Who was first to reach the top of 13,770-foot Grand
Teton in Wyoming? Was it Yellowstone National Park’s first
superintendent, Nathaniel Langford, who said he did it in 1872? Or
a group of climbers who documented their ascent later, in
1898?
No one will ever know for sure, but the
Park Service did not take part in the Aug. 11 celebration of the
100th anniversary of the Grand Teton ascent by the Rev. Franklin
Spalding, John Shive, Frank Peterson and William Owen. Park Service
spokesman Tim Bywater says his agency doesn’t take sides, but he
acknowledges there is a “dispute.”
Climbers such
as Paul Petzoldt, now 90, say they’re positive Langford never
reached the summit because he didn’t describe the view from there
accurately. On the other hand, writer Lorraine Bonney’s book, The
Grand Controversy, supports the Park Service’s Langford. She says
his altitude reading registered 13,762 at the summit – close enough
to being correct – and his description of his approach to the peak
squares with reality.
* Lauren
McKeever
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Only Grand Teton knows.
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