<div class="description">
<ul><li><b>Scope and content:</b>  Explorer Robert E. Peary was obsessed with becoming the first person to reach the North Pole. Peary claimed that he and his party reached the North Pole on April 6, 1909. Doubt was cast on this claim almost immediately. Some experts maintain that Peary may have missed the Pole by as much as 50 miles, while others disagree. Individuals seeking to verify Peary's claim are drawn to his own records of the polar expeditions. During his earlier polar expeditions, Peary devised a relay system of crossing great distances over the ice: trailblazing parties would carry provisions, forge a trail, build igloos, then turn back at varying intervals, enabling the main party to travel faster and lighter. This diary entry reflects the obsession that drove Peary for more than 23 years.</li>
<li><b>General notes:</b>  Exhibit History: "American Originals," December 1996 - December 1997, National Archives Rotunda, Washington, DC, Exhibit No. 624.0143.</li></ul></div>
<div class="fn value">
Robert Edwin Peary, 1856-1920, Author (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://research.archives.gov/person/1136809">NARA record: 1136809</a>)<br></div>
6 April 1909<div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1909-04-06T00:00:00Z/11</div>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._National_Archives_and_Records_Administration" class="extiw" title="en:U.S. National Archives and Records Administration">U.S. National Archives and Records Administration</a>