The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-10-28


after many days OF toll and hardship
and halrbreadth escapes without num-
Der. succeeded in scaling the prccipi-
lous sides OF the mighty peak to find
rs a reward the written records placed
there before the birth OF the present
generation.
Resides being In the heart Of the
withstand least accessible region OF the
Sierra Nevada. Mount Brewer attalns
an altitude Of 1856 feet-a very giant
OF the range. Its sides arc scanned with
mighty gorgcs strcwn with boulders Of
stupendous size and covered with
flinty Ice and snow. the accumulation
Of ages. The peak Is formed OF two
jagged points OF rock about fifty feet
apart the hollow between forming
sort OF saddle. the spot which Prof
Brewer chose for the rostlng-place OF
the record Of his ascent In this shall
low depression he erected monument
OF granite boulders. and In the center
Of the mound thus formed he placed
the bottle wherein he had sealed the
writing that told OF the results Of his
scientific researches. There he left H.,
and for thlrty-two years the snow,
undlsturbed by the feet OF humankind,
drifted over the heap Of stones and pro-
tscted Il alike from the glare OF the
summer suns and the sweep Of the win
ter winds
The exploring party. which consisted
n Joseph Le Contc (son Of Professor
ie Contel. Miss Helen Gomportz and
Two young ladies resident Of San Fran
risco. left this city early In July. their
objective point being the summit Of
Mount Brewer. and their object the
search for the record o. 1864. They
travelled by rail 10 Fresno. whore they
provided themselves with provisions.
camp equlpage and the nccessaries OF
mountain climbing. They then pro-
ceeded by wagon 10 Sequoia Mills. far
up on the western slopes OF the Sierra
Noyadas: and then with burros for
pack animals they threaded the high
passes that lead from the western slope
over into the narrow gorge that divides
the double range They halted once
to make the ascent Of Mount Baker,
and another time to scale the sides OF
an unnamed peak. sometimes called
University peak.
Just as night was closing In on the
evening Of the sixth day out from Sc
quota Mills. the little party arrived al
small lake that nestlcs In a rocky
cup Of the mighty gorge just az the
foot OF Mount Brewer This unnamed
mountain lake Is situated Just at the
timber lire On an estimated elevation
OF 1000 feet above the sea.
The start for the summit was made
at 5 o'clock In the morning. and long
before the sun peeped over the peaks
10 the eastward the climbers were wei
on their way and In the midst OF the
frozen solludcs OF the mountain side
They had selected the eastern slope foi
the ascent and we're 30 fortunate ai
TO find a series OF ridges OF jagged rocl
comparatively free from snow. saw,
where here and there a break In n,
ridge led them down into dcpresslonl
OF unknown depth. but which were flllet
with hard snow. the surface Of which
gave back the rays OF the sun with 8,
binding a glare as 10 confuse the sens,
Of sight and render progress oxtrcmol!
dangerous. Thus they went on. nov
crawling with hands and feet along tn
brink OF some chasm and again balanc
ing themselves on the dizzy height o
some precipltous ridge Of rock, TO fal
from which on either side meant al
awful death hundreds OF feet below.
six hours OF this soul-tryng worl
brought the intrepid explorers to tn
base Of the peak itself. and there the!
encountered what appeared to be an In
surmountable barrier. The peak wa
but a hundred feet above them. but 4
gain q an almost perpendicular wall o
rock fifty feet high had TO be scaled
Great as was the difficulty, II was final
Ily surmounted. but not without re
peated risk to life and limb. and there
ON the apex Of the great peak. IN
little party clasped hands and iolnc
their voices In cheer.
While standing on the peak Mis-
- -......-t. .h.venN 80 500 . NaUfNs
stlcklng through the snow. but lay dee
In the depression between the tw
cones. or peaks, and surmising that
was the apex OF Prof. Brewers monu
ment. she called the attention OF he
companions to Il. In moment eigh
eager hands were digging In the snow
Soon the whole mound was cleared an
the boulders OF which II was formc
were removed sufficiently to disclose a
Inverted pickle bottle closed with
cork. and containing a ragged piece &
paper. Then came careful work. Pro
Brewer had not been provided with In
proved bottle-corklng appliances. an
in consequence snow water had hltore
In until the paper on which the recor
was written was more or less saturate,
In spite OF this the writing that ha
not been destroyed by the dlslniegr'
ton OF the paper was easily deciphere'
Mr.. lie Conte carefully removed the pa
per and dried II and then Photographic
Il. These words are cleerly distir
gulshable:
wv. II. Brewer, c. +. HOFFMAN:
OF State Geolog an
approximate height 1850 Il.
July End. 1864. by VIM. II. Brewer an
Z. +. Hoffman, and July 9Th by w. !
Brewer and J. T. Gardner. naron
strically measured aad the approxlmai
height y is.eso Il.
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