The Dishonorable Dr. Cook: Debunking the Notorious McKinley Hoax

by Peter Cherici, Bradford Washburn (Photographer)

* Contains never-before-published and hard-to-find information
* Showcases eight breathtaking, previously unpublished photos by Bradford Washburn

For 50 years, celebrated mountaineer Bradford Washburn was obsessed with Frederick Cook's claim to have been the first to reach the summit of Mount McKinley in 1906. Washburn's Cook was a fraud. At the very least Frederick Cook was a showman of outsized proportion. The Dishonorable Dr. Cook tells the story of the colorful Cook -- what sort of man he was, why he staked his reputation on a flimsy story, and why so many people have been anxious to debunk his claims. Other details of Cook's checkered career are also included, such as his role in Peary's unsuccessful expedition to the North Pole in 1892-1893, his own amazing circumnavigation of McKinley in 1903, and his determination to be the first to reach the North Pole. Cook's account of the 1906 McKinley ascent is described, followed by evidence against it.

Most compelling, however, are the side-by-side comparisons of Cook's original photos with Washburn's identical ones, taken decades later, from locations very different than Cook alleged. Washburn's name is all but synonymous with Mount McKinley, and his skill in recreating the photos is incomparable.

185 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Peter Cherici is a technical writer. He received a BS degree in Marine Transportation from the State University of New York Maritime College. From 1990 to 1999 he was Editor-in-Chief at Derrynane Press.

Reviews

[Alden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have three complaints about this book at the moment and I feel like they're all pretty petty and whiny. I might just be in a bad mood. But here goes.

The first thing I noticed about this book was a big sticker on one of the intro pages apologizing for leaving another text on Dr. Cook out of the bibliography. Because of the sticker, I then noticed that that text was referenced, like, *all the time.* So I feel like I was set up for an intellectual-honesty red flag from the very beginning and I wish that hadn't happened. In short, there are apparently a number of other books on this subject out there, and I sort of suspect that some of them might be more to my taste, but this is the one I ended up with in my life and I have some thoughts about why and how that happened, and I think they might not all be savory reasons.

The second thing I noticed about this book is that it reads like an episode of one of those bad History Channel specials. I think perhaps this is not coincidence, as I actually learned about the book from a bad History Channel special (or maybe Nat Geo?). You can practically hear the dramatic music and the setting up of the biggest reveal for the :45min mark. I mean, there's a lot of evidence against Dr. Cook, but the biggest and baddest are the photographs, and those are all last-minuted in the last 30 pages or so of the book. And it is devastating to have them all together like that, but it also means the book spends 80% of its time talking about photographs that you don't actually see until the last 20%. Also, the book's relationship to a bad television special makes me wonder whether the chicken or the egg came first here. I feel like the book might have been produced specifically to generate the special, or along with the special. See my first complaint; there are apparently a number of other authoritative books on the subject already out there.

My last very pedantic complaint is about the physical nature of the book itself. It has too many words, for 80% of the text really, to be a coffee table book. But it is SHAPED like a coffee table book and it is too horizontal to curl up with and read. It's like it couldn't decide what its purpose in life was and so it failed at all of them.

THAT ALL SAID. Dr. Cook was a fascinating scoundrel, I believe one would have called him a bounder, and this metaphorical pantsing is thorough and convincing. I don't know if I care enough to actually seek out other books on the subject, but if I did, I suspect I'd find them interesting also. And if this is the only book on Dr. Cook that ever ends up on my bedside table, it was okay. Hence three stars.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book about expeditions on Mt McKinley. The story of Dr. Cook who is mostly remembered for his fabrication of reaching the summit far outweighs the accomplishment of the treks he actually made. History would remember him differently if he hadn't elaborated his accomplishments into unbelievable stories of reaching the summit. The pictures in the book are impressive. The map at the very end is interesting too.

[Thomas Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

well written and beautiful photos but comes across as having a vendetta against cook. tldr bro lied, way too long but somehow fairly engaging throughout? idk

[Rick]

What a bounder!