Polar Pathways: Robert E. Peary's Arctic Expeditions
1905- Leaving Etah: Exceeding Expectations
A stunning view of the deck of the Roosevelt
“Leaving Etah soon after midnight of August 16th, the Roosevelt swung out from the harbour of Etah and severed all communication with the civilized world. Below decks the ship was filled with coal until her plank sheer was nearly to the water; on deck were more than two hundred Eskimo dogs; and on the top-gallant forecastle, and the tops of both forward and after deck houses were over half a hundred Eskimos, men, women and children, and their belongings.
"The heavy pack ice surging down Smith Sound, past Littleton Island, gave me an opportunity to see what good work the ship could do and as we bored through it toward Cape Sabine, she realized my expectations in regard to her, even though very deeply loaded and her boiler power reduced to one-half. The sharply raking stem was a revelation even to me, though it was my idea. Deep and heavy as the ship was, she rose on the opposing ice without pronounced shock, no matter how viciously she was driven at it, and either split it with the impact, or wedged it aside by sheer weight.”- Robert E. Peary in Nearest the Pole, published in 1907
"Deck view of S.S. Roosevelt from Mast Head" by Donald Baxter macMillan, 1908-1909, Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum Collections
