Iroquois Peak is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in the MacIntyre Range of the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York (state), New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the hi ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. It is the eighth-highest peak in New York, with an elevation of , and one of the 46 High Peaks in

Adirondack Park The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York (state), New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At , ...

. It is located in the town of Newcomb in Essex County. Although the mountain does not have an officially maintained trail, a well-maintained

herd path A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Howe ...

marked by

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

s exists between the summits of Iroquois Peak and

Algonquin Peak Algonquin Peak is a mountain in the MacIntyre Range of the Adirondacks in the U.S. state of New York. It is the second-highest mountain in New York, with an elevation of , and one of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks. It is located in the town of N ...

, to the northeast. The earliest recorded ascent of the mountain was made in October 1883 by William H. Brown, who erected a signal for the Colvin survey team on the summit.

Verplanck Colvin Verplanck Colvin (January 4, 1847 – May 28, 1920) was a lawyer, author, illustrator and topographical engineer whose understanding and appreciation for the environment of the Adirondack Mountains led to the creation of New York's Forest Pres ...

likely made an unrecorded ascent prior to Brown. Colvin marked the peak with three different names on survey maps: South MacIntyre, after

Archibald McIntyre Archibald McIntyre (June 1, 1772 Kenmore, Perth and Kinross, Dull, Kenmore, Perthshire, Scotland – May 6, 1858 Albany, New York, Albany, Albany County, New York), was an American merchant and politician. Life He was the son of Daniel McInt ...

and the nearby Mount MacIntyre (now Algonquin peak); Mount Clinton, for Governor

DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and Naturalism (philosophy), naturalist. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the sixth governor of New York. ...

; and Mount Iroquois, based on the fact the mountain fell near the latitude of a supposed

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

and

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

boundary that divided hunting grounds in the Adirondacks. In reality, no such boundary extended into the mountains. The name of the mountain was still uncertain in the 1920s, when the Marshall brothers were compiling the list of

Adirondack High Peaks The Adirondack High Peaks are a set of 46 mountain peaks in the Adirondack Mountains of New York (state), New York state. They have been popular hiking destinations since the late 1920s, when the list of peaks was published in Russell Carson's bo ...

and assigned the name "Iroquois" to nearby Mount Marshall instead. After discussions between the brothers and Russell Carson, the name "Iroquois" was then assigned to its present location.

Gallery

Image:Iroquois Peak from Ampersand.JPG, Iroquois Peak (right),

(left) from

Ampersand The ampersand, also known as the and sign, is the logogram , representing the grammatical conjunction, conjunction "and". It originated as a typographic ligature, ligature of the letters of the word (Latin for "and"). Etymology Tradi ...

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Backcountry information for Adirondack Park
at ''dec.ny.gov''
Iroquois Peak hiking guide
at ''lakeplacid.com''
Iroquois Peak geography
at ''peakbagger.com''
Iroquois Peak description
at ''summitpost.org'' Mountains of Essex County, New York Adirondack High Peaks Mountains of New York (state) {{EssexCountyNY-geo-stub