On Polar Trails: The Peary Expedition To the North Pole, 1908-09 by John W. Goodsell, M.D. (202 pages, hardcover, 6 x 9”)

John Walter Goodsell was born near Leechburg, Pennsylvania, on January 19, 1873. He was educated in Leechburg and at Pulte Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio. After receiving his medical degree, he established a practice in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, specializing in clinical microscopy. He published several articles dealing with microscopical techniques and research in medical journals, and was a member of both the American Medical Association and the Homeopathic Medical Society of Pennsylvania. By 1907, when he first met Admiral Peary, Goodsell was president of the Allegheny Medical Society and surgeon at the American Sheet and Tin Plate Works.

Goodsell first met Peary in Pittsburgh at one of Peary’s lectures on his 1905-06 expedition. Goodsell says that he “instinctively liked and admired” the explorer. When Peary spoke at a later time in New Kensington, Goodsell entertained the commander in his home. The two corresponded, and when Peary found that the surgeon from his previous expedition was not available for the projected 1908 trip to the Arctic, he invited Goodsell to serve as expedition surgeon. After persuading Peary to let him serve in the field as well as being surgeon and after obtaining his mother’s assent, Goodsell signed a contract with the Peary Arctic Club, as did the other members of the expedition.

In 1908 Dr. Goodsell was thirty-five years old and was described by Matthew Henson, Peary’s black servant, as “a giant in stature and strength, but withal the gentlest of men having an even, mellow disposition that never was ruffled.” Goodsell was evidently rather quiet and not particularly outgoing, but he joined willingly in the work of the expedition and formed lasting friendships with the other members. Commander Peary, in his story of the expedition, spoke highly of Goodsell’s courage and determination, and Hensons stated that “on account of his [Goodsell’s] calm, quiet manner I had hesitated to form an opinion of him at first, but you can rest assured that this was a “Tenderfoot” who made good.”

His participation in the Peary expedition was probably the high point of John Goodsell’s life. It began his lifelong interest in everything remotely concerning the polar regions and left him with memories, souvenirs, and valued friends. Unfortunately, events of the expedition and the aftermath also generated in Goodsell a bitterness toward Peary and a feeling that the members of the expedition had somehow been cheated out of the recognition which they had earned.

Goodsell’s original manuscript is a most interesting document. It consists of more than 650 tightly typed pages and was revised several times. Although it is not possible to know for certain, it seems that the last major revision was made in about 1922, two years after Peary’s death. It is probably safe to assume that Goodsell continued to make minor changes until his own death in 1949. Apparently, no polar historian has had access to the manuscript before since it is not generally available to the public. Even though there are no startling revelations to be found, some of Goodsell’s observations support some of Dennis Rawlin’s claims about the Peary expedition.