no COOK IN THE ANTARCTIC AND IN ALASKA 



From where they stood the world seemed stretched before them. 

 Miles and leagues they gazed, over mountain peaks, on the plain 

 below with its silver-threading rivers, out upon the distant Pacific 

 and Bering Sea. Here Dr. Cook took his final photograph, one of 

 Barrille standing on McKinley's broad peak, with the American 

 flag lashed to his axe. 



A record of their achievement and a small flag were placed 

 in a metallic tube and this put into a protruded nook a short distance 

 below the summit. There it remains for those to find who follow 

 Cook and Barrille to the summit. This done, their steps were turned 

 downward and what had been almost impossible difficulty became 

 comparative ease. Yet it took them four days to reach their base 

 camp and breathe the lower air once more. Here their boat awaited 

 them and their return to the realms of civilization was quickly 

 achieved, the bold explorer being greeted with an enthusiasm which 

 was a foretaste of the supreme reception which has since been 

 accorded him. 



While Dr. Cook did not present conclusive scientific proofs 

 that he had accomplished all he claimed on this expedition, his nar- 

 rative was not aggressively questioned until his return from the 

 Arctic Circle in 1909. Then rumors were circulated that he had 

 not scaled the summit. Barrille, the guide, made affidavit that the 

 tale was a fraud and reiterated his charges in Cook's face at Ham- 

 ilton, Montana, while the doctor was on his tour of lectures regard- 

 ing the North Pole Discovery. Subsequently a committee appointed 

 by the Explorers' Club of New York reported that it had found 

 Dr. Cook's claim to have ascended Mt. McKinley to be without 

 foundation. 



