Peary's Diary–
"Dogs frequently on trot...on young ice of a
north & south lead they were often galloping...with tightly curved tails, repeatedly toss their heads
with short barks & yelps..." |
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Looking back at the dogs tracks in fresh snow. This
is young ice, or new ice as they called it. The water that recently frozen so it is smooth and
very easy to travel
over. Near the Pole they were able to let the dogs trot along at 25–30
miles/day. |
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Notice how lightly loaded the Peary expedition sledge is, and
easily pulled by 6 dogs? That is because Peary was making a dash
for the Pole, not a camping trip. 24 men using 19 sledges,
pulled by 130 dogs carried all the supplies needed for the elite
team of Peary & Henson to sprint the final distance. A brilliant
plan but so expensive that no one has ever re-enacted it. |
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Strange but true |
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Scotsman claims he was first at Pole in
1969, not Peary.
Sells $10,000 paintings of himself, and a
book; has an agent for speaking engagements. |
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Scotsman Wally Herbert and his sloppy research mistakes. |
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Noose of
Laurels
• Sloppy research #1.
Why did Herbert misread Peary's handwritten diary word "dash" as
"dark"—thus
causing him to invent a bizarre psychological theory?
• Sloppy research #2
How did he miss several references to the North Pole in
Peary's 1909 diary; thus erroneously stating that Peary never
mentioned reaching the North Pole?
• Herbert was a Cookite
Was he misled by misinformation from Helene Cook Vetters (Cook's
daughter) with whom he
exchanged numerous letters?
Why was Herbert so sympathetic to her anti-establishment/anti-National
Geographic position?
• Sloppy research #3
How did Herbert completely overlook
the actual, recorded wind direction data—thus
allowing him to contrive a theory Peary traveled west of the
Pole?
• Herbert's sledging incompetence
Was Herbert wrong about Peary's "impossibly fast sledging
speeds" because of his own amateurish, grossly overloaded sledge
experiences?
In fact his 1969 British Trans-Arctic Camping
trip had to harness 10 dogs/sledge that strained under the load
while his men rode on top as passengers!
• Herbert proven wrong
Does Herbert know that Landry &
Crowley easily matched Peary's sledging speeds on their very
first attempt? That "dark" was A TYPO and thus
his paranoid theory is a joke?
That Peary does mentions reaching the North Pole several times
in his diary? That Peary's depth sounding records prove he was
not "west of the Pole?"
• Herbert on discard list
Does Herbert know that my copy of his book was stamped
"DISCARD", by a librarian, in large
red letters?
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