| Mount Ellen | |
|---|---|
 Mount Ellen Ridge | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 11,527 ft (3,513 m) NAVD 88 [1] |
| Prominence | 5,842 ft (1,781 m) [1] |
| Listing |
|
| Coordinates | 38°06′35″N 110°48′50″W / 38.1097069°N 110.8137658°W [3] |
| Naming | |
| Etymology | Ellen Powell Thompson |
| Geography | |
  Mount Ellen Utah | |
| Location | Garfield County, Utah, U.S. |
| Parent range | Henry Mountains |
| Topo map | USGS Mount Ellen |
Mount Ellen is a mountain located in Garfield County, Utah, United States. [4]
Description
Mount Ellen's North Summit Ridge is the highest point in the Henry Mountains; it is also the highest point in Garfield County. It can be reached by a short hike from an unpaved road. These mountains were the last to be surveyed by the USGS in the lower 48 states. The mountain can be seen from as far as Mount Peale in the La Sal Mountains of eastern Utah.
Mount Ellen is an ultra prominent peak, meaning that it has more than 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) of topographic prominence, standing out considerably from nearby mountains. It stands in the watershed of the Fremont River, which together with Muddy Creek forms the Dirty Devil River, which drains into the Colorado River, and ultimately into the Gulf of California in Mexico.
The Paiute name for Mount Ellen was Un tar re. It was also referred to as First Mountain. After climbing to the summit in June 1872, Almon Harris Thompson named it for his wife Ellen. [5] Ellen Powell Thompson was also the sister of explorer John Wesley Powell. [6]
Over several days beginning on September 10, 1895, a detachment of the U.S. Army Signal Corps established the world heliograph record from stations atop Mount Ellen, Utah and Mount Uncompahgre, Colorado. [4] The record for visual signaling was established utilizing mirrors 8 inches across and telescopes. The flashing signals communicated over a distance of 183 miles.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Mount Ellen". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- ^ "Utah County High Points". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- ^ "Mount Ellen". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- ^ a b Coe, Lewis (1993). The telegraph : a history of Morse's invention and its predecessors in the United States. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. ISBN 0899507360. OCLC 25509648.
- ^ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 117.
- ^ Allen, Steve (2012). Utah's Canyon Country Place Names, Canyon Country Press.
External links
- "Mount Ellen". SummitPost.org.
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