Hooker and Brown facts for kids

Hooker and Brown are two famous mountains that were once thought to be real. They were believed to be in the Canadian Rockies, near the Athabasca Pass in Jasper National Park. For almost 100 years, maps showed these mountains as the tallest in North America, over 16,000 feet (4,877 meters) high! This idea encouraged early explorers and climbers to explore the Rockies, leading to discoveries like the Columbia Icefield.

Discovering and Naming the Peaks

David Thompson, a Canadian explorer, first found the route through Athabasca Pass in 1811. He used this path for the fur trade. Even though he mapped the route carefully, Thompson didn't focus on mountains. He didn't name any peaks in his notes.

In 1827, David Douglas, a Scottish plant collector, crossed the same pass. He was working for the Royal Botanic Institution of Glasgow. Douglas decided to climb a peak near the pass. He wrote about his climb in his journal:

"I set out alone on snowshoes to that on the left hand or west side, being to all appearances the highest. ... This peak, the highest yet known in the northern continent of America, I feel a sincere pleasure in naming Mount Brown, in honour of R. Brown, Esq., the illustrious botanist... A little to the southward is one nearly the same height, rising into a sharper point. This I named Mount Hooker [after his sponsor, William Hooker] ..."

Douglas believed he had climbed the tallest mountain in North America. He named it Mount Brown after a famous botanist. He also named a nearby peak Mount Hooker after his sponsor, Sir William Hooker.

The Mystery of Their Height

Douglas didn't know the true height of the Athabasca Pass. Before him, an officer named Lieutenant Simpson had measured the pass. Simpson thought it was 11,000 feet (3,353 meters) high. But its real height is only about 5,751 feet (1,753 meters). This mistake made people believe the mountains around the pass were much taller than they actually were.

Douglas's journal was published after he left on another trip. He was not there to check the details. The journal said Mount Brown was "not less than 16,000 or 17,000 feet" tall. This idea of super-tall mountains became very popular.

Maps and the Search for Giants

A famous mapmaker named Aaron Arrowsmith included these tall heights on his maps of the Rockies. For many years, maps showed Hooker and Brown as huge mountains.

When the railway was built through the mountains, it brought many climbers to the area. They saw the maps and wanted to be the first to climb these "tallest" peaks. They explored for many seasons, facing many challenges. But they never found any mountains as tall as the maps showed.

Even though the super-tall Hooker and Brown were a mistake, the search for them led to important discoveries. Explorers mapped many parts of the Rocky Mountains. The story of Hooker and Brown is still a famous tale today. Author Jerry Auld even wrote a novel about it in 2009.

The Real Mountains Today

The mountain that Douglas likely climbed on the west side of the pass is still called Mount Brown. However, it is only about 9,157 feet (2,791 meters) high. The name Mount Hooker was given to a different peak. This peak is about 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) east of Mount Brown and is 10,784 feet (3,287 meters) tall. It was first climbed in 1924. The mountain Douglas probably named Mount Hooker is now known as McGillivray Ridge (or Rock), which is about 8,848 feet (2,697 meters) high.

Timeline of Hooker and Brown