The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Whitney, Mount
peak, 14,494 ft (4,418 m) high, E Calif., in the Sierra Nevada at the eastern border of Sequoia National Park; the highest peak in the contiguous 48 states (Mt. McKinley, Alaska, is the highest peak in the United States). It is connected by a scenic highway with Death Valley. The peak is named for U.S. geologist Josiah D. Whitney, who surveyed it in 1864.
