Brum, Big Agnes is a prominent mountain northeast of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where the company is located. I grew up taking horsepacking trips in that area--6 weeks every summer (that was in the 1950's). I'm going back there for a backpacking trip (on foot) this summer. My mother once did some research on some of the place names there, but she had no luck with Big Agnes, who seems doomed to remain anonymous.
According to
Summit Post:
Who The Heck Was Big Agnes?
I have no idea.
Raymond Ave, the author of a Mount Zirkel Wilderness guidebook and website responded to my email inquiry:
According to the Historic Guide to Routt County, Big Agnes Mountain was named by Robert McIntosh who prospected the area for gold in 1875. It didn’t really say who Agnes was. That’s all I know. I also know that the Historic Guide to Routt County said that Mt. Zirkel was named for an trapper who lived near the mountain, but in fact it was named for Ferdinand Zirkel who (according to documents from the US Geologic Survey) conducted petrographic analysis on some rock samples collected on a geologic exploration in the area in the late 1800’s – so I always take whatever I read in the Historic Guide to Routt County with a grain of salt.
A similar question to Routt National Forest Service office came up empty-handed. Web search hits turn up the name of a sleeping bag manufacturer in Steamboat Springs. So whoever Agnes was, in exactly what manner she was big, and why Robert McIntosh named a mountain after her remains a mystery.
Previous Topic
Index
