Location: Kern County, California
Name’s origin remains unknown. Who it could have been named for (whether early miner, homesteader, or surveyor) remains a mystery. This area is under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, but their Archeologist, Joan Oxendine, could offer no further clues. Nor is there any record of any “Morris” in the Kern County Pioneer Museum in Bakersfield, Maturango Museum of the Indian Wells Valley in Ridgecrest, Victorville Historical Society, or the Kernville Historical Society. The first printed evidence of this name appears on a USFS map, but Archaeologists Stephanie Tungate (Sequoia), and Linda Reynolds (Inyo) can’t even guess who the “Morris” in question was. The nearest miss is Sequoia N.F. Supervisor Henry Norris (ca. 1930). Bob Powers, whose family homesteaded the Walker Pass area in 1862 doesn’t remember any Morris family. Even the usually knowledgeable Ruby Jenkins could only add “Gee, I’ve always wondered where that name came from too.”
First printed record of this peak name is from first survey party’s field notes (1926). “Morris” first appears on the 15′ USGS Inyokern quad (1943). Lisa Kok, Domestic Names specialist at the USGS Rocky Mountain Geodetic Control Center at Denver, believes that the Morris in question was part of the original surveying team but at the time of publication could not find written records of the names of the men who comprised this first team.
Name first appears on USFS Sequoia National Forest (South Half) map (1940).
Peak was added to the HPS Peak List in 1971.
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