1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:08,039 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Lately, we have seen seemingly infinite headlines about 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:12,080 Speaker 1: the discovery of the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance, 3 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:16,760 Speaker 1: and I was extremely confident that we already had an 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:21,119 Speaker 1: episode on Shackleton. It seems, though, that we do not. 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: He does come up a couple of times, and our 6 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:26,760 Speaker 1: episode on the Race to the South Pole, though that 7 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: came out on September, and this episode is from previous 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,160 Speaker 1: hosts Katie and Sarah. And although Race to the South 9 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: Pole sounds like it might describe a fun adventure, parts 10 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: of this race really did not go well. So this 11 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: episode includes references to numerous deaths of both animals and people, 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: including deaths by suicide. And we are working on a 13 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: Shackleton episode, although with our production schedule it'll be just 14 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: a bit before it comes out. So maybe this one 15 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: will tide folks over on the Shackleton curiosity until that 16 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: is done. We hope everyone enjoys it. Welcome to Stuff 17 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: You Missed in History Class, a production of My Heart Radio. Hello, 18 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Katie Lambert and I'm 19 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,840 Speaker 1: Sarah Dowdy. And some say that the only frontier that 20 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 1: we have left to explore is space, But Sarah and 21 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: I were talking about it earlier, and we think the 22 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: depths of the Ocean should be at the top of 23 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: that list instead. You do kind of have to argue 24 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: for that though. There aren't that many places left on 25 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: Earth to explore, and it's been that way for at 26 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:40,560 Speaker 1: least a hundred years or so. By the time we 27 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: get into the twentieth century, there's not really that much 28 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: out there that we have no clue about, or at 29 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: least not stuff that's very easy to reach. But in 30 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: nineteen o nine, Robert Peary announced that he'd reached the 31 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: North Pole. So all those young men keen on making 32 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: the history books realize that they to adventure elsewhere, and 33 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,520 Speaker 1: these roving explorer eyes had to settle on something else. 34 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: The natural choice the South Pole. Yeah, so we have 35 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: two big players in our South Pole story. One is 36 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 1: Robert Falcon Scott. One rolled Almondson. And it's interesting because 37 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: there's gonna be one man here whose whose name is 38 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: forever linked to the South Pole, and one who people 39 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: don't even really know much about. And it's not what 40 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: you might think as far as the winner and the 41 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:35,079 Speaker 1: loser go. So let's talk a little bit more about 42 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: these two guys. Robert Falcon Scott was a British naval 43 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 1: officer who had participated in another Antarctic expedition on the Discovery, 44 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: which was nineteen o one to nineteen o four with 45 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:49,960 Speaker 1: Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson. They tried to reach the 46 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,639 Speaker 1: South Pole, but their dogs died and they almost died too, 47 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 1: so that went really well. And our other player, Rolled 48 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: Almondson is actually named Rolled Ingolbrick Governing Almondson, so that's 49 00:03:03,320 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: there was a valiant try. So that's my attempt at Norwegian. 50 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: So yes, this is obviously a Norwegian explorer. And Almondson 51 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: has also had his shot at Antarctica before though he 52 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: was first mate on an expedition there, and in nineteen 53 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: o three he commanded the first single ship to make 54 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 1: it through the Northwest Passage, which if you've listened to 55 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: anything we've said about the Northwest Passage, or if you've 56 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: read my article about exploring the Northwest Passage, you know 57 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 1: that that is a very impressive feat. Indeed, people forever 58 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: to make it all the way through. But more importantly, 59 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: on his travels he learned as much as he could 60 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: from the Canadian Inuits on how to survive in polar weather, 61 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: which will come in handy when you're traveling to the 62 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: South Pole. So, as we mentioned, Perry reached the North 63 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: Pole in nineteen o nine, or at least he announced 64 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: that he did. Nowadays, we're not actually so sure if 65 00:03:57,760 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: he did make it when he said he did. But 66 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,440 Speaker 1: at the time the man had the spotlight and he 67 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: was American, which made it worse in the eyes of Scott, 68 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: who was quoted as saying, what matters now is that 69 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: the South Pole should be attained by an Englishman. Yeah, 70 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: but Perry reaching the North Pole also throws Almondson for 71 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:18,000 Speaker 1: a loop because he had been planning a North Pole track, 72 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: So hey, what's the point if somebody else has already 73 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: done it first, That's what they're thinking. They're not really 74 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: appreciating the full extent of what you can learn from 75 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,360 Speaker 1: going to these places. So Scott had already been planning 76 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: this South Pole trip and Almondson knew it, so he's tricky. 77 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: He tells everyone that he's still going to the North 78 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: Pole when he sails from Oslo in June. Scott leaves 79 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:45,039 Speaker 1: twelve days after him from Wales and Almondson didn't even 80 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: tell the men on his own ship that they were 81 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: going to the South Pole instead of the North until October. 82 00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 1: I'm going to say he's pulling into pole in here, 83 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: going to Egypt. And he tells Scott about it in 84 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: a rather cryptic telegram that read beg leave inform you 85 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,840 Speaker 1: proceed ing Antarctica. And even though it was rather unclear, 86 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,160 Speaker 1: Scott said, Almondson is acting suspiciously in Norway. He avoided 87 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: me in every conceivable manner. Let me say it right out. 88 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: Almondson was too honorable to tell me lies to my face. 89 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: It's the pole he is after all right. So Scott 90 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 1: knows that the two of them are in a race, 91 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 1: as on the other races on. So Almondson sets off 92 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: on the from with some very experienced sled dog drivers, 93 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: which is going to come in handy scott ship is 94 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,919 Speaker 1: called the Terra Nova, and his aim isn't just to 95 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: reach the South Pole. He also does want to make 96 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: some contributions to science. Sorry if I if I suggested 97 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: otherwise a minute ago, but he wanted to collect specimens 98 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: and bring back information about the rocks and the minerals 99 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:50,360 Speaker 1: and the animals and possibly plants, if any exists in 100 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: this extreme environment that people have very little idea about. 101 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,239 Speaker 1: So he brought twelve researchers with him on his ship, 102 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 1: and one fantastic stickley named grad absolutely Cherry Gerard paid 103 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 1: to join them. I think that could be a house 104 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 1: to works freelance now I'm putting on my possible baby 105 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:11,920 Speaker 1: names list. Almondson, on the other hand, brought a lot 106 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: of sled dogs, but Scott, after this dying dog expedition 107 00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: the Discovery, decided that ponies and man holds sledges were 108 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: a better idea, which is mystifying to me because it 109 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: seems like you would make it as difficult as possible 110 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: a man hauling, you know, eight hundred pounds over hundreds 111 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: of miles in these steep glaciers. Mistake. I think this 112 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: might be a new podcast theme to bringing really inappropriate 113 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 1: transport on your long, arduous expedition Champagne so far happens 114 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: over and over. So Almindson plans to use dogs to 115 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: help transport everybody. You know, he's got experience with them 116 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:51,400 Speaker 1: after all, But he also plans to eat them along 117 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: the way, which I don't think Scott would like that 118 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: very much, as an Englishman, you know, it was below 119 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: him certainly wouldn't like that idea, But uncivilized it is. 120 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:02,839 Speaker 1: You know, if we look at it practically, and we 121 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: look at it, you know, considering the reality of what 122 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:09,479 Speaker 1: it's like in Antarctica, it's a practical idea. It made 123 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: sense for Ahmindson. So both ships arrived at the Ross 124 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: Ice Shelf in January nineteen eleven and set up their bases. 125 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: Scott called his Cape Evans and it was at McMurdo Sound, 126 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: and Almondson set up his at Wales Bay, which he 127 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:28,760 Speaker 1: called Fromheim. And the crucial difference was that Almondson's base 128 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: was almost ninety miles closer to the pole. But lest 129 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: you think that this is Scott being stupid, which you 130 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: might think a couple of times in this podcast, Shackleton 131 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: had already taken this route, the one that he was 132 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,240 Speaker 1: planning on taking before, right, so it was at least 133 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: a little bit better known to him, and he thought 134 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:56,800 Speaker 1: that might be an advantage. Now we get to the 135 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 1: preparation point because they've made it, but it's obviously too 136 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: close to Antarctic winter to set approaching for the poll. 137 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: So Antarctica has two seasons basically summer and winter. But 138 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: since they Doe has cold and one is Gold is 139 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: a lot colder. Since they do have a little bit 140 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: more of these warmer summer months left, they have a 141 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: little time to start preparing for this big truck they're 142 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 1: going to be doing later. So since this route was 143 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: so long, Almondson's men start setting up supply routes. They 144 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: travel by their sledges pulled by dogs. Um, you know, 145 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,400 Speaker 1: up a little ways, set up a supply depot, come back, 146 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,439 Speaker 1: go even further next time, set up a supply depot. 147 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:44,199 Speaker 1: So they'll have these depots along their future route before 148 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,760 Speaker 1: this you know, terrible way taking a long high exactly, 149 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: and there's no time to go back. They'll need this 150 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: along the way. And they also set up near some 151 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:54,079 Speaker 1: ice caves so they'll they'll be able to still work 152 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: on stuff even in the worst weather. Scott tries to 153 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: do this too, but he's working with the ponies, not dogs. 154 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: And guess what, Ponies don't really do that great in snow. 155 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,840 Speaker 1: Dogs are faster and they're not as quick to freeze, 156 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 1: and honestly, Scott should have brought more of them. And 157 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: when someone suggests that they used the ponies to feed 158 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,079 Speaker 1: the men or the dogs. Scott says, the ponies are 159 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 1: our friends. I'm not going to kill them, my little pony, 160 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: which is yeah, it's it's sad right now, it gets sadder, 161 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:30,199 Speaker 1: but some of the ponies die anyways, they're just not 162 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: suited to these temperatures. Well, and the Brits didn't even 163 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: bring the right clothes. They brought wool versus the reindeer 164 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: and seal skins that the Norwegian team brought, because of course, 165 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,679 Speaker 1: Almondson had learned from the Inuits and realize, hey, they 166 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 1: don't starve or freeze to death, so let's quit being 167 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:50,560 Speaker 1: so snooty and listen to what they have to say, 168 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: which again, uh, Scott and his men thought might be 169 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: a little beneath them. So scotsmen may have been dressed 170 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 1: in wool, but they also had a pretty hefty supply 171 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: of opium pills and also cigars. This is again kind 172 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:11,360 Speaker 1: of like the Champagne Safari, bringing things that foi gras 173 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: do not need your truffles, you probably don't need thirty 174 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:19,080 Speaker 1: five thousand cigars on and their supply depots during the 175 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 1: styme aren't quite set up as well as Almondson's are 176 00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,959 Speaker 1: they've got one one ton depot with a black flag 177 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:27,680 Speaker 1: to market, because you know, that's really easy to spot 178 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: when you're snow blind. Just this, this little black flag 179 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: in the middle of nowhere. So now we enter the 180 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:39,960 Speaker 1: waiting period. Preparation has ended. It's winter, and it's just 181 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 1: weeks and weeks and weeks of complete dark, like as 182 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: in no light at all, and of course it's extremely cold. 183 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: So you have to find something to entertain yourselves to 184 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: keep from getting cabin fever and going totally nuts. So 185 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 1: how would you do it, Sarah if you were in 186 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: Scott's expedition, Well, if I were in Scott's exhibition, I'd 187 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:04,599 Speaker 1: be watching movies and reading books and listening to the gramophone, 188 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 1: maybe reading some poetry, painting, having interesting intellectual discussions with 189 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: my peers. Or maybe you would adopt an Emperor Penguin 190 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: chick like Wilson did um or learn to make a 191 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:21,040 Speaker 1: lovely seal consume with the rest of your expedition. Which 192 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 1: these do sound like pretty good ways to avoid cabin fever. Unfortunately, 193 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: they aren't the most practical things to be doing, because meanwhile, 194 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: at their camp, the Norwegians are working on maintaining their equipment, 195 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 1: maintaining their dogs, keeping up their health. They had their 196 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,840 Speaker 1: eyes on the prize. So on September eight, Almondson decides, 197 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: let's do this. It's warm enough, the winter's finally ending, 198 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 1: he thinks, So he takes eight guys and eighties six 199 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,160 Speaker 1: dogs out, but they do have to turn back a 200 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:53,680 Speaker 1: bit when it becomes too cold and foggy. They're stuck 201 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 1: at a supply depot for a while. Um and they 202 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:59,679 Speaker 1: make it forty five point five miles in nine hours, 203 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:03,280 Speaker 1: which is so much faster than Scott can do with 204 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:07,439 Speaker 1: ponies and man hauled sledges. Dogs are definitely the way 205 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: to go. I wonder how you'd get the lot to 206 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:13,840 Speaker 1: be the man haled hauled sledge driver. I don't know, 207 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: but I don't want it. And as a side note, 208 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: during this time this journey occasioned a quarrel, some say 209 00:12:19,640 --> 00:12:23,640 Speaker 1: a mutiny from one of his men. Johanssen and Almondson 210 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 1: dismissed him and basically erased his record with the expedition 211 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 1: when he came back like just wouldn't even acknowledge that 212 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:33,560 Speaker 1: he'd ever been there, and uh Kalmar Johansson later committed 213 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: suicide mostly because of that. Yeah. So by October we 214 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: have the Norwegians finally heading back out again. This time 215 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:46,680 Speaker 1: they have five men, four sledges and fifty two dogs, 216 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: and they get pretty nice weather for Antarctica. At least 217 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:53,720 Speaker 1: they make it and there a head of schedule, and 218 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:57,679 Speaker 1: Almondson plants the Norwegian flag at the poll on December seventeenth, 219 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,840 Speaker 1: nineteen eleven, and he writes in his journe so we 220 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 1: arrived and we're able to plant our flag at the 221 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: geographical South Pole. God be thanked. And they make it 222 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,199 Speaker 1: back to their Bay of Wales base at the end 223 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 1: of January nineteen twelve. They covered seven d eighty nine 224 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:17,960 Speaker 1: miles in ninety nine days, and to Tasmania on March seventh, 225 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:21,439 Speaker 1: nineteen twelve, where they can announce their big win. So 226 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 1: Norway had triumphed over Britain, but no one knew yet 227 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:30,200 Speaker 1: what had happened to Scott's expedition. So let's go back 228 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 1: to our man catch up with Scott. So he leaves 229 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: later than Ahmudson two weeks. It doesn't sound like very long, 230 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 1: but it's a crucial amount of time that puts his 231 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 1: return journey right in the middle of a particularly awful winter, 232 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:48,640 Speaker 1: and the motor sledges break pretty quickly. The ponies keep them, 233 00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: only going about five and a half miles a day, 234 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:56,640 Speaker 1: and they switched to those awful sounding man hauled sledges. Finally, 235 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 1: two ponies fall through the ice and our eaten by 236 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: killer whales, which I mean, I don't think you could 237 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 1: make that up. That's a kind of the craziest part 238 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:09,839 Speaker 1: of the jorn I read that in a Wall Street 239 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: Journal story by Mark Yost, and I wrote it all 240 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:14,599 Speaker 1: in caps on my outline, although I do have to 241 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: say I think I screwed up the chronology a little bit. Uh. 242 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 1: The motor sledges broke at the beginning of their journey 243 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 1: and not at the end, so they were already pretty 244 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: tired by this point, and by December thirty one only 245 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:36,960 Speaker 1: five of the men were left. The others had all 246 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: returned to bays Or to a supply deep How we've 247 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: got Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Oates, and Evans, and Scott finally 248 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: reaches the Pole January, and there he found a letter 249 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: to the King of Norway from Amondson asking Scott to 250 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,520 Speaker 1: deliver it to the King to let him know crushing 251 00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 1: he'd gotten there, and told him he could use any 252 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:02,640 Speaker 1: of the applies that he left, and he wished him 253 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: a safe return. Readers truly read the letter. It's it's 254 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 1: just so so just imagine this guy finding this after 255 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: all the trouble he's gone through. Okay, So, dear Captain Scott, 256 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: as you probably are the first to reach this area 257 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: after us, I will ask you kindly to forward this 258 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 1: letter to King hakon the seventh No idea If I 259 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: said that right, if you can use any of the 260 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: supplies left in the tent, please do not hesitate to 261 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:33,680 Speaker 1: do so. I wish you a safe return, yours truly. 262 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: So they do use the supplies, but what a crushing 263 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: disappointment for the brit heartbreak. Scott writes the poll. Yes, 264 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: but under very different circumstances from those expected. Great God, 265 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 1: this is an awful place and terrible enough for us 266 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: to have labored to it without the reward of priority. 267 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: So now they would have to make this grueling return 268 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 1: journey without even the prospect of this vic Horrius trip home, 269 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: which isn't a great place to be psychologically. But you know, 270 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:07,640 Speaker 1: at least they collected some rocks on the way back, 271 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 1: they weren't in as much of a hurry as they 272 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 1: should have been. They decided, if they weren't first anyways, 273 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: well bring some stick around and you know, pick up 274 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: more heavy things to put on their man holes. Sledge 275 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: is clearly unstuck on that old sledge thing. But the 276 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 1: weather had gotten much much worse, and this Arctic winter 277 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,040 Speaker 1: was even worse than it was, of course in the summer, 278 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: but this one was particularly bad, according to the records 279 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: that we have, probably somewhere in the negative forties or 280 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 1: negative fifties fahrenheit, and the men were probably starving. They 281 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: were working at as fast a pace as they could manage, 282 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: but they were nearly out of food, so they're cleric 283 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 1: intake is not going with the energy expenditure. Need a 284 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: lot of energy to haul the sledge too, And it's 285 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: also possible that they had scurvy, but that's a point 286 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:57,040 Speaker 1: of debate. So the first man to die was Evans. 287 00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: He had fallen behind, and when they finally went back 288 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,800 Speaker 1: to check on him, he was very disoriented and said 289 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:05,639 Speaker 1: that he'd fallen and he went into a coma and 290 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: died in February. But the next is perhaps the best 291 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: known oats, and he was already severely frost bitten and 292 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: exhausted and starving in on his thirty second birthday, which 293 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,159 Speaker 1: was March seventeen, he said to the men, I'm just 294 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:24,720 Speaker 1: going outside and maybe sometime, which is probably again the 295 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:29,440 Speaker 1: most quietly heartbreaking the British thing you could say too. 296 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,240 Speaker 1: And so he thought that they might have a better 297 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:36,680 Speaker 1: chance at survival without him, And Scott writes, Oates died 298 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: like a good Englishman. And so we have three left, 299 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:44,000 Speaker 1: and they're hit by yet another blizzard, and this one 300 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:47,639 Speaker 1: lasts for nine whole days, and they're out of food, 301 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,920 Speaker 1: they're freezing. You know, they're in this like light tent 302 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 1: kind of contraption, hardly anything to weather a blizzard. In 303 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:59,840 Speaker 1: that they're only eleven miles from one tund it for 304 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,640 Speaker 1: straining that would take Almondson and those dogs like half 305 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: an hour probably, So they're only eleven miles away. But 306 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: they know they're going to die. And Scott writes a 307 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: final letter home to eleven letters. Actually this is the 308 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 1: one that he wrote to the British people. We have 309 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:21,159 Speaker 1: shown that Englishmen can endure hardships, help one another, and 310 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 1: meet death with as great fortitude as ever in the past. 311 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,640 Speaker 1: And then we have an excerpt his last diary entry, 312 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: which was March. Every day we have been ready to 313 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:34,639 Speaker 1: start for our depot eleven miles away, but outside the 314 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: door of the tent it remains a scene of whirling drift. 315 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:39,560 Speaker 1: We shall stick it out to the end, but we 316 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far. 317 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: It seems a pity, but I do not think I 318 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,919 Speaker 1: can write more. And that is the last thing that 319 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,760 Speaker 1: Robert Falcon Scott ever wrote. So their bodies are found 320 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: in November nineteen twelve, along with their writings and the specimens. 321 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: They had collected thirty five pounds of rock. So yeah, 322 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 1: that weight on that sledge unfortunate. But people are moved 323 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: by how these men died, and the public raised seven 324 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: million dollars for their families, according to a New York 325 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: Times article by Edward Rothstein, and Scott left behind a 326 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: little baby and a wife, and his widow is actually 327 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,560 Speaker 1: given the knighthood that would have been bestowed upon him 328 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,920 Speaker 1: had he lived. And people were so enamored with this 329 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:31,200 Speaker 1: romantic tragedy that Amindsen's triumph was overshadowed despite it being 330 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 1: this huge accomplishment because Scott's story is simply more interesting. 331 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: Almondson was incredibly capable and efficient, but you know, he's 332 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,879 Speaker 1: just missing that certain genesee quaw that Scott had. Everything 333 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: went went perfectly with his mission. It's there's after you 334 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:49,919 Speaker 1: run through the details of what happened, there's there's not 335 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: much more to tell. Or perhaps his reputation just has 336 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: a dearth of cigars. And we should note that while 337 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: Scott's expedition may be argued to be a spectacular failure, 338 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,760 Speaker 1: the scientific aspect of it was successful. That thirty pounds 339 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:06,679 Speaker 1: of rock meant a lot, because we learned quite a 340 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:10,399 Speaker 1: bit from all of their observations on glaciers and the 341 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: mapping they did, and all those specimens they collected, including 342 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:18,960 Speaker 1: that little Emperor penguin chick. So my introduction to Captain 343 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: Scott was in a fat amans ex libris, which if 344 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,920 Speaker 1: you haven't read it, please please go by it. It's 345 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,920 Speaker 1: not a book about polar expeditions. It's about the love 346 00:20:28,960 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: of books and what she calls her odd shelf, the 347 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: one that's home to all of your strange obsessions, and 348 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 1: for her, it's polar expeditions and the romance of the 349 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: failed but gallant British explorers, and it was from fat 350 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:45,639 Speaker 1: Amon that I knew. Scott's literary picks for the journey 351 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:50,880 Speaker 1: were Russian and Polish novels, chilly novels well Oates preferred 352 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 1: a five volume work on Napoleon's campaigns in Iberia, and 353 00:20:55,000 --> 00:21:03,600 Speaker 1: Wilson was a lover of Tennyson. Thanks so much for 354 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: joining us on this Saturday. Since this episode is out 355 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: of the archive, if you heard an email address or 356 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: Facebook U r L or something similar over the course 357 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,520 Speaker 1: of the show, that could be obsolete now. Our current 358 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:19,840 Speaker 1: email address is History Podcast at i heart radio dot com. 359 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: Our old how Stuff Works email address no longer works, 360 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: and you can find us all over social media at 361 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: missed in History and you can subscribe to our show 362 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:32,399 Speaker 1: on Apple podcasts, Google podcast, the I heart Radio app, 363 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: and wherever else you listen to podcasts. 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