ARTHUR CHILD TATE

1877-1965

Arthur Tate was born in Brooklyn, New York. He studied mechanical engineering at Cornell University and was with the A. H. Emery Company all his life, first as a partner and later as president. They designed and built devices for measuring the strength of materials.

He was extremely interested in art and after the age of 80 he took a number of trips to Italy, Switzerland and Spain, where he thoroughly enjoyed the artistic treasures. At 86 he flew to Nova Scotia for a trip through the Bras d’Or Lakes and Cape Breton.

From 1915 to the age of almost 80 he visited the mountains frequently, his actual climbing covering about 25 years. In 1916 he made the first ascent of Bivouac Peak in the Tetons with "Wild Bill” Scott, the latter a reformed character from the days when the Tetons were scarcely safe for law-abiding citizens. In 1922 he made the last first ascent of the highest point in a state, that of Gannett Peak (13,785 feet) in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. Other ascents, sometimes firsts, came in many ranges of the western United States, the Canadian Rockies, and in Scotland and Norway. From the age of 60 to 80 he walked and scrambled in most of the ranges of northeastern United States and occasionally in the Alps.

Never really active in the American Alpine Club, which he joined in 1919, he nevertheless attended annual meetings and dinners until about ten years ago.

Henry S. Hall, Jr.