The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/McKinley, Mount

McKINLEY, Mount, United States, a peak of the Rocky Mountains, the highest in North America, south of the central part of Alaska, about 155 miles north of Cook Inlet. The Indian name for this peak is Traleyka and the Russian name, Bolshaya. The fact that this is the highest land on the continent was not known till 1896 when Mr. Dickey explored the Sushitna River and the land near its source. He estimated the height of the peak at 20,000 feet, and named it McKinley, in honor of William McKinley (q.v.). In 1903 it was visited by members of the United States Geological Survey. The mountain is a great dome-shaped mass, over 20,000 feet above the sea. Consult Balch, E. S., ‘Mount McKinley and Mountain Climbers' Proofs’ (Philadelphia 1914); Browne, A., ‘The Conquest of Mount McKinley’ (New York 1914).