Matthew Alexander Henson: Robert E. Peary's Discovery
Matthew Alexander Henson was born on August 8, 1866 in Charles County, Maryland. His parents were sharecroppers, but at the young age of 12, he became an orphan. He then ran away to Baltimore to work as a cabin boy on a ship. This is where he became an amazing sailor and learned all about exploration.
Henson was 21 when he first met Robert E. Peary. Peary was an excellent explorer, engineer, and Lieutenant for the US Navy, and he was looking for someone to help him on his expedition to Nicaragua to look for a spot to build a canal across Central America. Henson was able to make himself very useful on this journey to Peary since he had learned so much about exploration during his early life. After proving himself valuable, Henson was able to
join Peary on many more explorations. They went on their first Arctic Journey together in 1890, and were able to cross Greenland and Canada. With their skills, they were able to survive the frigid weather conditions, and learn from Natives how to dogsled and hunt. During this time, Henson had his only son with a native, but he never played a major role in his life. In 1909, Peary’s crew left Greenland and started their journey to the North Pole. On April 6, 1909, Henson and Peary succeeded in becoming the first people to ever reach the North Pole along with four Eskimos. After achieving reaching the Pole, Henson wrote a book in 1912 about his journey called A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. Writing books about discovering the Pole made Peary disturbed since he wanted to get all the credit, not Henson. Henson was also elected a member of the exclusive international Explorer’s Club in 1937, and he was rewarded with many medals including a gold medal from the Chicago Geographic Society. On March 9, 1955, Henson died in New York City.
Henson was 21 when he first met Robert E. Peary. Peary was an excellent explorer, engineer, and Lieutenant for the US Navy, and he was looking for someone to help him on his expedition to Nicaragua to look for a spot to build a canal across Central America. Henson was able to make himself very useful on this journey to Peary since he had learned so much about exploration during his early life. After proving himself valuable, Henson was able to
join Peary on many more explorations. They went on their first Arctic Journey together in 1890, and were able to cross Greenland and Canada. With their skills, they were able to survive the frigid weather conditions, and learn from Natives how to dogsled and hunt. During this time, Henson had his only son with a native, but he never played a major role in his life. In 1909, Peary’s crew left Greenland and started their journey to the North Pole. On April 6, 1909, Henson and Peary succeeded in becoming the first people to ever reach the North Pole along with four Eskimos. After achieving reaching the Pole, Henson wrote a book in 1912 about his journey called A Negro Explorer at the North Pole. Writing books about discovering the Pole made Peary disturbed since he wanted to get all the credit, not Henson. Henson was also elected a member of the exclusive international Explorer’s Club in 1937, and he was rewarded with many medals including a gold medal from the Chicago Geographic Society. On March 9, 1955, Henson died in New York City.