Abstract
This chapter documents the following critical events that take place in November 1912 in five different parts of the world: The four surviving sled dogs’ stay on the Fram in Buenos Aires; the 21 remaining dogs’ quarantine stay as they await their return to Antarctica in Hobart; the beginning of the ill-fated Australian Far-Eastern sledging journey by Douglas Mawson in Adélie Land; the grave discovery of the frozen bodies of Robert Falcon Scott and his companions on their return trek from the South Pole near McMurdo Sound; and the presentation of his long-awaited keynote lecture by Roald Amundsen at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) meeting in London. Included is a careful analysis of the speech, lantern slides, and film footage presented at the RGS; an analysis of Amundsen’s public portrayal of the crucial role that his sled dogs played in attaining the South Pole; and an analysis of the pointed remarks made by RGS president Lord Curzon—specifically about the dogs—that caused great controversy in Amundsen’s mind and later resulted in unforeseen and historic consequences.
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References
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Notes on Original Material and Unpublished Sources
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L. Amundsen to J. S. Keltie, letter, 14 November 1912, NB Brevs. 812:3:6, Manuscripts Collection, National Library of Norway, Oslo.
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Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) building, London, on-site signage, author’s visits 9 July 2012 and 30 November 2014.
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J. S. Keltie to B. Vogt, letter, 21 November 1912, ar RGS/CB8/AMUNDSEN, Archive Material, RGS-IBG Collections, Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London.
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L. Amundsen to R. Amundsen, letter, 16 November 1912, with R. Amundsen’s penciled-in marks of name deletions and handwritten name additions to the list of book recipients on the second page, NB Brevs. 812:1, Manuscripts Collection, National Library of Norway, Oslo (translated from the original Norwegian).
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L. Amundsen to R. Amundsen, letter, 16 November 1912, with R. Amundsen’s penciled-in marks of name deletions and handwritten name additions to the list of book recipients on the second page, NB Brevs. 812:1, Manuscripts Collection, National Library of Norway, Oslo (translated from the original Norwegian).
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L. Amundsen to R. Amundsen, letter, 16 November 1912, with R. Amundsen’s penciled-in marks of name deletions and handwritten name additions to the list of book recipients on the second page, NB Brevs. 812:1, Manuscripts Collection, National Library of Norway, Oslo (translated from the original Norwegian).
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L. Amundsen to R. Amundsen, letter, 16 November 1912, first page, NB Brevs. 812:1, Manuscripts Collection, National Library of Norway, Oslo (translated from the original Norwegian).
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L. Amundsen to R. Amundsen, letter, 25 November 1912, with R. Amundsen’s reply written on the back of the page and dated 30 November 1912, NB Brevs. 812:1, Manuscripts Collection, National Library of Norway, Oslo (translated from the original Norwegian).
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Tahan, M.R. (2021). The Big Speech: The Cheer for the Dogs. In: The Return of the South Pole Sled Dogs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65113-8_13
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