During his 1899 expedition to reach the geographic North Pole, Robert Peary reached Fort Conger, only to have several toes snap off at the first joint because of frostbite. Bedridden for weeks while recuperating, Peary wrote on a wall, "Inveniam viam aut faciam" ("I shall find a way or make one."), the words Hannibal had allegedly said before crossing the Alps. Later they became an inscription on the monument over Peary's grave at Arlington National Cemetery.