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Sierra Club Bulletin 



recorded ascent was made by Clarence King and James T. Gard- 

 ner.* The exact date is not given by the California Survey, but it 

 was probably in 1866, and was certainly prior to 1869. The peak 

 was occupied as a triangulation station by the Wheeler Survey in 

 1878, and the original record left on the summit at that time is pre- 

 served in the Sierra Club of&ce.f In the summer of 1890 the peak 

 was again occupied as a triangulation point, this time by the U. S. 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey as one of the links in the transconti- 

 nental triangulation. Round Top near Lake Tahoe was one of the 

 primary stations, and in searching for another farther south it was 

 discovered that Mount Conness was the only one which could be 

 seen from Round Top and was at the same time reasonably acces- 

 sible. Accordingly, in June, 1890, the advance party in charge of 

 J. J. Gilbert started the transportation of supplies and instruments 

 to the Tuolumne Meadows. The winter of 1889-90 was one of the 

 stormiest that has ever been recorded in California, and the advance 

 party had to force its way through miles of snow and practically re- 

 built the Tioga Road in order to get the teams through. It was July 

 before the base camp was established at Soda Springs. From this 

 point a trail had to be constructed to the summit. By the time the 

 observatory on the highest point and the transit station near the 

 upper camp were completed Professor George Davidson arrived and 

 took charge of the work on August 2. The position of the mountain 

 as deduced from the summer's work is N. Lat. 37° 58' 01. "5, W. 

 Lon. 119° 19' 13. "9. The elevation is 12,556 feetj 



Mount Dana is probably the best-known and most easily acces- 

 sible of any of the High Sierra summits. It was named by members 

 of the California Geological Survey in 1863 in honor of James D. 

 Dana, the eminent American geologist. § The first recorded ascent 

 was made that same year by Professors Whitney and Brewer and Mr. 

 Hoffmann. In 1889 the original record was still on the summit, and 

 I made a copy of it in my notebook, following exactly the order of 

 the words, and as nearly as possible the style of the writing. This 

 copy is shown on the opposite page. An excellent description of 

 Mount Dana, the residual glacier on its eastern side, and the sur- 



*Geological Survey of California. Yosemite Guide Book. 1869. Page 103. 

 tSiERRA Club Bulletin, vol. X, No. 3, Jan. 1918, page 369. 



XReport of the Superintendent of the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. 1891. Part I, 

 page 69. 



§Geological Survey of California. Geology, vol. I, page 435. Also, Yosemite Guide 

 Book, footnote to page 100. 



