Walter Harper was the first person to reach the summit of Mount McKinley/Denali

Mount McKinley

Mount McKinley or Denali in Alaska, United States is the highest mountain peak in North America and the United States, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.- Geology and features :Mount McKinley is a granitic pluton...

, the highest mountain in North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

. Harper, an Alaska Native, was part of the mountaineering team of Hudson Stuck

Hudson Stuck

Hudson Stuck with Harry P. Karstens co-led the first expedition to successfully climb the South Peak of Mount McKinley.Stuck, an Episcopal Archdeacon, was born in London and graduated from King's College London...

. He reached the summit on Saturday, 7 June 1913, followed by the remaining members of the team, Stuck, Harry Karstens and Robert Tatum.

Walter Harper named Harper Glacier

Harper Glacier

Harper Glacier is a small tributary glacier which descends northeast between Mount Gibbs and Mount Adamson of the Deep Freeze Range to enter Campbell Glacier, in Victoria Land. Mapped by United States Geological Survey from surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1960-64. Named by Advisory Committee on...

, adjacent to Karstens' Ridge, after his father Arthur Harper.

The youngest of eight children, Walter Harper was the son of Jennie Harper, an Athabascan Indian from the Koyukuk

Koyukuk River

The Koyukuk River is a principal tributary of the Yukon River, approximately 500 mi long, in northern Alaska in the United States.It drains an area north of the Yukon on the southern side of the Brooks Range...

 region, and Arthur Harper, a Scotsman from Scotland. He died in the sinking of the SS Princess Sophia on October 25, 1918.