The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1910-03-02
STORY OF HOW DR.. COOK
SCALED" MOUNT M'KINLtY
Delegate From Alaska Gives a
New Version Of Alleged
Famous Exploit.
FACTS ARE JUST MADE PUBLIC

Washington. March Back in the
fall of 1903 / was holding court at
Valdez. Alaska" said James Wicker
sham, who IS the delegate from Alas
ka to the house OF representatives. At
the time referred to he was United
States district judge for the territory
of Alaska. "In returning to my home
after court one day." continued Judge
Wickersham, 81 was told that man
was waiting to see me. He proved
to be a short stockily built man, with
light hair and pale blue eyes. He said
he was DR. Frederick A. Cook. DIR.
Cook had just come out of the Mount
Mckinley country. Learning that
had spent some time trying to reach
the summit of that mountain, he came
to see me. had spent the months of
May. June and July of that year in
a futile effort to reach the top of this
mountain.
During our pleasant conversation
DIR. Cook questioned me closely about
my experiences. He suggested finally
that / should write up the story of my
trip TO Mount Mckinley and send it
to him in the East, with my photo
graphs, etc. He said he would cause
my story and his to be published He
was very ingratiating, and I proved TO
be a sucker. ] did not know DR. Cook
then as well MS do now, and in view
of his letters from the Geological Sur
vey, data and other papers he had
took him for what he seemed to be.
There was nothing to indicate that he
was a simon pure faker. I was not
seeking a reputation as a mountain
climber and / knew that he was. AS
he wanted to spread interest in the
Alpine beauties of Alaska / was will
ing to aid him in any way / could.
thought II was very nice of him. espe-
cially as I had an interest in acquaint-
ing the world with that part of the
country.
"As I said before, being simply n
Judge and with no desire to pose as a
mountain climber, / complied with his
request l wrote a story of my ex-
perienccs in clinlning about 1000 feet
up the 20,000-foot mountain. / sent
this to DIR. Cook along with some very
handsome photographs my party had
taken. OF course my story was never
published. but he published some of my
pictures i'm his magazine articles, and
never even mentioned the fact that
was on earth He took the credit for
making the pictures himself No, |
did not say anything about it. / did
not want any controversy with him.
There is picture hanging there
which is one of those which he de-
Wickersham pointed to an enlarged |
and handsome photograph of the gla-
cial heights of Mount Mckinley 1t |
was hanging on the wall of his COM
mittee-room in the office building of
the house of representatives.
you will find an exact duplicate OF
that picture" he continued "in one of
DIR. Cooks magazine articles on his
Mount Mckinley experience. In one or
two magazine articles written by
other members of the Cook party
mention was made of this incident. |
DR.. Cook. however, never referred to
the fact that he had my narrative and
photographs and that l gave to him
practically the only map of that coun-
try he had.
Our party got up between ten and
eleven thousand feet toward the top
of Mount Mckinley. / have no doubt
that DR.. Cook got as high as we did.
We were successful, although we did
not get much more than half way to
the summit. We spent sixty days on
the job and during all that time we
slept in the woods on the mountains
wherever we happened to be at night.
We did not see white man nor
house of any kind. We were i'm will
derness where there was absolutely no
trail where white men had never been
before. We could always see the great
mountain and we were guided by
that"
what stopped you?"
"Precipitous walls. We followed n
stream until we struck the big gla-
cier After that further progress was
rendered impossible"
do you think 1t possible for any
one TO reach the top of Mount
McKinley?"
'T do not" was the emphatic reply.
IL know that could never reach il and
don't believe anyone else could. l
also know that Dr. Cook did not get
there. at least in 1903. He does not
claim TO have reached the top i'm his
second attempt, which was in 1906.
No one who knows anything about the
conditions there has the slightest hesi-
fancy in denouncing xhis claim az
false"