Bestor Robinson(February 9, 1898 – December 9, 1987) was an Americanmountaineer,environmentalist,attorneyandinventor.He was a law partner ofEarl Warren,later governor ofCaliforniaandChief Justiceof theSupreme Court of the United States.Robinson was a long-time leader of theSierra Club.[1]
Early life
editBestor Robinson was the son of Edward Constant Robinson (originally from Oregon) and Sarah T. Merritt (daughter of James Bestor Merritt). He was born and raised in Oakland, California, at 552 Montclair Street. He attended theUniversity of California, Berkeley(1914–1918) and went on to bothBoalt School of Law(1919–1921) and then toHarvard Law(1921–1922) where he received his JD. His father was a prominent attorney and later a Superior Court Judge of Alameda County. After law school he joined his father's law firm. Bestor went on to marry Florence Breed, daughter of powerful Republican State Senator Arthur Hastings Breed of Piedmont, CA. They had four children, Ned, Merritt, Warren and Carolyn.
Mountaineer
editIn 1931, Sierra Club leaderFrancis P. Farquharhad invited Harvard philosophy professor andAppalachian Mountain ClubmemberRobert L. M. Underhillto come to theSierra Nevadato teach the latest techniques of roped climbing. Underhill had learned these techniques in theAlps,and had used them earlier that summer in the Tetons and theCanadian Rockies.After the basic course was completed, the more advanced students, including Robinson,Glen Dawson,Jules Eichorn,Norman Clyde,and Lewis Clark traveled south to thePalisades,the most rugged and alpine part of the Sierra Nevada. There, on August 13, 1931, the party completed the first ascent of the last unclimbed 14,000+ foot peak in California, which remained unnamed due to its remote location above thePalisade Glacier.After a challenging ascent to the summit, the climbers were caught in an intense lightning storm, and Eichorn barely escaped electrocution when "a thunderbolt whizzed right by my ear". The mountain was namedThunderbolt Peakto commemorate that close call.[2]
On April 15, 1934, Robinson, Jules Eichorn and Dick Leonard of the Cragmont Climbing Club assembled the most advanced set of climbing gear then in use in North America, much of which they had obtained from Germany, and successfully climbed Higher Cathedral Spire onCathedral PeakinYosemite National Park.[3]This was the first major technical ascent in the famous scenic valley that became a mecca of rock climbing.[4]
From October 9 to 12, 1939 a Sierra Club climbing team including Robinson,David Brower,Raffi Bedayn, and John Dyer, completed the first ascent ofShiprock,the erosional remnant of the throat of a volcano with nearly vertical walls on theNavajo reservationin northwestern New Mexico. This climb, ratedYDSIII, 5.7 A2, was the first in the United States to use expansion bolts for protection.[5]
Environmentalist and outdoorsman
editRobinson served as a director of the Sierra Club from 1935 to 1966.[6]He was the president of the Sierra Club from 1946 to 1948.[7]He also served as a member of the Advisory Committee on Conservation to theSecretary of the Interior.In 1942, he served as chairman of the Committee on Uniform Touring Tests of the National Ski Association, now known as theUnited States Ski and Snowboard Association.
Attorney
editEarly in his legal career, he was a partner in the firm of Robinson & Robinson. From the 1940s through the 1960s, he was a partner in the law firm of Breed, Robinson & Stewart in Oakland, CA. He specialized in housing and property law.
Wartime Inventor
editDuring theSecond World WarRobinson served in theUnited States Armyand was assigned to the Office of theQuartermaster general,where he worked on the development of improved equipment and clothing for the army's mountain divisions. He joined a skilled wartime team led byRobert Batesthat included mountaineers William P. House,H. Adams Carter,Terris Moore,Bradford Washburnand Australian arctic explorerHubert Wilkins.[8]On July 27, 1943, he was awarded a U. S. patent for his design of M-1942 (later, M-1942-MOD PW-1-45), a lightweight folding stove for military use.[9]His invention was used in combat by members of the10th Mountain Division,and was described as an "ingenious little gasoline-powered stove that Bestor Robinson and the Quartermaster General's office had developed".[10]He was promoted to Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army.
References
edit- ^Cohen, Michael P. (1988).The History of the Sierra Club: 1892 – 1970.San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.ISBN0-87156-732-6.
- ^Farquhar, Francis P., History of the Sierra Nevada (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1965)ISBN0-520-01551-7
- ^Robinson, Bestor (1995) [1973]. "The First Ascent of the Higher Cathedral Spire". InGalen Rowell(ed.).The Vertical World of Yosemite.Berkeley, CA: Wilderness Press. pp. 8–14.ISBN978-0-911824-87-2.
- ^Jones, Chris, Climbing in North America (American Alpine Club & University of California Press, Berkeley, 1976)ISBN0-520-02976-3
- ^Roper, Steve;Steck, Allen(1979).Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.ISBN0-87156-292-8.pages 209 – 215
- ^"Roster of Sierra Club Directors"(PDF).Sierra Club.Retrieved2009-10-23.
- ^"List of Club Officers"(PDF).Sierra Club. 2009. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2 December 2008.Retrieved30 December2009.
- ^House, William P. (1997) [1946]. "Mountain Equipment for the U.S. Army".American Alpine Journal.Seattle, WA: The Mountaineers. pp. 20–30.ISBN0-930410-44-0.
- ^
- Robinson, Bestor (July 27, 1943)."2,325,077 Folding Stove"(PDF).United States Patent Office.Retrieved16 December2009.
- https://patents.google /patent/US2354221A/en
- https://patents.google /patent/US2455950A/en
- https://patents.google /patent/USD133054S/en
- https://patents.google /patent/USD133049S/en
- https://patents.google /patent/USD133440S/en
- https://patents.google /patent/USD133053S/en
- ^Shelton, Peter (2003).Climb to Conquer: The Untold Story of WWII's 10th Mountain Division.New York: Simon & Schuster.ISBN0-7432-2606-2.