Darby Field (1610–1649) was the first European to climb Mount Washington in New Hampshire.

Biography

Of English ancestry, Field was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. His father was John Field of London. By 1636, he immigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, and settled in Durham, New Hampshire, by 1638, where he ran a ferry from what is now called Durham Point to the town of Newington, across Little Bay. He was known as an Indian translator. Field's ascent of Mount Washington, in 1642, when he was about 32 years of age, was recorded by Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in his journal: Darby Field was remarkably accurate in the estimated distances, though the distant bodies of water were likely cloud-banks, and his description of the top of Mount Washington was likewise accurate. Field's feat was repeated only a handful of times over the next 150 years. The account of a party of hikers in 1816 shows that they followed Darby Field's notes as a guide and simply saw him as overenthusiastic at the summit; "The relation of Darby field, may be considered as in the main correct, after making reasonable deductions for the distance, the length of the Muscovy glass, and the quantity of water in view, which it may be suspected has not been seen by any visitor since his time." At that time, mica (Muscovy glass) was used in the manufacturing of stoves and was quite an expensive commodity. Darby Field and his wife Agnes had five children before his death in 1649 at Dover, New Hampshire. Mount Field in the Willey Range of the White Mountains is named in his honor. Field is featured on a New Hampshire historical marker (number 11) along New Hampshire Route 16 in Pinkham's Grant.

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