Franklin Rhoda

Franklin Rhoda (July 14, 1854 - Sept. 10, 1929). In the words of historian Mike Foster, Frank Rhoda was an "artist, musician, writer, surveyor, naturalist, social critic, defender of civil liberties and champion of Christ - the only theme unifying his versatile life was idealism that aimed to reform almost everything he encountered."

Born in Crescent City, California, he grew up on a large fruit farm in the Fruitvale section of Oakland. Rhoda studied civil engineering at the University of California and in 1872 at age 19 he was the youngest member of that institution's first graduating class. The University tried to recruit him to teach mathematics. In addition he informally studied ancient Greek and Hebrew during his college days.

For three summer seasons (1873 - 75) he worked with his half brother A. D. Wilson as assistant topographer producing eloquete notes and detailed sketches of mountains in southwestern Colorado. Rhoda's chronicling of the 1874 Hayden Survey has been considered one of the "best of the last century in American mountaineering", and parts of his account were published in the Pittsburgh Gazette. Through the efforts of Mike Foster, his 1874 survey notes were published in a 1984 book, "Summits to Reach." As part of the surveys, he scaled six mountains over 14,000 feet including Uncompahgre Peak, Mt. Wilson (named for A.D. Wilson), Mt. Sneffels, Handies Peak, San Luis Peak, and Sunshine Peak. In all, Wilson and Rhoda “climbed 35 summits over 12,000 feet in order to triangulate for mapping the great San Juan uplift. Mount Rhoda a 13,402 foot peak in San Juan County, CO is named for him.[2] A photography of Rhoda and A.D. Wilson on top of Sultan Mountain appears on the cover of “Great Surveys of the American West” by Richard A. Bartlett.

While Rhoda was assisting his father, in operating the fruit farm during the 1870s, he was also active in many social and political causes. He wrote numerous articles "attacking financiers, especially stockbrokers and real estate agents...he fired equal wrath at apparently socialistic Irishmen who were organizing the labor force in California. He was particularly upset about the persecution of the Chinese and wrote detailed letters to local and national newspapers defending them. Newspapers also published his writings on nature, philsophical and political topics.

Frank Rhoda was always religious and in 1880 he co-founded a Presbyterian Sunday School in Fruitvale which evolved into a full church in 1890. In 1882 he published a small book, "Bible Gems," a collection of verses from the Old and New Testaments which he grouped into 39 key themes.

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