Editing Frederick Cook (section)

=== Summit of Denali ===
[[File:Fakepeak.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Alleged photo of [[Denali]]'s summit, now known as [[Fake Peak]]]]
In 1903, Cook led an expedition to [[Denali]], during which he circumnavigated the range. He made a second journey in 1906, after which he claimed to have achieved the first summit of its peak with one other expedition crew member. Other members, including [[Belmore Browne]], whom Cook had left on the lower mountain, immediately but privately expressed doubt. Cook's claims were not publicly challenged until 1909 when the dispute with Peary over the North Pole claim erupted, with Peary's supporters claiming Cook's Denali ascent was also fraudulent.

Unlike [[Harry Karstens]] and [[Hudson Stuck]] in 1913, Cook had not taken photographs from atop Denali. His alleged photo of the summit was found to have been taken on [[Fake Peak|a small outcrop on a ridge beside the Ruth Glacier]], {{Convert|19|mi|km|abbr=}} away.<ref>Bryce, R. (1997). [http://www.dioi.org/vols/w73.pdf "An aerial photograph by Bradford Washburn"]. ''DIO''. '''7''' (2). p. 40.</ref>

In late 1909, Ed Barrill, Cook's sole companion during the 1906 climb, signed an affidavit saying that they had not reached the summit. In the late 20th century, historians found that he had been paid by Peary supporters to deny Cook's claim. (Henderson writes that this fact was covered up at the time, but Bryce says that it was never a secret.)<ref>[http://www.dioi.org/vols/w93.pdf ''DIO'']. '''9''' (3). p. 129. note 18.</ref> Up until a month before, Barrill had consistently asserted that he and Cook had reached the summit. His 1909 affidavit included a map correctly locating what came to be called [[Fake Peak]], featured in Cook's "summit" photo, and showing that he and Cook had turned back at the "Gateway" (north end of the Great Gorge, i.e. adjacent to [[Mount Barrille]]), 12 horizontal bee-line miles from Denali and {{Convert|3|mi|km|abbr=}} below its top.<ref>Bryce, R. (1997). [http://www.dioi.org/vols/w73.pdf ''DIO'']. '''7''' (2). p. 57.</ref>

Climber [[Bradford Washburn]] gathered data, repeated the climbs, and took new photos to evaluate Cook's 1906 claim. Between 1956 and 1995, Washburn and Brian Okonek identified the locations of most of the photographs Cook took during his 1906 Denali foray and took new photos at the same spots. In 1997 Bryce identified the locations of the remaining photographs, including Cook's "summit" photograph; none were taken anywhere near the summit. Washburn showed that none of Cook's 1906 photos were taken past the Gateway.<ref>Compare rock-by-rock the left side of Cook's 1906 "summit" photo to the corresponding parts of the 1957 photo by Adams Carter and Bradford Washburn. Photos juxtaposed in Bryce, R. (1999). [http://www.dioi.org/vols/w93.pdf ''DIO'']. '''9''' (3). p. 116. Compare also the background features in Cook's "summit" photo versus those in his own photo taken a few minutes later (towards the same direction) from the top of Fake Peak: Bryce, R. (1997). [http://www.dioi.org/vols/w73.pdf ''DIO'']. '''7''' (2). figure 4 versus figure 18; detailed-blowup comparisons in figures 6 and 8.</ref> 

A 1910 expedition by the Mazama Club reported that Cook's map departed abruptly from the landscape at a point when the summit was still {{Convert|10|mi|km|abbr=}} distant. Critics of Cook's claims have compared Cook's map of his alleged 1906 route with the landscape of the last {{Convert|10|mi|km|abbr=}}.<ref>Bryce, R. (1997). [http://www.dioi.org/vols/w73.pdf ''DIO'']. '''7''' (3). pp. 96–97.</ref> Cook's descriptions of the summit ridge are variously claimed to bear no resemblance to the mountain<ref>{{cite book | title = The Dishonorable Dr. Cook: Debunking the Notorious Mount McKinley Hoax | first = Bradford | last = Washburn | author-link = Bradford Washburn |author2=Peter Cherici | year = 2001 | location = Seattle | publisher = Mountaineers Books | oclc = 47054650}}</ref> and to have been verified by many subsequent climbers.<ref>Henderson (2005), p. 282.</ref> In the 1970s, climber Hans Waale found a route that fitted both Cook's narrative and descriptions.<ref>[http://www.dioi.org/vols/w73.pdf Bryce (1997) ''DIO''], p. 73.</ref> Three decades later, in 2005 and 2006, this route was successfully climbed by a group of Russian mountaineers.<ref>[http://www.shparo.com/Cook/Cook_main.htm "Following the traces of Dr. Frederick Cook"], SH Paro.</ref>

No evidence of Cook's purported journey between the "Gateway" and the summit has been found. His claim to have reached the summit is not supported by his photos' vistas, his two sketch maps' markers, and peak-numberings for points attained.<ref>Bryce. (1997). ''DIO'' pp. 60–61.</ref> Similarly, neither his recorded compass bearings, barometer readings, route-map, nor camp trash support his claim of reaching the summit. In contrast, evidence in all of these categories have been found short of the Gateway.<ref>Bryce, R. (1999). [http://www.dioi.org/vols/w93.pdf ''DIO'']. '''9''' (3). pp. 124–125.</ref>