Mt. McKinley, 20,300 ft., Alaska, circa 1915

About this postcard

The snow-covered summit of Mount McKinley fills the center of the frame, rising above dark foothills and tundra under a pale, hazy sky. The caption's figure of 20,300 feet was the elevation generally accepted in the early twentieth century; later surveys placed the summit slightly higher. The peak is the highest in North America and the centerpiece of the Alaska Range, and views like this one were standard souvenirs for tourists heading north by steamship and rail in the years before Mount McKinley National Park was established in 1917.