The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1909-09-14
Original Expedition Was
For Both Hunting and
Exploring Purposes.
Good Weather Enabled
Discovery of Pole-Wis-
dom In Westerly Course
By JOHN R. BRADLEY.
Who Paid Cost of Cook Expedition to the
North Pole.


n 10y voyage to the north to start
|" DR.. +. A. Cook on his trip to
the pole was my first expert
ence In the arctic regions,
though all my life | had longed to go
there and get a shot at polar bear,
walrus or musk OK DR.. Cook, who
had become a noted arctic explorer,
and | had talked over such trip. and
the relation of his experiences in the
far north had stimulated my desire to
seek similar adventure. DR., Cook
urged me to accompany him, but 1t
was not until after my trip to Mon
golia in 1906 that saw my way clear
to do SO. We made our plans and de-
cided TO start early in the summer of
1907.
The first step was to secure suit
able vessel. bought a Gloucester
| fishing schooner of III tons and had
her reftted, putting in gasoline en-
CINE and having her sheathed above
and below the water line with three
inches of the best white oak, with
her to withstand the pressure of the
pack ice We rechristened her the
John r. Bradley. and engaged Cap
tain Moses Bartlett, who had been first
officer of the Roosevelt, Peary's arctic
| ship, to navigate her with crew Of
Newfoundland f1chorpon
A Boat on Runners.
! For hunting purposes | had boat
4 specially built which could also be
\ dragged over the ice on runners should
this become necessary. She was twen-
ty-seven feet long and fitted with a
ten horsepower gasoline engine. the
whole weighing less than 1000 pounds.
I We stocked the vessel with provisions
sufficient to last thirteen men for two
years.
Before. we started DR.. Cook asked
l me If l would not like to make a dash
for the pole. Such project had not
occurred to me. and told him | knew
/ very little about polar exploration, but
I consented to provide everything that
could be needed on such trip and to
allow DR. Cook to remain in the north
through the winter and make dash
for the pole next summer IL the condi-
lions seemed favorable.
Everything being ready, we sailed
from Gloucester. We touched at Bat
tie Harbor, Labrador. and then crossed
Davis strait to the coast of Greenland.
which we slxirted as far north as Sisco.
Just before reaching this little port
] our propeller had been disabled by the
ice, so we put In and beached the ship
for repairs. These completed. We sailed
for Melville bay. where l expected to
find some bears.
To Cape York For Dogs.
We pushed into the field as far as
| possible and saw bears a-plenty, but
could not get near enough for shot
I They were on huge foes of ice. and
/ before could get within range they
always diyed into The water and got
away. We had no Eskimo dogs. so we
could not hunt them in the way the
natives do. This decided us to get
some dogs. for which purpose re sailed
/ for Cape York. where We knew there
i was an Eskimo settlement.
1t took us seven days to reach Cape
York. for we were nipned by the ice
twice and were obliged to cut our
way out And when we did reach
there 1t was impossible to get ashore
I as the coast was icebound and the
weather was stormy. So we kept on
north until we reached North Star
bay, where we fred guns to attract
the natives. These Immediately put
out to the ship. padding the little
canoes they call kayaks. and In less
than an hour we had on board the
entire population of the town, con-
| sisting of thirty-f1ve Eskimos, men,
women and children They were a
healthy and evidently well fed lot
Here enjoyed some excellent walrus
shooting for three days From there
we sailed for Etah. Peary's winter
quarters. touching on the way at sew
eraI settlements. where we had more
good sport. From the hills back Of
Etah we obtained fine view over
Smith sound. In which there appeared
to be very little Ice.
| The Most Northerly People.
i DR.. Cook. the first mate and / left
the ship at Etah and went across
Smith sound In the motorboat. We
travelled as far as The most northerIy
Eskimo settlements. which are in 20
degrees north latitude and among
these most northefly people We spent
several days. DR. Cock being able to
talk TO the natives IN their own Ian.
guage and meeting several old friends.
The greater number of these people
returned to Etah with Gs. They had
dogs enough for any purpose. so every
thing was favorable fer i dash to the
pole. They had. however. already
cached their winter supply of focd. 50
we helned them TO lay In another SIM