James Sather Hutchinson (1867–1959) was a lawyer in

San Francisco 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 ...

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 ...

, a

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

and an

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

. He was most noted for being an explorer of the Sierra Nevada. Born in San Francisco, Hutchinson attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

and then transferred to

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 ...

where he received an A.B. degree in 1897. He attended the

Hastings College of Law The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a public law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the first law school of the University of California ...

and received his LL.B. in 1899. Along with Joseph N. LeConte and Duncan McDuffie, he pioneered a high mountain route in 1908 from

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 ...

to Kings Canyon, roughly along the route of the modern

John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) ( Paiute: Nüümü Poyo, ''N-ue-mue Poh-yo'') is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. From the northern terminus a ...

. In 28 days, they completed a trip of 228 miles through the high mountains, including several previously unexplored sections. In 1920, he led an expedition from the

Giant Forest The Giant Forest, famed for its giant sequoia trees, is within the United States' Sequoia National Park. This montane forest, situated at over above mean sea level in the western Sierra Nevada of California, covers an area of . The Giant Forest ...

to the Roaring River country, including the first trip over Colby Pass. His

first ascents 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 A climbing route is a path by which a climber rea ...

included

Mount Sill Mount Sill is one of the fourteeners of the Sierra Nevada in California. It is located in the Palisades, a group of prominent rock peaks with a few small glaciers on their flanks. Mount Sill is located 0.6 miles (1 km) east of North Pali ...

and

North Palisade North Palisade is the third-highest mountain in the Sierra Nevada range of California, and one of the state's small number of peaks over 14,000 feet, known as fourteeners. It is the highest peak of the Palisades group of peaks in the central par ...

in 1903,

Mount Humphreys Mount Humphreys is a mountain peak in the Sierra Nevada on the Fresno-Inyo county line in the U.S. state of California. It is the 13th highest peak in California (the highest peak that is not a fourteener), and the highest peak in the Bishop are ...

in 1904, Mount Mills and Mount Abbot in 1908 and

Black Kaweah Black Kaweah is a mountain of the Kaweah Peaks Ridge of the California's Sierra Nevada, in Sequoia National Park. The peak has a local magnetic disturbance that has caused compasses in the vicinity to vary by up to eight degrees. Fulgurite ...

in 1920. Of remote Black Kaweah on the

Great Western Divide The Great Western Divide is a Sierra Nevada mountain range that forms part of the border between the Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. Some of the summits of the Great Western Divide reach well over . The High Sierra Trail crosses the ra ...

which he climbed at age 52, Stephenson wrote, "The way those ragged rocks were broken, splintered, massed and piled together, helter-skelter, would have rejoiced the heart of a cubist artist. Again and again, I was reminded of The Nude Descending the Stairs." California mountaineering historian Steve Roper called Stephenson a "prominent figure in the history of Sierra mountaineering" and that "he compiled the most enviable first-ascent record any Sierra climber will ever have." Hutchinson became a charter member of the Sierra Club as a college student, and was active in the Club throughout his life, including serving as a director from 1903 through 1908. He served as editor of the ''Sierra Club Bulletin'' in 1903 - 1904 and also in 1925. An avid participant in

cross country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreatio ...

and snow-shoeing, he established the Sierra Ski Club in the early 1920s with his brother Lincoln Hutchinson and

William Colby William Egan Colby (January 4, 1920 – May 6, 1996) was an American intelligence officer who served as Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from September 1973 to January 1976. During World War II Colby served with the Office of Strateg ...

, Joseph N. LeConte, Duncan McDuffie and others. They built a lodge at

Norden Norden is a Scandinavian and German word, directly translated as "the North". It may refer to: Places England * Norden, Basingstoke, a ward of Basingstoke and Deane * Norden, Dorset, a hamlet near Corfe Castle * Norden, Greater Manchester, a vi ...

near

Donner Pass Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, above Donner Lake and Donner Memorial State Park about west of Truckee, California. Like the Sierra Nevada themselves, the pass has a steep approach from the east and a gradual appr ...

, which that small club used for nearly 30 years. In 1955, its members all elderly, the Sierra Ski Club was disbanded, and its lodge and land holdings were donated to the Sierra Club. The lodge was renamed Hutchinson Lodge after the brothers, and is still in operation as of 2010.http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/lodges/downloads/hutch.pdf Lincoln Hutchison and James Sather Hutchison, Sierra Club, San Francisco His career as an attorney in San Francisco lasted 60 years, and he appeared in court on his 90th birthday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchinson, James S. 1867 births 1959 deaths Sierra Club people Explorers of California American mountain climbers Lawyers from San Francisco History of the Sierra Nevada (United States) University of California, Berkeley alumni Harvard University alumni University of California, Hastings College of the Law alumni