About Henry Eld

Born on June 2, 1814 in Connecticut, Henry Eld signed on at the age of 14 on the schooner Peacock and trained as a geographer. During his first research trip through Oregon and California, he made 43 detailed maps and 42 drawings of the countries between the Columbia River and the Sacramento Valley. Less than ten years later, Eld participated in Capt. Charles Wilkes led the United States Exploring Expedition with the aim of finding the Antarctic continent. In fact, during his off watch, Eld was the first to spot the northern tip of Macquarie Island and lead the first shore leave, which is why Capt. Wilkes named the highest mountain of the discovered island Eld Peak.