar Situation", first published in the ''[[Glasgow Evening News]]'' of 4th October 1909.<ref>Munro, Neil, "Erchie Explains the Polar Situation", in Osborne, Brian D. & Armstrong, Ronald (eds.) (2002), ''Erchie, My Droll Friend'', [[Birlinn Limited]], Edinburgh, pp. 379 -382, {{isbn|9781841582023}}</ref>

[[E. L. Doctorow]] recounts Peary’s expedition in his novel ''[[Ragtime (novel)|Ragtime]]'' (1975).

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last=Berton | first=Pierre | author-link=Pierre Berton | title=The Arctic Grail | publisher=[[Anchor Books]] | year=2001 | isbn=9780385658454}}
* {{cite news | last=Brendle | first=Anna | url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/profile-african-american-north-pole-explorer-matthew-henson | title=Profile: African-American North Pole Explorer Matthew Henson | work=[[National Geographic]] | date=January 9, 2003}}
* {{cite book | last=Bryce | first=Robert M. | title=Cook & Peary: the polar controversy, resolved | date=1997 | publisher=[[Stackpole Books]] | isbn=9780689120343}}
* {{cite book | last=Coe | first=Brian | title=Kodak Cameras: The First Hundred Years | year=2003 | publisher=Hove Foto Books | isbn=9781874707370}}
* {{cite web | last=Davies | first=Thomas D. | title=''New Evidence Places Peary at The Pole'' | website=northpole1909.com | url=http://www.northpole1909.com/daviesframesets.htm | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020206210630/http://www.northpole1909.com/daviesframesets.htm | archive-date=February 6, 2002}}
* {{cite book | last=Davies | first=Thomas D. | title=Robert E. Peary at the North Pole | year=2009 | publisher=Starpath Publications | isbn=9780914025207}}
* {{cite book | last=Dolan | first=Sean | title=Matthew Henson (Junior World Biographies) | publisher=Chelsea Juniors | date=1992}}
* {{cite book | last=Fleming | first=Fergus | title=Ninety degrees north: the quest for the North Pole | date=2001 | publisher=[[Granta Books]] | isbn=9781862074491}}
* {{cite book | last=Henderson | first=Bruce | title=True North: Peary, Cook, and the Race to the Pole | publisher=[[W. W. Norton and Company]] | year=2005 | isbn=9780393327380}}
* {{cite book | last=Herbert | first=Wally | author-link=Wally Herbert | title=The noose of laurels: Robert E. Peary and the race to the North Pole | date=1989 | publisher=[[Atheneum Books]] | isbn=9780689120343 | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780689120343 }}
* {{cite book | last=Johnson | first=Dolores | title=Onward: A Photobiography of African-American Polar Explorer Matthew Henson | url=https://archive.org/details/onward00dolo/ | publisher=[[National Geographic]] | date=2006}}
* {{cite book | last=Mills | first=William James | title=Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia | year=2003 | publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] | isbn=9781576074220}}
* {{cite book | last=Nuttall | first=Mark | title=Encyclopedia of the Arctic | year=2012 | publisher=[[Routledge]] | isbn=9781579584368
}}
* {{cite book | last=Rawlins | first=Dennis | author-link=Dennis Rawlins | title=Peary at the North Pole: fact or fiction? | year=1973 | publisher=Robert B. Luce | location=Washington | isbn=9780883310427 | url=https://archive.org/details/pearyatnorthpole00denn }}
* {{cite book | last=Robinson | first=Michael F. | title=The Coldest Crucible: Arctic Exploration and American Culture | year=2006 | publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] | isbn=9780226721842}}
* {{cite book | last=Schweikart | first=Larry  | authorlink=Larry Schweikart | title=Polar Revisionism and the Peary Claim: The Diary of Robert E. Peary | date=May 1986}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikisource author}}
* {{BHL author}}
* {{Librivox author|id=9598}}
* {{OL author}}
* {{Gutenberg author|id=8383}}
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Robert Edwin Peary}}
* {{PM20|FID=pe/013349}}
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/1086 Peary-Cook Controversy Collection] at Dartmouth College Library
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/2853 Robert Peary papers] at Dartmouth College Library
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/1142 Arthur Malcolm Dodge Photographs and Article on 1896 Peary Expedition] at Dartmouth College Library
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/2989 George Putnam Diary and Photo Album from the 1896 Peary Greenland Expedition] at Dartmouth College Library
* [https://archives-manuscripts.dartmouth.edu/repositories/2/resources/3219 Personal Diary of J.M. Wiseman fireman of S.S. Roosevelt] at Dartmouth College Library
* [https://photolib.noaa.gov/Collections/NOAA-People/Coast-Geodetic-Survey/Coast-Geodetic-Survey/emodule/545/eitem/8693 Photo at NOAA Photo Library "Rear Admiral Robert E. Peary, who during his quest for the Pole conducted tidal observations in the Arctic Ocean"]

{{Polar exploration|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peary, Robert}}
[[Category:1856 births]]
[[Category:1920 deaths]]
[[Category:American Freemasons]]
[[Category:American polar explorers]]
[[Category:Bowdoin College alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]
[[Category:Discovery and invention controversies]]
[[Category:American explorers of the Arctic]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Explorers Club]]
[[Category:20th-century American explorers]]
[[Category:Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:People from Adams Morgan]]
[[Category:People from Cambria County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:People from Harpswell, Maine]]
[[Category:People from Portland, Maine]]
[[Category:Portland High School (Maine) alumni]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Cullum Geographical Medal]]
[[Category:United States Coast and Geodetic Survey personnel]]
[[Category:United States Navy rear admirals (lower half)]]
[[Category:American Geographical Society]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Pennsylvania]]