Nonfiction MARCEL JANCOVIC/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (DOGS)
4 STORYWORKS SEE OUR BEHIND- THE-SCENES VIDEO AT STORYWORKS DIGITAL Matthew Henson helped discover the North Pole. It would take many years for the world to discover him. By Lauren Tarshis | ARt by randy pollak UP CLOSE Author’s Purpose As you read, think about LOOK FOR WORD NERD’S why the author wrote this article and what she 7 WORDS IN BOLD wants you to know about Matthew Henson.
t was April 3, 1909. An American Kingdom of Ice explorer named Matthew Henson Matthew Henson was born in 1866. In was trudging across the Arctic those times, people rarely traveled more Ocean. This was an ice-covered land than a few miles from where they were born. of brutal cold and blinding blizzards. There were no airplanes zooming across NoI person could survive here for long. Even oceans. There were no cars or Google Maps. polar bears stayed away. Parts of the world were still unknown. But Henson was excited. In a few days, One place in particular remained he hoped to achieve his dream of being unreachable: the North Pole. It sits in the one of the first people to set foot on the middle of the Arctic Ocean, which is mostly North Pole. covered in floating ice. The closest land is Henson put his head down and pushed Greenland, an island more than 500 miles against the fierce wind. Suddenly, he lost away. his balance. The ice beneath him wobbled, The native people of Greenland, called and he tumbled into the ocean. The the Inuit, did not dare go near the North frigid water hit his skin like millions Pole. They believed the area was cursed by of needles. a demon that lived under the ice. And the The water seemed to grab him and Arctic is indeed cursed—by weather that is pull him down. Henson had spent nearly colder and stormier than almost anywhere 20 years trying to get to the North Pole. on Earth. And now it seemed it would all end here, In the 1500s, European explorers began in the icy blackness of the Arctic Ocean. sailing into the “kingdom of ice.” They
STORYWORKS.SCHOLASTIC.COM • FEBRUARY 2020 5 the world.He learnedtoread on aship.Hensonsailed around as acabinboy—thelowliest job convinced ashipcaptain tohirehim hoping togetajobas sailor.There,he common throughoutAmericaatthetime. American, hefacedcruelracismthatwas Henson wasanorphan.AsAfrican up inWashington,D.C.Bytheageof13, much abouttheArcticwhenhewasgrowing A chanceMeeting explore theArctic. these dangers,adventurersstillwantedto dropped to60degreesbelowzero.Evenwith who escapedsoondiedintemperaturesthat of icethatdriftacrosstheArctic.Sailors them. Theirshipswerecrushedbythickslabs Passages. to Asia—theNorthwestandNortheast searched foroceanroutesfromEurope 6
STORYWORKS At 13,hewalked40miles toBaltimore, Matthew Hensonprobablydidn’thear More than100mendiedtryingtofind mashed meat,berries, meals ofhardbiscuits survival foodinvented by Nativepeople.It’s and slow-cookedfat. You would’veeaten made ofdriedand and pemmican,a how tobuild.They’renotvery You would’vesleptinigloos, blocks ofpackedsnowthat warm, buttheyprotectyou round sheltersmadefrom the Inuittaughtexplorers from theharshweather. If you’d been an Arctic explorer . . . experience atsea.Heoffered Hensonthe Fierce Ambitions He waslookingforacabinboy. expedition toajungleinCentralAmerica. Peary wasgoingonaNavy engineer intheU.S.Navy. Robert Peary,andhewasan into thestore.Hisnamewas store. stocking shelvesinahat job Hensoncouldfindwas wouldn’t hireAfricanAmericans.Thebest job. Butmostwhitebusinessowners Washington, D.C.,andlookedforagood and becameaskilledsailorcarpenter. Peary wasimpressedbyHenson’s One day,atallmancame At age18,Hensonreturnedto job. Ofcourse,Henson wascapableof far more.Butheaccepted Peary’s and history. offer. Littledidheknow howthis decision wouldchange his life— mouth would’vemadeyou dangerously cold.Forthe and ice,meltingitinyour Arctic iscoveredinsnow whole trip,youwould’ve You would’vebeenvery thirsty. Althoughthe drunk warmtea. RobertPeary
ILLUSTRATIONS BY STEVE.STANKIEWICZ; PHOTOCELL/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (PAPER); ANA-MARIA TEGZES/ SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (PEMMICAN); ISTOCKPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES (IGLOO, TEA); AP IMAGES (ROBERT PEARY) If you’d been an Arctic explorer . . .
You would’ve You would’ve You might’ve gotten traveled using worn clothes frostbite, which is sledges (extra- hand sewn by when your skin and sturdy sled) loaded Inuit women. A the tissue underneath with hundreds of fur jacket with a freeze. Severe frostbite pounds of supplies. thick hood, polar can make the affected Each sledge was bearskin pants, area go numb, harden, pulled by several and sealskin turn black, and die. strong dogs. boots stuffed with grass kept you warm.
Peary had great ambitions. As a white Blubber and Blood man, he had many chances to make his Henson and Peary set sail for Greenland dreams come true. And Peary had big in June 1891 with four other men and Peary’s dreams. More explorers were racing to be wife, Josephine. One month later, they the first to reach the North Pole. The came ashore and set up camp near winner of this race would become a bay. As planned, the ship sailed famous. Peary decided that man away. It would return in one year should be him. to pick them up. When he and Henson returned They had made it to the from Central America, Peary began Arctic. But they were still 700 planning for a yearlong trip to northern miles from the North Pole. Getting Greenland, the land closest to the North there would mean weeks of trekking through Pole. He wanted Henson to come along as killing cold and harsh blizzards. his “manservant.” To survive, they would need help from Peary knew how much more Henson Arctic experts: Inuit people. The Inuit were could do. On the Central American trip, skilled ice fishermen and hunters of arctic Henson had taken on difficult jobs, working animals like seals, walruses, and polar bears. alongside Navy engineers. But Peary would They did not waste a single scrap of an never see past the color of Henson’s skin. animal. They ate the meat and blubber and No matter what Henson did, he was never often drank the blood. They made clothes treated as an equal. from skins and furs and carved bones into Henson must have been embittered by tools. this unfairness. But he couldn’t say no to a The team spent the first months in
ESPEN SOLVIK KRISTIANSEN/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (BACKGROUND); BERKSHIRE MUSEUM/ART EVANS (SLEDGE, FUR OUTFIT); IMAGES & STORIES/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (FROSTBITE) chance to see more of the world. Greenland, where they prepared food and
STORYWORKS.SCHOLASTIC.COM • FEBRUARY 2020 7 Henson and Peary’s
Final Polar l e i r c c C t i Expedition r c (1908-1909) A Arctic Ocean North Pole Henson and Peary’s final sled trail Cape Columbia
GREENLAND H enson a n d P e ar y’ s B oa t R ou te
CANADA
Pacific Atlantic Ocean Ocean
UNITED STATES New York
other supplies. Peary hired Inuit women to disasters. They got lost in blizzards and sew them fur clothing and sealskin moccasins, nearly starved. which didn’t freeze and split open in the cold On one trip, Peary’s feet became so like leather boots did. frostbitten that eight of his toes snapped During this time, Henson began to make off. Peary would have lost both his feet, friends with the Inuit people they met. Unlike but Henson pushed him back to camp on a Peary, Henson learned their language and sled—a journey that took 11 days. joined their celebrations. Henson’s Inuit Even with all these troubles, Peary friends taught him how to hunt and ice fish. became famous. Newspapers ran stories They taught Henson to drive a dogsled pulled about his daring adventures. Henson by a team of eight dogs. No other American was rarely mentioned, except as Peary’s or European explorers had these kinds of “manservant.” skills. Yet Henson was determined to get to the Pole. And in 1909, on their blizzards and Frostbite sixth trip to the Arctic, it seemed In the coming years, Peary and their dream was about to come Henson would make five more trips true.
to the Arctic. They faced many near On April 3, they were ILLUSTRATIONS BY STEVE.STANKIEWICZ; SHUTTERSTOCK.COM (PAPER)
8 STORYWORKS pushing across the ice. Henson was From the leading the way along with four Inuit Shadows men. They were about 150 miles from In the l e i r c c C the North Pole. following years, t i r c A Henson was Minutes from Death admired by many Arctic Ocean But then came the moment when African Americans. But North Pole Henson and Peary’s final sled trail Henson slipped and tumbled into the frigid history books mostly ignored Henson’s Cape Columbia Arctic waters. Death comes within minutes achievements and those of most nonwhite in water that cold. Muscles turn to knots. people. Henson lived a quiet life in New GREENLAND Blood slows. Vision blurs as the brain York City with his wife, Lucy. His niece, H enson a n d powers down. Henson was just hours Olive Henson Fulton, once told classmates P e ar from achieving his dream. But he was that her uncle Matthew was a famous y’ s B oa sure he was about to die. Arctic explorer. Her teacher punished her t R ou te And then with a sudden for lying. whoosh! he flew up out of the By the time Henson died in 1955, water. One of the Inuit men had America was changing. African Americans CANADA grabbed Henson, were fighting for equal
Pacific Atlantic saving his life. rights. In the 1960s, Ocean Ocean Three days new laws made it later, Peary, illegal to treat someone
UNITED STATES Henson, and differently based on New York the other men all race. The achievements reached the North Pole. of African Americans Henson planted the began to rise out of American flag in the history’s shadows. snow. In 1988, Matthew When they returned Henson’s body was to America, it was Peary moved to Arlington who got sole credit for National Cemetery, the “discovering” the North burial ground of many Pole. Peary took his place of America’s heroes. alongside Ferdinand The gravestone says: Magellan and Marco Matthew Polo as one of history’s Alexander Henson Henson’s gravestone at famed explorers. Arlington National Cemetery Co-Discoverer of the North Pole. n WRITE TO WIN Imagine a statue honoring Henson is being built in your town. Write a brochure for visitors, telling what he achieved and why he didn’t get the credit he deserved. Send it to “Henson Contest” by April 1, 2020. Ten winners FIND A SKILL will each receive Onward by Dolores Johnson. See page 2 for details. BUILDER
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