On April 6, 1909, Arctic explorer, Matthew Henson, made history when his expedition party successfully reached the North Pole. The first in recorded history to do so.

Yet, his game-changing achievement almost never was. Because 3 days before, he came face-to-face...

With Death.

In His Own Words...

The memory of those last five marches [to the North] Pole, is a memory of toil, fatigue, and exhaustion.

It was during the march of the 3rd of April that I endured an instant of hideous horror.

We were crossing a lane of moving ice. Peary was in the lead setting the pace, and a half hour later the four boys and myself followed in single file.

They had all gone before, and I was standing and pushing at the upstanders of my sledge, when the block of ice I was using as a support slipped from underneath my feet.

Before I knew it, the sledge was out of my grasp, and I was floundering in the water of the lead.

I did the best I could. I tore my hood from off my head and struggled frantically.

My hands were gloved and I could not take hold of the ice, but before I could give the 'Grand Hailing Sigh of Distress,' Ootah grabbed me by the nape of the neck, the same as he would have grabbed a dog. With one hand, he pulled me out of the water, and with the other, hurried the team across.

He had saved my life, but I did not tell him so, for such occurrences are taken as part of the day's work, and the sledge he safeguarded was of much more importance. For it held, as part of its load, the sextant, mercury, and coils of piano-wire that were the essential portion of the scientific part of the expedition.

My kamiks (boots of sealskin) were stripped off, and the congealed water was beaten out of my bearskin trousers, and with a dry pair of kamiks, we hurried on to overtake the column.

When we caught up, we found the boys gathered around Peary, doing their best to relieve him of his discomfort, for he had fallen into the water also.

And while he was not complaining, I was sure that his bath had not been any more voluntary than mine.