Lewis Peak, northeast of Five Points. Photo by Whitney Arave
By Lynn Arave
CALLING someone by their first name usually denotes familiarity. By that reckoning, Lewis Peak, an often unrecognized summit, located northeast of Ogden’s Five Points, ought to be the friendliest mountain in Weber County.
CALLING someone by their first name usually denotes familiarity. By that reckoning, Lewis Peak, an often unrecognized summit, located northeast of Ogden’s Five Points, ought to be the friendliest mountain in Weber County.
It’s a rare
mountain you can be on a “first name” basis with.
Lewis Peak,
8,031 feet above sea level, was named for Lewis Warren Shurtliff, who was among
the first known group of white settlers to scale the summit of the most
prominent mountain, between the much more well-known Mount Ogden and Ben Lomond
Peaks.
Shurtliff, then
16, of Weber County, climbed what would be known as Lewis Peak on June 6, 1852,
with Ira N. Tiffany and Martin Harris. The three young men often hiked in the
area to scout and help protect the settlers from unfriendly Indians. The three men
also made a pole to mark the peak and placed some sort on flag atop it.
As the
youngest of the three, the peak was named “Lewis,” in his honor, though it is very
unusual for a geographical feature to be titled after a person’s first name. In
fact, Lewis Peak is only one of a few Ogden Wasatch Front mountain peaks that
is even named after a specific person.
Shurtliff’s
“name” is also affixed to two other Weber County places. Strangely, his middle
name, Warren, is who the communities of Warren and West Warren were named
after. Makes you wonder more about who this unusual man was, who so inspired
other pioneer residents to commemorate him using the first two of the three
parts to his name.
Lewis W. Shurtliff
Among his
many accomplishments, Shurtliff eventually served as the Weber LDS Church Stake
President; as a probate judge; as a Weber County Commissioner; as a state
senator; as chairman of the Utah Irrigation Commission; and also helped start
Ogden’s first trolley system – initially powered by mules.
In addition, as the Weber Stake President, Shurtliff also helped organize the beginnings of Weber State University (originally named Weber Stake Academy) on Sept. 10, 1888.
Technically, Shurtliff was the University's first president.
(Today, a Lewis W. Shurtliff scholarship award is presented yearly to a qualifying Weber State University student.)
He died in 1922 at the age of 86.
In addition, as the Weber Stake President, Shurtliff also helped organize the beginnings of Weber State University (originally named Weber Stake Academy) on Sept. 10, 1888.
Technically, Shurtliff was the University's first president.
(Today, a Lewis W. Shurtliff scholarship award is presented yearly to a qualifying Weber State University student.)
He died in 1922 at the age of 86.
(One his daughters, Louie Emily Shurtliff, was Joseph Fielding Smith’s first wife. She died in 1908, but he
later became president of the LDS Church.)
Lewis Peak
was officially designated as such on maps by 1912. Six employees of the Ogden
Post Office hiked to Lewis Peak in June of 1912, according to a report in the
Ogden Standard-Examiner.
Lewis Peak, left side of picture. Photo by Whitney Arave
Utilizing directions provided by Lewis Shurtliff
himself (also the Ogden Postmaster from 1910-1914), they located the original
pole, although only torn ribbons of the flag were left.
The
Standard-Examiner also reported that in September of 1916, relatives of
Shurtliff placed a metal flag pole and a copper plate with an inscription on
the summit of Lewis Peak. They returned two years later and replaced the old
flag with a new one, according to a later report in the Ogden
Standard-Examiner.
Although
Lewis Peak isn’t even one of the 30 highest summits in Weber County, it is
located further westward than many other peaks in that area, is very rounded
and thus has more prominence than just its height provides. There are at least
four other unnamed peaks in the immediate area, taller than Lewis, with the
highest being 8,136 feet, but the others are set back further to the east and thus
not as prominent.
Lewis
Shurtliff and company made their own bushwhacked trail to the summit in 1852,
including a likely trip through the rugged canyons below. Today, a standard
hiking path leads to the summit. Starting at the top of North Ogden Divide
(elevation 6,184), this version of the Skyline trail goes up and southward 3.3
miles to a trail junction. The western path goes another 1.5 miles to Lewis
Peak, a broad mound of rock. The U.S. Forest Service created the spur trail to
Lewis Peak back in 1978.
Access to
the area is also offered by a northern section of the Skyline Trail that begins
from the southeast, near Pineview Reservoir, or by more rugged hikes up canyons
to the west.
The view atop Lewis Peak is superb, since it
juts out so far into the valley. Visible to the west are Coldwater, One Horse
and Garner canyons en route to Lewis Peak. Just south of Lewis Peak is Jumpoff
Canyon.
Because of its lower elevation, a hike to Lewis
Peak is often accessible in May, far sooner than Ben Lomond Peak, which looms
some 1,700 feet higher.
-Originally published by Lynn Arave in the Ogden Standard-Examiner, Nov. 29, 2013.
SOURCES: Ogden Standard Examiner, June 17, 1912; “Utah Place
Names,” by John W. Van Cott; Findagrave.com
-NOTE: The author, Lynn Arave, is available to speak to groups, clubs, classes or other organizations about Utah history at no charge. He can be contacted by email at: lynnarave@comcast.net
