April 3, 1909

    It was a cold day as we were making our way to the North Pole for the seventh time. I remember it so well, it came with it’s ups and downs. The snow and ice seemed to stretch on forever, my toes were freezing, it was the most challenging journey i’d ever faced. Ever since I was little I had wanted to explore the North Pole. There I was so close to achieving my dreams.

During  Journey

     It was going fine until I slipped into the water as I felt my muscles tensing up, and my body started to panic. On our way to the North Pole, we had met some Inuit people that I had become close friends with over time. Peary choose to keep his distance and I was kind of mad at him for that. One of the Inuit’s was Ootah and he saved me. All of a sudden, he scooped me up out of the water, I was safe!

At North Pole and After

     Finally, we made it to the North Pole before anyone else, so relieved all our efforts paid off. I was so honored to be the one who place the American flag in the snow. When we got back, everyone praised Peary for finding the North Pole and gave him awards while I rarely got awards because I was known as his manservant. This was so unfair I put in just as much effort and passion if not even more. In American history books I was forgotten so much that when my niece said the I was a famous explorer she was punished for lying! 

My years are coming to and end and I hope that someday America realizes what good African Americans have done for this world and how bad they have treated us.

It is now April and I just got word from Peary that he wants me to come along his next trip. Peary decided that his next trip will be to the North pole as he wants to be the first man to reach it. From the information I’ve gathered so far, he wants me to tag along as his “manservant”. It's now clear to me that Peary would never treat me as an equal. But that doesn’t matter to me, I’m going to prove him wrong. 

It's now June, still 1891. Peary, four men, his wife Josephine and I just set sail for Greenland. In about one month we will come ashore and set up camp. We would then be in the “kingdom of ice”. The issue is, we would still be about 700 miles from the North pole. So before we head out in the ferocious blizzards, we are going to visit the Inuit,  the Arctic survivalists. They are the most skilled fisherman and hunters of the arctic.              

  I saw a young white man about my age saunter into my store. He looked like he really needed something so he picked up a winter hat. Once he got to the counter is said “Sir-”, “Robert Peary please,” he interrupted. “That would be $.50 cents.” Then we just started talking about the adventures we want to fulfill and the dreams that we want to pursue. Peary wanted to be the first man to reach the North Pole. Peary then saw my skills and experience as a boater and he hired me. After a couple of months of planning and working, we decided to head for Greenland and start our mission from there. We did this twice but failed to reach the North Pole. I remember one time when we were crossing Greenland we saw thousands of penguins. They are really a sight to see. This time we are taking a different route and plan to succeed on our travel to the North Pole. 

June 20th, 1891

 

     In the past few weeks, we have gotten a group of Peary, his wife Josephine, and myself to be the first ones to explore and reach the North Pole. Now we are on a big boat sailing us around Greenland to the Arctic Circle. The captain said that he would pick us up in year’s time. This was my dream and I was so close but not there yet. We knew the igloo`s we were to sleep and eat in were five miles apart. After about two miles we saw a man with a big fur cloak run up to us. He said his name was “Ootah,” and that he and his tribe were called the “Inuit`s”. He was very kind to us so I told him my name and that we were coming to reach the North Pole. Clearly he has seen many people try and fail to do so because he started smiling. We followed him to a beautiful, gigantic igloo were the Inuit people taught us survival skills. Maybe this slowed us down a bit but It was all worth it. Now we had allies, food,  a dogsled, and skills in case of an emergency. Also, four of there men Seegloo, Egingwah, Ooqueh, and Ootah the man I became very close with are joining us on our journey to the North Pole.

June 24, 1891

We have been walking for a couple of days now. My arms were as numb as a rock. My toes were as frozen as a popsicle (SIMILE). Everything was cold but I knew that we just had to keep going If this dream was going to happen. When we stopped at the third igloo earlier tonight there were hard biscuits and tea which was different from the past two igloo`s we have rested at. The fire, as small as a mouse, is dimming so I better stop writing, but I am so curious about what tomorrow brings (SIMILE).

July 30, 1891

It has been over a month since we left that ship. I miss my wife and my other life at home. I sincerely hope everything is going well in America. Today we used the dog sled. The dogs ran as the other passengers and I sat on the sled. We needed a break because of the days of walking behind us. The few things that I have learned after just walking one mile is that the ice caps are hug, the snow stings your skin and the water is frostbite cold.

August 8, 1900

Today was my birthday but to top that off we weren’t at home to celebrate. On my birthday a few years back before the expedition, my wife would always make me a lemon cake as big as a bakery cake, with the sweetest homemade buttercream frosting (SIMILE). But my “special treat” was pemmican and really warm sweet tea. Pemmican is hardened, dried meat that we ate sometimes. We nearly starved for a month. I hope that never happens again but saying that would be dreaming too high.  

September 16, 1908

Today we are about 100 miles away from the North Pole. I am so happy we are almost there. One time last month, Peary`s toes became soo frostbitten that eight of them snapped right off. He could have lost his whole foot! 

April 3, 1909

Today we were moving faster than ever across the ice. Until I fell into a big ice hole. The ice-cold water was dragging me down and with the heavy coat I had on, I could not move. “My life was ending right here,” I thought. The next thing I knew was a pair of arms tugging on me and loud screaming from above. Ootah, the Inuit man I had become close with had saved me! Once I was out of the water I stayed there for a few minutes, gasping for air. I was so glad I was alive, just thinking of what my family would think if I was dead. I could have been If Ootah saved me less than a minute later. We were 150 miles away and I was so close but not there.

April 20, 1909 

I remember planting the American flag in the frozen snow, feeling proud and accomplished. I am proud to be the “first man to reach the North Pole”. This was my dream and I was there! Everyone flopped on the ground because of how tired we were. This adventure took us years. Now we have to walk for two months to the boat destination. This was by far the most challenging experience I’ve ever faced. 

June 20, 1909

“I see the boat!” I yelled. We said goodbye to Ootah and the other Inuit men. They had helped us so much and had saved my life. As I boarded the ship I felt the heat for the first time in years. I was so happy to be able to eat something and take a warm shower. We rested for hours on end, nurses took care of our wounds and frostbitten parts. It seemed like I was dreaming. When we returned I had forgotten about segregation. On the adventure to the North Pole, we didn’t care at all. I had not received an equal amount of credit the world gave Peary. I was forgotten in American history books, so when my niece claimed that I was a famous explorer the teacher punished her for lying. “I hope that one day people realize the good that African Americans have done”

-Matthew Henson

 

   

April 6th, 1909. Excitement. The camp is bustling. Well, all five of us. We set up the Chronometer and the Sextant and discovered that we were really thirty miles from the North Pole. That is a good day's journey, but we can make it.

August 1st, 1909. I have not written in so long that I must record the adventures. This is from the last entry, in short. When we reached the North Pole, I planted the flag. We had our picture taken, and then we headed home. When we reached America, we came home as heros. Well, Peary did. I was mentioned as his “manservant”. However, just being in that moment was enough. I plan to settle down in New York with my wife. When I came home and Peary got all the credit, it looked like she had a white hot fire burning in her eyes. (SIMILE) She settled down after a while, though. Now I am writing from the bedroom and eating a small lunch. So, that is my tale of the Arctic adventures.

                    ~A few months later~

My captain, whose name was Robert Peary and I later entered the ice cap of Greenland and figured out it was an island. There we met a tribe called the Intuit People. I quickly mastered their language and they taught us how to make igloos and what to hunt for and eat in the arctic. The food they made was delicious! In 1897 we found 3 huge meteorites and sold them to a museum to fund our next expedition. In 1902, we tried 5 more times to reach the North Pole but didn’t succeed. With the money from the meteorites, Peary bought an ice cutting ship called the Roosevelt. It helped us get farther, but we were still 174 miles short of the topmost part of the world. We were so close, yet so far.

 On March 1st, 1909 Captain Peary, twenty-two other men, 130 dogs, and myself set out on the Roosevelt to go to the North Pole. We got to Greenland and then Peary divided the twenty-two other men into five teams, with Peary and I the sixth team. We used a system of men going a certain amount of miles and built an igloo and then turned back for the next team to go and finally, On April 6th, 1909 we were the first people to reach the top of the globe! WE WERE ALL SO HUNGARY WE COULD HAVE EATEN A POLAR BEAR. (HYPERBOLEZ) Our whole team was so happy!   

Today, me and my partner Robert Peary are going to make our last trip to what we think might be a new area that has never been found before. The journey in this place has been gruesome. I am eating a hard biscuit and one pemmican, and to water that down im drinking some hot tea. Usually, the hot tea would be nice at home, but I have grown sick of it here for the past days. For the past few days of being in this place, I have gotten frostbite multiple times. My toes feel like ice blocks almost always. 

After the exploration

The snow infinitely long and it was harsh. We found today is what we think could be the spot, I brought the American Flag to post in what we are going to call the “North Pole.”  I was on my way back to the igloo for the night in a great mood knowing that my dream had come true. On the way, I slipped and fell as my body started to panic. The ice old water was dragging me down and I could not take it anymore. My arms were numb as a rock. Thankfully the Inuit Man I became close friends with rescued me out of the water. 

 

2 Months later

My dream was to go down as a successful explorer. My dream was so close but not there. I had not received the  equal amount of credit that the world gave Peary just because of my race. I hope that one day people will realize what good African Americans have done. 

Sorry that I haven’t written in a long time. I’ve been busy preparing for the first trip to the Arctic we’re making. It is kind of exciting that we might be the first people to the geographic North Pole, but also kind of scary because of how many people die trying to get there. I truly think we will be the first people there, but I know of the risk and the reward and I am ready. That’s all for now, we’re about to leave for the North Pole.

I haven’t written for a while because nothing interesting happened on the ride here but now that we’ve settled in we have met these people called the Intuits. These are the native people who just today taught me how to icefish hunt and build igloos like the one I’m in now. It’s not the most comfortable or warm but it certainly is more protecting than whatever else we had planned.  I think that Peary only wanted the Intuit as employees where he paid them to give him stuff but I think I am going to try to be friends with them. That’s all I can do, for now, I need to get a good nights sleep for tomorrow, Bye. 

This is going to be the best week. After almost dying about 100000 times (Hyperbole)we are finally going to make it. We are going to be the first to the North Pole. Peary got some of the men to build supply igloos all the way, and now we are going to take almost a week to get through starting tomorrow. One week later, We did it! We were the first to the geographical North Pole, I am still excited even I probably won’t get as much recognition as Peary will. The way I think it’s about the adventure, not the reward.

I have been working with Robert Peary for quite a while now, and we have discussed that we are going to try to be the first people to touch the North Pole. We are going to leave in a few weeks. No one has ever reached the North Pole. Some people don’t even believe it exists. A few years ago we had discovered Greenland was an island, and WE FOUND THREE GIANT METEORITES THAT WERE AS BIG AS ELEPHANTS(SIMILE) in the Arctic ice. We went and sold them at the American Museum of Natural History. The money we got from that is going to pay for our trip to the North Pole. This trip is definitely going to be one to remember. 

-a couple of years later-

1906

The first attempt to reach the North Pole didn’t succeed. Peary and I have decided to try to go to the North Pole again. I don’t really remember why we couldn’t make it to the North Pole, but I’m sure we can make it this time. We have a new ice cutting ship called “The Roosevelt” that will be able to take us far. Maybe if we are lucky it will take us very very far. It could take us farther than any human has been before. We had started running out of food in the middle of our expedition. So, we had to turn back and go home. The second attempt was better than the first but not good enough. We might try again, but Peary is get old so it might not happen.

-a few years later-

March 1,1909
Peary and I had discussed it and we are going to attempt to reach the North Pole for the last time. This time there were twenty-four men (including us), and 130 dogs. We had ran into TONS OF PROBLEMS (HYPERBOLE) along the way. We were about half way there when we had to plan. We had decided to split into six different groups, and every group had to build an igloo and leave a food and water supply for one day in each igloo. After the fifth group had made the igloo and left supplies, Peary and I had a five day dash from one igloo to another. The plan worked, and we made it to the North Pole! After our long journey on April 6, 1909, after many measurements we were officially the first people to reach the North Pole. 

-some time after-

Peary was honored with many awards within a short amount of time after it was confirmed that they had reached the North Pole. I wish they had acknowledged me like they did Peary, but it's fine.

    Now I am the 19-year-old capable young man thing. Well maybe not the best of the bunch, but I can hold my own with the other sailors. I can do most of the work on the ship, and I bet I could caption one. It helps that I also learned how to become a carpenter, so when I leave I will find a great job. I am going back to Washington D.C, so if I don’t find a job those employers must have good reasons for that. My stuff is ready, and I am super pumped to find out what the world of work has to offer, I love traveling on this boat so if other jobs do this I will definitely get one. The only problem, I always get treated worse because of my skin.

     Alright sorry book, I couldn’t write in you while I kept trying to get a job! Those Jim Crow laws, I can’t get any of the good jobs. There are so many good and open jobs that those white businessmen have overlooked me for. I cant travel, use my talents, or try anything else to get a decent life among other people in this country. The segregation has forced me to get a job in a hat store. The only hat I want is a pirate hat, a cowboy hat, or one with a huge feather. I already helped stock goods on a ship, and hang up hats and coats. I could be jumping from tree to tress like Tarzan in that book from 1912, or being a swashbuckling master. I have the skills to do so much more at the age of 19.

     Hello old book, the year is now 1950. I was looking back on old things I used back in the days before the North Pole was on my to-do list. Oh, how I was wrong back then the sheer luck of me writing this right before I met Peary. Why I look back on those days fondly now. They were so simple, why I would have easier tasks than everyone on the boat because of my low rating but get the same food and water as them. While I did more work than most cabin boys, I never moved up the ranks so work never got worse. I was also lucky when all those men turned me down if I wasn’t rejected and put in that hat shop. Well, I would never have met Peary, let alone gone as his cabin boy. I don’t regret any part of what happened back then, and I never will.

     The captain of the ship died, which put me out of a job. I went around asking for jobs, but no one would hire me because of my skin. After I finally found a job restocking shelves, A man named Robert Peary asked me to help him find the North Pole. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I accepted the job and can't wait to travel around the world.

     We failed to make it to the North Pole twice, but this time we have a plan. There are teams who will leave supplies for us at different camps so we can make it to the North Pole. The final team just left, and we are on our way to the North Pole! I was walking across ice when I fell into the freezing water! IT FELT LIKE I HAD BEEN IN THERE FOR HOURS(Hyperbole), but I got pulled out. After I recover, we will continue the journey. We are now at the North Pole and Peary is checking if we are really here. I FELT LIKE I HAD A TON OF CANDY(Idiom). It has been confirmed that we are at the North Pole!

~8 months later~

Father died and now my 3 sisters and more are living in an orphanage.Life has been sad since my parents have died. One day I want to adventure the world and sometimes I imagine that the orphanage is like a jungle adventure.

~10 years later~ 

        Life has been an emotional roller coaster for me.Like when I went to sea for a couple of years. Lots of ups and downs but soon I will be going to The University of Harvard. I can’t wait to get there and study.

~4 years later~

One day, I’m working at my hat shop  and a man by the name of Robert Peary approaches me and tells me about his adventures. He said he likes my knowledge and offers to take me on one of his expeditions. Can’t wait to go.

~18 years later~

      Back from one of the greatest adventures ever. I became the first person on the North Pole. All of my team were at least 40 minutes behind. I am also a great example for an African-American that we can do anything. That’s all for today.