Philip Stanley Abbot (September 1, 1867 – August 3, 1896) was an American lawyer who died while climbing

Mount Lefroy Mount Lefroy is a mountain on the Continental Divide, at the border of Alberta and British Columbia in western Canada. The mountain is located on the eastern side of Abbot Pass which separates Lake Louise in Banff National Park from Lake O'Hara ...

. His death became the first recorded mountaineering fatality in North America.

Biography

Abbot was a graduate of

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

(1889), and of

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

(1893). He practiced law until 1894 with

Samuel D. Warren II Samuel Dennis Warren (1852 – February 18, 1910), also Samuel Dennis Warren II, was an American attorney from Boston, Massachusetts. Biography Warren was born in 1852. His father was also named Samuel D. Warren, known as S.D. Warren, who founde ...

and

Louis Brandeis Louis Dembitz Brandeis (; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an American lawyer and associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939. Starting in 1890, he helped develop the "right to privacy" concept ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. He then went to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, where he was employed as assistant attorney for the

Wisconsin Central Railroad (1871–99) Wisconsin Central may refer to: * A predecessor of the Soo Line Railroad known by the names: ** Wisconsin Central Railroad (1871–1899) ** Wisconsin Central Railway (1897–1954), which also used the name "Wisconsin Central Railroad" * Wisconsin C ...

, of which his father,

Edwin Hale Abbot Edwin Hale Abbot (1834–1927) was a lawyer and railroad executive, active in Boston and Milwaukee. Biography Abbot was born in Beverly, Massachusetts on January 26, 1834. His relatives included brother Henry Larcom Abbot and nephew Fred ...

, was president. The original family home was at 1 Follon Street,

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, the now renowned Edwin Abbot House, but the family in 1896 were at

Bar Harbor, Maine Bar Harbor is a resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population is 5,089. During the summer and fall seasons, it is a popular tourist destination and, until a catastrophic fire i ...

Mountaineer

Philip S. Abbot was considered an experienced mountain climber, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

; one who had made expeditions to the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

and ascended the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

and

Weisshorn The Weisshorn (German, lit. ''white peak/mountain'') is a major peak of Switzerland and the Alps, culminating at above sea level. It is part of the Pennine Alps and is located between the valleys of Anniviers and Zermatt in the canton of Valai ...

; with

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

guide

Peter Sarbach Peter Sarbach (1844 – 1930) was born in St. Niklaus, Switzerland, near the village of Zermatt; which is a historic village in the Shadow of the Matterhorn, the great mountain which divides the watershed from Switzerland and Italy. Prominence I ...

. In 1893, Philip S. Abbot published, "An Ascent of the Weisshorn". In 1895, with Professor

Charles Ernest Fay Professor Charles Ernest Fay (1846–1931) was an American alpinist and educator. Biography He was born at Roxbury, Massachusetts. He graduated in 1868 at Tufts College and became instructor in mathematics there in 1869, and professor of moder ...

Tufts College Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

, and Charles Sproull Thompson, General Agent for the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...

, the three climbers failed in two ascents of

in the

Bow Range The Bow Range is a mountain range of the Canadian Rockies in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. The range is named in associated with the Bow River and was officially adopted on March 31, 1917 by the Geographic Board of Canada. It is a part ...

near

Lake Louise, Alberta Lake Louise is a hamlet within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. Named after Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, it lies in Alberta's Rockies on the Bow River, northeast of the lake that shares its name. Initially settled in 1884 as an ou ...

; but managed to make the first Ascent of Mt. Hector. The next year, Professor George Little, Librarian of Bowdoin joined the trio for the 1896 Expedition.

Catastrophe and death

On August 3, 1896, Philip Stanley Abbot slipped from the rock

precipice In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on coa ...

while

free climbing Free climbing is a form of rock climbing in which the climber may use climbing equipment such as ropes and other means of climbing protection, but only to protect against injury during falls and not to assist vertical or horizontal progress. Th ...

in the

near Lake Louise,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. As described by Charles E. Fay, "The unfortunate Philip S. Abbot fell past us and landed within 15 feet; while tumbling the remaining distance, to a rocky projection, one thousand feet below our perch". It took the three survivors most of the afternoon to descend to where the body rested; each depending on their own skill with an ice axe for safety. Upon their arrival, Mr. Abbot was still breathing but unable to speak; and he died soon thereafter. As it was impossible to carry the body down the slippery descent the party was compelled to leave the body, and return the next Tuesday with a recovery party. The recovery party was led by outfitter

Thomas Edmonds Wilson Thomas Edmonds Wilson (August 21, 1859 – September 20, 1933) was a Canadian outfitter and guide. Early life Wilson was born in Ontario, Canada and graduated from grammar school in Barrie, Ontario, in 1875. In October 1878 he enrolled in the O ...

and included George Little, Willoughby Astley, and Professor

. The recovery party wrapped the body in several blankets and let it slide down 2000 feet to the foot of the mountain. The body was then put on its way to Cambridge.

Memorial

In memory of the first mountaineering fatality in North America, the Pass, which took the life of Philip S. Abbot was named in his honor.

Abbot Pass Hut The Abbot Pass hut was an alpine hut located at an altitude of in Abbot Pass in the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. It was nestled between Mount Victoria and Mount Lefroy, straddling the Great Divide, which, in this region, defines the bo ...

was built between Mt. Lefroy and

Mount Victoria (Bow Range) __NOTOC__ Mount Victoria, , is a mountain on the border between British Columbia and Alberta in the Canadian Rockies. It is located just northeast of Lake O'Hara in Yoho National Park and is also part of Banff National Park and is on the Continen ...

on the Continental Divide of

and

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbot, Philip Stanley 1867 births 1896 deaths Harvard Law School alumni Harvard College alumni 19th-century American lawyers American mountain climbers Mountaineering deaths History of the Rocky Mountains