Browne, Belmore, 1880-1954

Dates

• Existence: 1880 - 1954

Biography

Belmore Brown was born in 1880, on Staten Island, New York. Browne attended the New York School of Art, and after completing his studies, joined Andrew J. Stone's Alaskan big game expeditions (1901-1902) as a hunter and artist. In 1906, Browne joined Dr. Frederick A. Cook's expedition to Mt. McKinley, Alaska. The party failed to reach the summit of the mountain, but Dr. Cook later claimed that he and a guide had done so. In 1910, Browne and Professor Herschel Parker mounted another expedition; photographs in the Browne collection show that the "summit" Dr. Cook professed to have scaled is really a much lower peak miles from the real top of Mt. McKinley. A third expedition in 1912, also led by Browne and Prof. Parker, failed to reach the summit by only a few feet when the party was repeatedly driven back by storms. Belmore Browne was also a writer, publishing 'The Conquest of Mt. McKinley' in 1913, and writing several other adventure stories for young readers. He wrote and illustrated magazine articles, lectured widely on his Mt. McKinley experiences, created outdoor dioramas for various museums, and painted many outdoor scenes on canvas. Because of his vast wilderness experience, Belmore Browne was an expert on survival techniques. During World War II, he was an advisor for the Arctic Training Schools in Canada and Colorado, and helped train British Lovat Scouts in outdoor procedures. After the war, Browne continued to act as a consultant for the Air Force. He died in 1954.

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