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Place Names of the High Sierra (1926)
by Francis P. Farquhar

[ A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, & Z. ]

K

Kaiser Gulch appears on Hoffmann’s map, 1873.

“Mt. Kaweah is the form which has long been used locally for the round-topped peak in the Kaweah group,—not ‘Kaweah Peak.’ As the collective name ‘The Kaweah Peaks’ is so often used, ‘.Mt. Kaweah’ is more distinctive.” (William R. Dudley, in S.C.B., 1903, IV:4, p. 306.)

The first ascent of Mount Kaweah was made in September, 1881, by J. W. A. Wright, of Hanford, F. H. Wales, of Tulare, and W. B. Wallace, of Visalia— (Elliott: Guide to the Grand and Sublime Scenery of the Sierra Nevada, 1883, pp. 47-49, 59.) They named the peaks, from left to right: Mount Abert (for Colonel John J. Abert, one time Chief of Topographical Engineers, U. S. Army); Mount Henry (for Professor Joseph Henry, of Princeton); Mount Le Conte (for Professor Joseph Le Conte, of the University of California) and Mount Kaweah. The first three names were not given sufficient publicity and have lapsed from use.

First ascent of Red Kaweah, July, 1912, by Charles W. Michael. (S.C.B., 1913, IX:1, p. 48.)

First ascent of Black Kaweah, August 11, 1920, by Duncan McDuffie, Onis. Imus Brown, and James S. Hutchinson. (S.C.B., 1921, XI:2, pp. 131-134.—See, also, S.C.B., 1922, XI:3, pp. 311-312; S.C.B., 1923, XI:4, p. 440.)

“Kaweah River is named after a Yokuts tribe called Kawia, or probably more exactly, Gā'wia. They lived on or near the river where it emerges from the foothills into the plains. The name has no known connection with the almost identically pronounced southern California town Cahuilla.” (Kroeber: California Place Names. of Indian Origin, 1916, p. 44.)

Colonel George W. Stewart, an authority on the Indians of this region, considers the translation sometimes given, “I sit here,” to be incorrect.

“The next stream we came to was the Pi-pi-yu-na, or Kah-weé-ya, and very commonly known as the Four Creeks. Immediately upon leaving the mountains, like the Kings River, it divides itself into several streams; but, unlike those of that river, they do not unite, but continue to diverge, forming a delta, whose base is over fifteen miles long.” (Williamson: Report of Explorations in California, Pacific Railroad Surveys, 1853, V:1, p. 13.)

“Shortly before [1864], sympathizers with the South in the Civil War had named the Alabama hills, near Lone Pine, in evidence of their gratification at the destructive career of the Confederate privateer ‘Alabama.’ Having the end of that career by the Kearsarge fresh in mind, [Thomas W.] Hill and his partners [G. W. Cornell, A. Kittleson, Thomas May, and C. McCormack], staunch Unionists, evened it up by calling their claim after the Union battleship.” (Chalfant: The Story of Inyo, 1922, pp. 195-197.)

A party of eleven prospectors, including John Bubbs and Thomas Keough, crossed Kearsarge Pass from Independence in July, 1864. (S.C.B., 1915, X:3, p. 340.)

The U. S. S. Kearsarge was named for the mountain in Merrimack County, New Hampshire. Early spellings were “Carasaga,” “Cusagee,” “Kyasage,” “Kyar Sarga.” The present spelling is first found in Philip Carrigain’s map of New Hampshire, 1816. (Appalachia, December, 1915, XIII:4 p. 377.)

Named by Miss Helen M. Gompertz (Mrs. J. N. Le Conte), July, 1896. (S.C.B., 1897, II:2, p. 84.)

First ascent, July 6, 1898, by Cornelius Beach Bradley, Joseph C. Shinn, Jennie E. Price, and Robert M. Price. (S.C.B., 1899, II:5, p. 274.)

“From these circumstances the pass in which Walker and Kern were encamped was called Walker’s Pass; and, as no name was known to Colonel Fremont for the stream which flowed from it, he named it Kern River. This stream was, and is now, known to the native Californians as the Po-sun-co-la, a name doubtless derived from the Indians.” (Williamson: Report of Explorations in California, Pacific Railroad Surveys, 1853, V:1, p. 17.)

This branch of the Kern was named Cone Creek in 1881 by Captain J. W. A. Wright for an officer of the U. S. Army, and so appears on Wright’s Map in Elliott’s Guide to the Grand and Sublime Scenery of the Sierra Nevada, 1883. (W. B. Wallace.)

First ascent by Bolton Coit Brown, 1896. (S.C.B., 1897, II:2, pp. 94-97.)

Rio de los Santos Reyes signifies in Spanish “River of the Holy Kings,” and refers to the Magi, or three kings, called in the Bible the “wise men from the east,” who visited the infant Jesus (Matthew: 2:1-12). It is not unlikely that the name was given on the day of Epiphany as was the case in the naming of Point Reyes (Punta de los Reyes) on the California coast by Vizcaino in 1603.

“We crossed an open plain still in a southeasterly direction, reaching in about twenty miles the Tulare Lake River. This is the Lake Fork; one of the largest and handsomest streams in the valley, being about one hundred yards broad and having perhaps a larger body of fertile lands than any one of the others. It is called by the Mexicans the Rio de los Reyes. [December 22, 1845]” (Fremont: Memoirs, 1887, p. 448.)

There are three principal forks of Kings River: North, Middle, and South.

Early history obscure. Probably seen by Captain John J. Kuykendall’s company of the Mariposa Battalion, 1881. (Bunnell: Discovery of the Yosemite, 1880, pp. 137-141.) Undoubtedly visited by early prospectors. Explored by Brewer party of Whitney Survey, 1864. (Whitney Survey: Geology, 1865, pp. 369, 391-392.) Account of a visit in 1868, by E. C. Winchell, in San Francisco Morning Call, September 11 and 12, 1872. (Reprinted in S.C.B., 1926, XII:3, pp. 237-249.)

John Muir visited it in 1873, 1875, and 1877; again, in 1891, and later. (Badè: Life and Letters of John Muir, 1923-1924, I, p. 392; II, pp. 89, 253— Muir: A Rival of the Yosemite, in Century Magazine, November, 1891.)

Joseph Le Conte visited the cañon in 1901. (Joseph Le Conte, in Sunset, October, 1900; reprinted in S.C.B., 1902; IV:2, pp. 88-99.)

First Sierra Club Outing to Kings River Cañon, 1902. (S.C.B., 1903, 1-3, pp. 185-192.—Hugh Gibson, in Out West, November, 1902.)

Named by Willard D. Johnson, U.S.G.S., about 1883. (J. N. Le Conte.)

Named by Willard D. Johnson, U.S.G.S., about 1883. (J. N. Le Conte.)

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