Robert peary biography

American Arctic explorer (–)

For United States Navy ships named after Robert Peary, see USS Robert E. Peary.

Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, &#;– February 20, ) 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 , 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 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 as a civil engineer. In , he was made chief of surveying for the Nicaragua Canal, which was never built. He visited the Arctic for the first time in , making an unsuccessful attempt to cross Greenland by dogsled. In the Peary expedition to Greenland of –, 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. During an expedition in , 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.

On his – expedition, Peary set a new "Farthest North" record by reaching Greenland's northernmost point, Cape Morris Jesup. Peary made two more expediti

Robert Peary was born on May 6, , in Cresson, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Charles Nutter Peary and Mary Webster Wiley Peary. Robert Peary's parents both became sick within two years, culminating in the death of his father. Peary's desire for privacy and solitude could come from the lack of a father during his childhood. He took long hikes by himself and preferred solitude as opposed to community. The self-reliance that Peary found in his childhood became an important aspect of his character. Even though Peary was born in Pennsylvania but moved to Maine with his mother shortly after birth. His love for the outdoors and exploration was increased when Peary and his close friends hiked in the woods, sailed on the Casco Bay, and explored the unknown areas of Eagle Island in Maine. In the summer of , Peary enrolled at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he received the Brown Memorial Scholarship. During an informal meeting with students, one of Peary's professors, Professor Vose, often wondered how man might reach the North Pole. No one knew that one of his students, Robert Peary, had often dreamed as a child about the day when he would be the first man to the North Pole.

In , Peary learned of an opening in the United States Navy for civil engineers. Working as a deskbound draftsman in the Office of the Coast Survey, this opportunity came as a welcome change. After physical and tough mental examinations Peary thought he had failed, he was appointed a civil engineer in the United States Navy. He went into the service as a lieutenant. He began his naval assignments in Nicaragua and working in the Federal Bureau of Yards and Docks. Over the years Peary rose in rank and in status. Even while working for the Navy, he never lost track of the North Pole. In his diary, he maintained that his life-long goal was to reach the North Pole. Other Arctic explorations would be preparation for the final assault on the Pole. In one of Peary's preparatory expeditions across t

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Robert E. Peary was born May 6, in Cresson, Pennsylvania. He spent the formative years of his life in southern Maine with his mother, who raised him after his father's death.

Peary graduated from Portland High School and then attended Bowdoin College (Class of ). While at Bowdoin Peary participated in many activities, including rowing for his class crew, organizing Ivy Day activities, and composing the class ode. He also took time to pursue other interests including taxidermy and the outdoors. He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and was elected to the honorary fraternity Phi Beta Kappa.

After graduating as a civil engineer, Peary worked as the town surveyor in Fryeburg, Maine. In he moved to Washington D.C. to work for the Coast and Geodetic Survey and in joined the U.S. Navy Civil Engineers Corps. It was in this capacity that he began work on the Inter-Oceanic Ship Canal Project, charged with exploring the interior of Nicaragua. Although a canal was never built across Nicaragua, Peary's assignment proved crucial to his later career in the Arctic. It increased his appetite for exploration and while involved in this project, he hired Matthew Henson, the African American who would prove indispensable in Peary's Arctic work.

In the 's Peary made several trips to Greenland, twice accompanied by his wife Josephine. During those years he established the northern limit and insularity of Greenland and determined that the "American route" to the Pole, via Ellesmere Island, was much more viable than a Greenland route. He also recovered three large pieces of an iron meteorite from Cape York, Greenland, including one weighing 75 tons. (see Cape York Meteorite)

With the building of the Roosevelt in , Peary was able to sail further into Arctic waters. Though he did not reach the Pole on the expedition, he did establish a new Farthest North. On July 6, , under the guidance of Robert Bartlett, the Roosevelt returned North and in the