Nearest the Pole: a narrative of the polar expedition of the Peary Arctic Club in the S.S. Roosevelt, 1905-1906

In Short

This narrative records Commander Robert E. Peary’s 1905–1906 voyage aboard the specially designed steamer Roosevelt to the high Arctic. Seeking to reach the North Pole, Peary, his crew, and native Eskimo companions navigate treacherous ice-packs, establish northern supply bases, and drive dog-sledge divisions across the shifting sea ice. Though forced back by open water and starvation, Peary sets a new "Farthest North" record before mounting a perilous return journey. The book endures as a stark, detailed testament to polar engineering, native survival strategies, and unyielding personal ambition.

The Story

The expedition launches in July 1905 as the Roosevelt leaves port and pushes past Newfoundland toward Davis Strait and the Greenland coast. Peary seeks to push a ship farther north than previous attempts, utilizing a vessel specially constructed to withstand and rise above ice pressure. The voyage through Smith Sound and into Kane Basin presents immediate hazards: dense fogs, icebergs, and grinding floes that repeatedly twist the ship's rudder and ground her against the shore ice.

Upon reaching winter quarters on the northern shores of Grant Land, the expedition settles in for the long polar night. Rather than remaining dormant aboard the vessel, Peary organizes extensive hunting parties into the interior around Lake Hazen. Indigenous Eskimo families, whose mastery of clothing, sledge handling, and hunting is vital to the expedition, establish settlements inland to secure musk-oxen meat, keeping the men active and the supply lines fed.

With the return of the sun in early spring, the primary effort begins. Sledge divisions carrying pemmican and supplies advance northward across the treacherous ice-foot of the polar sea. Peary organizes his team into advance and support parties, led by key associates such as Captain Bartlett, Marvin, and Henson. The ice-pack proves dynamically volatile. Active cracks, massive pressure ridges, and wide "leads" of open water constantly delay progress and threaten to isolate the teams. Bitterness of weather—temperatures plunging past sixty below zero—forces the men into snow igloos, where they shiver in frozen gear while starving sledge dogs are killed to feed the remaining pack.

Despite furious winds and ice moving rapidly eastward, Peary presses northward through April 1906. He crosses regions of thin young ice and unstable floes, realizing that open water and dwindling rations will prevent him from reaching the Pole itself. After achieving a new world record for northern latitude, he turns back in a desperate race against melting ice and starvation.

The return journey turns into a battle for survival. Stranded by broad stretches of open water and forced to wade mid-thigh deep through slush and flooded ice, the party hunts musk-oxen and deer along distant capes to avoid perishing. Reaching the damaged Roosevelt, Peary finds the ship battered, having lost propeller blades and her stern-post to the ice. The homebound voyage along the Labrador coast becomes another ordeal of heavy squalls, broken rudders, and coal shortages, requiring the crew to burn wood and coal-dust before finally returning home.

How It Unfolds

Heading into the ice The Roosevelt clears the harbor and steers northward through foggy seas, navigating icebergs and treacherous channels while the team prepares for months away from civilization.

Trapped in Lincoln Bay Swirling ice and horizontal snowstorms repeatedly jam the ship's rudder and push her aground, forcing difficult repairs along an exposed ice-foot.

Wintering in the interior To avoid Arctic cabin fever, Eskimo families and expedition members establish camps near Lake Hazen, hunting musk-oxen and sewing fur clothing for the coming sledge journeys.

Drive across the pack Spring sledge divisions march across active leads and shattered floes in bitter cold, building snow igloos and driving dog teams through blinding drifts.

The desperate retreat Faced with open water, skeletal dogs, and short rations, Peary hits his highest latitude before turning back, surviving on freshly killed musk-oxen along the barren coast.

Homeward through the squalls The severely damaged Roosevelt limp south along the Labrador coast, battling gales with a makeshift rudder while searching for water, wood, and coal.

The People

• Robert E. Peary: The resolute expedition commander driven by a singular obsession to reach the North Pole. He plans every detail, designs custom equipment, and pushes his men and dogs through extreme physical agony, enduring frost, starvation, and heartbreak when forced to turn back.
• Captain Bartlett: The skilled master of the Roosevelt who navigates the ship through roaring floes and narrow channels. On the ice, he leads advance sledge divisions, cuts trails, caches supplies, and later maneuvers the crippled vessel safely home through violent gales.
• Matthew Henson: Peary’s trusted associate who assists in scouting treacherous routes ahead of the main party. He drives sledge teams across broken ice, manages field camps, and secures vital game under severe weather conditions.
• The Eskimo Hunters and Families: Native Arctic residents whose traditional knowledge makes the journey possible. The men drive sledges and hunt musk-oxen, bears, and seals; the women sew windproof fur garments, perform vital camp labor, and maintain life in the interior settlements.

In Its Own Voice

"A wild morning with snow driving in horizontal sheets across the deck, the water like ink, the ice ghastly white, and the land invisible except close to us as we almost scrape against it on the port side."

Peary records the sudden arrival of Arctic winter while his ship is jammed against the shore ice in Lincoln Bay.

"In two months at the longest the agony will be over, and I shall know one way or the other, and then whichever way it turns out, before the leaves fall I shall be back on Eagle Island again..."

Writing in his journal on the frozen ocean, Peary wrestles with the mental strain of potential failure versus his longing for home.

"When a hungry Eskimo leaves a bone a fly could not find a mouthful about it."

Peary describes the intense consumption of a musk-ox carcass by his starving hunters after days of severe deprivation.

What It's Really About

Beneath the physical log of miles traveled and game killed, the book explores the limits of human endurance against an indifferent environment. It contrasts modern engineering—represented by the customized hull and steam power of the Roosevelt—with the indispensable survival methods of indigenous Arctic peoples. Peary demonstrates that conquest of the far north relies not on imposing industrial force, but on adopting Eskimo clothing, diet, dog-sledging techniques, and snow-house construction. The narrative presents polar exploration as an unyielding test of character, where success and failure are separated by thin ice, shifting winds, and absolute mental discipline.

Why Read It Today

This narrative offers an authentic, unvarnished window into the heroic age of polar exploration. Readers who enjoy survival true-stories, maritime history, and polar lore will appreciate Peary's crisp, straightforward account of navigating the world's most unforgiving landscape. The prose moves with the steady pace of an operational journal, capturing the practical realities of high-latitude seamanship and ice travel.

Modern readers must navigate period attitudes and the colonial framing of indigenous participants, whom Peary views through a patronizing paternalistic lens even while relying entirely on their skills for survival. The text also includes detailed descriptions of animal slaughter necessary for provisioning the expedition. What remains with the reader, however, is the terrifying scale of the polar ice—a world of grinding floes, sub-zero darkness, and raw human ambition striving against the elements.

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