88 COOK'S PREPARATION 



succeeded in establishing for himself a practice of the profession in that 



city. 



As a surgeon of the Peary expedition, in 1891-92 at the age of 26, he 

 first identified himself with the work of arctic exploration. On this expedition 

 he was the first scientist who devoted special attention to the studies of the 

 arctic highlanders. 



In 1894 he organized the famous Miranda expedition of sportsmen, 

 scientists and explorers. Though the Miranda never returned from this 

 trip. Dr. Cook won fame for himself through an incident of the expedition 

 when their ship was disabled at Sukkertoppen, by leading the party safely 

 through a perilous trip in an open boat to Holsteinberg, where they obtained 

 relief. Later he shared with the late Captain Dixon of the Gloucester 

 schooner Riegel, the arduous duty of the return voyage. 



In September, 1897, Dr. Cook was honored by the appointment to the 

 post of surgeon of the Belgian antarctic expedition. Two years after he had 

 joined the ship at Rio Janeiro to assume his new position he returned with the 

 party all in good health and with the loss of only one man. He had performed 

 the unique feat of leading the crew safely throught the first antarctic night. 

 For this service he received gold medals from the Geographical Societies of 

 Belgium and was given the rank of chevalier from King Leopold. Dr. Cook 

 later published the narrative and a resume of the scientific work of this expe- 

 dition in a volume entitled "Through the First Antarctic Night." 



As surgeon of the Peary "Erik" auxihary expedition in 190 1, Dr. Cook 

 'revisited the scenes of his northern work of ten years before. A year later 

 he married IMiss INIary Hunt in Brooklyn. 



On October 3, 1906, just three years after he led the first expedition to 

 attempt the approach and ascent of the unknown Mt. McKinley in Alaska, 

 he satisfied his ambition and reached the summit of the unexplored mountain, 

 20,464 feet above the surface of the Pacific Ocean. Dr. Cook's was the first 

 ascent of this mountain on record, and he achieved success only after repeated 

 failures and many thrilling adventures," which he described in his book, "To 

 the Top of the Continent." 



A member of the party that accompanied Cook to Mt. McKinley has 

 described some of the incidents of the trip, as well as Cook's bearing on that 

 occasion. Says this man: 



"He was a quiet man and did not talk much and was not given to boasting 

 of his deeds. I have been with him for weeks at a time among the mountain- 



