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View Full Version : Katahdin, 8/13/1804



TJ aka Teej
07-19-2004, 15:36
"The first recorded ascent of Katahdin by Euroamericans came on Aug 13, 1804, when a party led by Charles Turner Jr. reached the summit by the same rocks-and-roots route used by the A.T. - the Hunt Trail." ~ from the 2004 ALDHA Companion
Charlie and his friends left a lead tablet on the summit with thier names and the date inscribed on it.
I'll be up there camping with my youngest two kids this August 13th, if the weather's good we'll start up the mountian about 5AM.

TJ
ALDHA Companion volunteer in Maine.

Hikerhead
07-19-2004, 18:32
Are they having a bicentenial celebration? Sounds like fun. I hope the weather is good for your hike.

Jack Tarlin
07-19-2004, 18:34
Teej---

Thanx for this interesting historical note. What a shame the Companion felt the need for the politically correct (and, I might add, thankfully quite rare) term "EuroAmerican".

*If the folks who climbed Katahdin in 1804 were born in America, then they were Americans.

*If they were born elsewhere (England, etc.), but had emigrated here, then they were also Americans.

*The folks who climbed Katahdin earlier (presumably we're talking about American Indians or Native Americans if you insist) were also Americans.

*If the Companion wished to inform us that this was the first recorded climb by Caucasians or white people, then that's what they should have said; a statement can't be considered offensive or hurtful if it happens to be true. The majority of the inhabitants of this country are "EuroAmericans" but happily, they don't feel the need to use this ridiculous term----and neither should anyone else. Americans come in all sorts of hues and from all sorts of places, but we are all equally American, even those of us who were born elsewhere but have embraced American citizenship. Insisting on identifying ourselves by our land mass or continent of origin as opposed to simply claiming our true nationality is divisive, damaging and silly. The sooner Americans stop hyphenating themselves---and others---the better off we'll be.

TJ aka Teej
07-19-2004, 19:48
Are they having a bicentenial celebration?

That's a good question, HikerHead. I'll call the Park, find out, and post what I hear back.

TJ aka Teej
07-19-2004, 20:34
[Responding to BaltimoreJack's comments]

What a shame the Companion felt the need for the politically correct (and, I might add, thankfully quite rare) term "EuroAmerican".
[That term wasn't in the info I sent in about the anniversary, Jack. But it's an honest attempt at accuracy, in my opinon.]

*If the folks who climbed Katahdin in 1804 were born in America, then they were Americans.
[What if they climbed it before European mapmakers bestowed Americo's name onto this continent?]

*If they were born elsewhere (England, etc.), but had emigrated here, then they were also Americans.
[If they were born before 1776, weren't they Englishmen?]

*The folks who climbed Katahdin earlier (presumably we're talking about American Indians or Native Americans if you insist) were also Americans.
[I doubt the First Peoples ever summited. As hunter-gatherers and farmers, they probably had more important things to do.]

"Insisting on identifying ourselves by our land mass or continent of origin as opposed to simply claiming our true nationality is divisive, damaging and silly."

[I'm not smart enough to understand why it's "silly" to identify a people by their geographical location if it's a continent, but it's O.K. to do so if it's a nation. There's much more to a people than where they lived when a map was drawn in a certain point in time, seems to me.]

On another note, Charlie Turner had Penobscot guides with his party. Should we start a Tenzing/Hillary type debate? Do you think Turner bothered to add their names to his sheet of lead? Do you think the Penobscots cared?