University Relations 202 Eielson Fairbanks, Alaska 99775-7520
(907)474-7581 Fax (907)474-6492
fynews@uaf.edu
VERDICT IS IN ON COOK’S CLAIM TO BE FIRST ON MCKINLEY
Fairbanks, Alaska — A three-judge panel in Fairbanks today released a decision following the Feb. 3 hearing at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to determine the validity of Dr. Frederick Cook’s claim to be the first to climb Mount McKinley.
Cook’s claim has been rejected in a majority opinion which found “clear and convincing evidence” that Dr. Frederick A. Cook did not reach the summit of Mount McKinley.
Mountaineer and explorer Bradford Washburn, former director of the Boston Museum of Science, asked that the hearing be held so evidence on both sides could be weighed. Cook claimed that in 1906 he ascended North America’s tallest peak, but Washburn and others have dismissed the notion. Washburn, the first man to climb Mount McKinley three times and a recognized expert in the aerial mapping of the peak, says photographs allegedly taken by Cook at the summit of McKinley were fakes.
The judges today agreed, saying none of the photographs in Cook’s 1907 “Harper’s Magazine” article, or his 1908 book “To the Top of the Continent” were taken above 6,000 feet. The majority on the three-judge panel also found that evidence presented by Washburn at the hearing, “has established that Dr. Cook did not reach ‘the top of the continent’ as claimed.”
-more-
Representatives of the Cook Society declined invitations to participate in the hearing. Fairbanks attorney Bob Groseclose presented information on behalf of the Frederick Cook Society.
Superior Court Judges Ralph Beistline and Jay Hodges based their decision today on “Cook’s inaccurate description of the summit, mis-captioned photographs, including the fake peak, and the failure of Dr. Cook to correct or explain those errors in his lifetime.”
They found no photographic or real evidence that Cook was above 6,000 feet in September of 1906, and noted Cook’s failure to mention the side trip to the area of the “fake peak.” They said that although lawyer Bob Groseclose presented material favorable to Cook’s case, “Dr. Cook’s proponents did not present any information to the panel.”
District Court Judge Charles Pengilly focused his opinion on the decision by the Frederick A. Cook Society not to send a representative. Pengilly said that if the panel had the authority to compel representatives of the society to attend, and they refused to do so, “the underlying controversy is resolved against the defaulting party with absolute authority.” However, the panel did not have this authority and Judge Pengilly said “the case should be dismissed”
Although rejecting Cook’s claim to be the first on McKinley, Hodges and Beistline did acknowledge Cook’s other accomplishments in the area, “particularly the first circumnavigation of Mount McKinley in 1903 and reaching a height of 11,000 feet.”
The hearing was sponsored in part by UAF’s history department, Northern Studies Program and the Denali Foundation. The 40-page decision by the judges will be printed and available to the public in two weeks.
-30-
CONTACT: Northern Studies Graduate Student Mike Sfraga, at (718) 376-8673 through Feb. 22; at UAF Student Services, (907) 474-7317, after Feb. 22.