Who: American Explorer Robert Peary, African-American Matthew Henson, the crew of the ship Hope and six Inuits, known then as Eskimos, including the 7-year-old boy Minik, and his father, Qisuk. During his several voyages to the Arctic, Peary's quest was to reach the North Pole.
Years later Minik told a reporter from The World about the day he first spotted Peary's ship looming in the distance around Cape York: ''I had never seen anything bigger than my father's kayak. The big ship brought to our little village more white men than we had ever seen. I lived in a little igloo with my father. My mother was dead, and I had no brothers or sisters. And so I loved my dear father very much.''
A 100 ton meteorite was on deck, brought back from the Arctic. During the voyage, the Hope was tossed by fierce, wild seas, and the Inuit thought they had been cursed for allowing the meteorite to be removed from its native soil. After anchoring in New York City they, dressed in sealskin coats trimmed with polar bear fur, suffered sweltering heat.
