Charles Frederick Hoffmann (February 29, 1838 – June 20, 1913) was a German-American topographer working in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

U.S. 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 territori ...

from 1860 to 1880.

Life

Hoffmann was born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, Germany on February 29, 1838. After receiving an education in engineering, he emigrated to America. In 1857 he was topographer for Frederick Lander's survey to the Rocky Mountains. He came to California in 1858. He was recruited by

Josiah Whitney Josiah Dwight Whitney (November 23, 1819 – August 18, 1896) was an American geologist, professor of geology at Harvard University (from 1865), and chief of the California Geological Survey (1860–1874). Through his travels and studies in the ...

to join the California Geological Survey because of his valuable skill as a topographer. Hoffmann is largely responsible for introducing

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...

to the United States. He helped explore the Sierra Nevada of California, from 1860 through 1870, and 1873 through 1874. As a member of the Survey, Hoffmann created the official maps from the expeditions made by the survey team. Hoffmann achieved a number of

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

s in the Sierra Nevada: *

Mount Brewer Mount Brewer is on the Great Western Divide, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada in California. It is located in Kings Canyon National Park, The peak was named for William Henry Brewer who worked on the first California Geological Survey and was ...

Mount Dana Mount Dana is a mountain in the U.S. state of California. Its summit marks the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park and the western boundary of the Ansel Adams Wilderness. At an elevation of , it is the second highest mountain in Yosemit ...

Mount Silliman Mount Silliman is a mountain in California along the boundary between Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park The summit, at is on the Sillman Crest, a part of the Kings-Kaweah Divide. History The peak was named by members of the ...

* Tower Peak In 1870 he married Lucy Mayotta Browne. In 1871 and 1872 he was Professor of Topographical Engineering at

Harvard University 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 high ...

. Later, he was a mining engineer at

Virginia City, Nevada Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Charles Hoffmann died in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

on June 20, 1913.

Legacy

Mount Hoffmann Mount Hoffmann is a prominent peak in northeastern Mariposa County in the center of Yosemite National Park, California, United States. It rises above May Lake and is a day hike of (one-way) from Tioga Pass Road State Route 120 (SR 120) is a ...

, a high peak in central

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...

, is named after him.

References

External links

Biographical sketch
by

Francis P. Farquhar Francis Peloubet Farquhar (December 31, 1887 – November 21, 1974) was an American mountaineering, mountaineer, environmentalism, environmentalist and author. In his professional life, he was a Certified Public Accountant. Early life Farquha ...

, ed., in ''Up and Down California'' *Charles F. Hoffmann
"Notes on Hetch-Hetchy Valley"
''Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences'' (San Francisco: CAS, 1868), ser. 1, 3:5] {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Charles Frederick 1838 births 1913 deaths American cartographers German mountain climbers German explorers of North America Explorers of the United States California Geological Survey