Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-17
COMPANIONS SAY
COOK COULD NOT
CLIMB M'klNLEY
THREE MEN WITH DOCTOR
MAKE AFFIDAVIT
FOURTH PERSON DECLARES AS
CENT IMPOSSIBLE
Forestry Service Official Insists Ex-
plorer Could Not Have Reached
Summit of Mountain In
Time He Claims
tBy Associated Press. ]

tBy Associated Press.l
! nj EW YORK, Oct 16-Four more
! v affidavlts were made public here
a today in connection with the in
vestigation of DIR. F. A. Cooks expedi-
tion to Mount Mckinley.
Three of them are by members of the
Cook party-Fred Printz, a guide; Wal
ter Miller, photographer, and Samuel
! Bereher. Their testimony relates in
detail to movements Of the party, ex-
planning that Cook and Barrill were
| alone together at the period in which
| DR.. Cook says he reached the summit
of Mount Mckinley. All three say that
| Barrill assured them later DR.. Cooks
story was false.
The fourth affidavit is that of DR..
John E. Shore, a physician of Leaven-
worth Wash. who tells of a conversa-
tion with Oscar L. Blankenship of the
| United States forestry service in which
Blankenshp said DIR. Cooks claims TO
having climbed Mount Mckinley were
false, inasmuch as the feat was i'm
! possible in the short time during which
Barrill and Cook were absent. Blank
enship was located near Mount McKin-
ley at the time DIR. Cooks expedition
was there.
Printz' Affidavit
The affidavit of FFed Printz, the
guide, is dated October T. 1t says at
the time of DIR. Cooks alleged ascent of
the peak he and several others had
been sent on a side trip to hunt speci-
ments for the Smithsonian institution.
| The affidavit continues:
Then the doctor picked up Dokken
for, cook, and taking Barill left in the
launch for Shustna station. From
there he said they were going up Shu-
stna, up the Culitna and up the Toxic
sitna to the head of navigation to eX-
plore the country for the route to
Mount Mckinley.
MILLER and | returned to Shusitna
station September IL, where the doctor
joined us with Barill September p,
saying that they reached the summit or
Mount Mckinley.
From there we left for home. On
leaving the doctor at Seward he prom
ised that part of my pay for the sum-
mer would be at Seattle for me, but
on arrival there and not finding it l
borrowed money to get home on, and,
having written the doctor several
times since for the amount due, have
received $100, leaving a balance of
$S25 due me at this date.
"In about one month after Barrill
and 1 returned home from our trip
with DIR. Cook in 1906 Barrill laughed
and told me he and DIR. Cook never
got to the top of Mount Mckinley"
Mlller's Affidavit
Walter P. Miller in his affidavit says
he was with Printz on the side trip
during the time in which DR.. Cook
says he went to the summit of the
mountain. His testimony continues;
"Dr. Cook and Barrill took the
launch and went down the Yetna, an
nouncing their intention of ascending
the Shusitna, the Schuletna and eX-
/ 11l,O ry1aa n
possible route for future attempts to
ascend to the top of Mount Mckinley
Printz returned to the Shusitna sta
ton. September % we met DR.. Cook
and Barrll at the station, and thence
we all came together to Seward.
"I was called east by Henry Disston
of Philadelphia, the hacker of the ex-
pedition, to whom I related all the
circumstances of the trip.
80 far as 1 am advised, Barrill is
the only man who has personal knowl-
edge as to whether or not Dr. Cook
ascended to the summit of Mount Nc
Kinley.
I'm May, 1908, I met Edward N
Barrill at Missoula, Mont. He then
informed me for the first time that he
and DR.. Cook had never reached the
summit of Mount Mckinley. 1 then
said to him, Where were your when
he remarked, we were only on the
first ridge this side of the mountain
l asked him about his picture shown
over over opposite page 227 in DR..
Cooks book, and he replied, That is
my picture, but that is not the top
of the mountain"
Bereher's Affidavit
The affidavit of Samuel Bereher
after describing the early experience
of the party, tells of trip which he
and several other members of the
expedition took from their base
camp" He said: July % we reached
our nearest point to the mountain,
the point being, as r. w. Porter said,
fourteen miles from the summit. On
this trip we were mapping and taking
observations of the country.
"At our last camp the elevation was
in the neighborhood of 5000 feet, and
from that point l could readily rec
ognize all the pictures shown by Dr.
Cook in his magazine article on the
ascent of the mountain with the eX-
ception of the pictures shown as being
the summit and the one on page $50,
which are such as might have been
taken at elevations of 5000 or 5000 feet.
pictures that / recognized could
not have been taken at an elevation
of above 1000 feet.
"The point located by Edward Bar
ril as being the point claimed as the
top of Mount Mckinley from my po.-
sition had an apparent elevation of
approximately 1000 feet.
"From our camp 1 had view Of
nearly the whole route as stated by
Edward Barrill. I was present at all
times when Mr.. Barrill made his affi-
davit of even date herewith, and all
the facts stated in his affidavit cow
ering the period 1 was with him are
correct.
"From my point of view I recognized
all the points mentioned bv him, and
from my knowledge Of the conditions
I as existing there it would have been
1 impossible for the climb of the noun
tain to have been made in the time
as claimed by Or. Cook.
1.-THE reason for my making this ar
fidavit Is not from any personal ami
mostly or i'll will against DR.. Cook
but from a sense of justice to the
public" ,
John F. Shores testimony follows;
"During the summer of 1907 l was
CONTINUED on Page SiKl