Mt. Davis Mon, Jun 30, 1997		Etymology	Story	Photos / Slideshow	Maps: 1 2 3	Profiles: 1 2 3
		later climbed Sat, May 31, 2008

"Lieutenant Milton Fennimore Davis (1864-1938), with the first troops assigned to guard the newly created Yosemite National Park, in 1891, at which time he made the first ascent of the mountain. The name was applied by Lt. N. F. McClure in 1894.

'I ascended the peak on Aug. 31, 1891. I took two days for the trip. Slept out without blankets at timber-line, making a fire of the last tree. I was accompanied most of the way by a Methodist preacher, Dr. E. W. Beers, of Anamosa, Iowa. The trip nearly killed him.' (Letter, Davis to Versteeg, in Farquhar files.) 'Beers gave out and did not cross the last gorge and make the last 2,000 feet.' (SCB 12, no. 3, 1926: 305.)"
- Peter Browning, Place Names of the Sierra Nevada

"It was at this place that Major Wessels, of the Third Cavalry, was shot in the back of the head. It was a severe wound, but after having it bound up he again came to the front in command of his regiment. Among the men who were foremost was Lieutenant Milton F. Davis, of the First Cavalry. He had been joined by three men of the Seventy-first New York, who ran up, and, saluting, said, 'Lieutenant, we want to go with you, our officers won't lead us.' One of the brave fellows was soon afterward shot in the face. Lieutenant Davis's first sergeant, Clarence Gould, killed a Spanish soldier with his revolver, just as the Spaniard was aiming at one of my Rough Riders. At about the same time I also shot one."
- Theodore Roosevelt, The Rough Riders (online)