Cairns

One of the cairns erected by Robert Peary in 1909.

This photo is a closeup of the cairn above and supplied to me by David Smith of Ottawa. The inscription reads:
In Memory of
Ross G Marvin
Cornell University
Aged 31
Drowned Apr 10th 1909 45 miles
North of Cape Columbia
Returning From 86 08 N Lat

Ross Martin apparently joined Peary's expedition at the last moment at Peary's invitation. His death although claimed on the cairn as drowning was probably murder. You can check out the following links for the historical documentation of Peary's final assault on the North Pole. ((copy and paste the links to your browser))

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A00E7DA123EE733A25753C1A96F9C946897D6CF

http://afgen.com/henson.html

http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/henson.htm

My thanks also to David Smith for his research into the supplied links.