Background
John La Mountain was born in Wayne County, New York. He has sometimes been confused with another aeronaut, Edward Lamountane, who was killed at Ionia, Michigan, on July 4, 1873, while making an ascension with a Montgolfier paper balloon.
John La Mountain was born in Wayne County, New York. He has sometimes been confused with another aeronaut, Edward Lamountane, who was killed at Ionia, Michigan, on July 4, 1873, while making an ascension with a Montgolfier paper balloon.
La Mountain seems to have been a sailor, but he became interested in ballooning at an early age. He made several ascensions, one at Bennington, Vt. , in company with O. A. Gager; and in 1859 he and Gager became associated with the veteran John Wise, who had appealed to Congress for an appropriation of $15, 000 to build a balloon of sufficient gas capacity to cross the Atlantic.
Under the leadership of Wise, La Mountain and Gager constructed the balloon Atlantic for rapid transportation of mails and passengers from the United States to Europe. It was a spheroid fifty feet in diameter, carrying a wicker car above a light wooden boat. The Trans-Atlantic Balloon Company as organized consisted of Wise, La Mountain, Gager, and Messrs. Johnson and Gilbert.
On July 1, 1859, just before 7:00 P. M. , Wise, La Mountain, Gager and a reporter named William Hyde, left St. Louis, Mo. , hoping to reach New York City, and the next day passed over Lake Erie, crossing near Niagara Falls at a height of 10, 000 feet. They journeyed on over Lake Ontario, gradually falling. All ballast had been used and the weather became very unsettled. It was impossible to make a landing on the ground, owing to high wind. They therefore decided to swamp the balloon in the lake; but the attempt failed. After crossing the lake, the balloon crashed into trees and the aeronauts climbed down to earth at Henderson, Jefferson County, New York, about 2:35 P. M. on July 2. They had traveled over a thousand miles (850 in an air line), the longest air voyage on record to that date. La Mountain with one other companion, J. A. Haddock, made a second trip in the Atlantic, starting from Watertown, New York, September 22, 1859. Drifting into Canada, they were forced to land in the wilderness about a hundred and fifty miles north of Ottawa and were finally rescued by trappers.
Early in 1861 La Mountain joined the Army of the Potomac and was able to give General McClellan important information regarding the position of the enemy, inasmuch as his balloon on one occasion, Aug. 10, 1861, passed over the enemy's lines at a height of one mile and a half. Recognizing that he was in some danger of being captured if the voyage continued in that direction, and aware of a west wind at greater altitude, he threw out ballast until he reached a height of nearly three miles. The wind direction at this height, as he had anticipated, brought the balloon back and he was able to make a landing in Maryland and to report what he had seen to Major-General Butler. General McClellan was much impressed with the possibilities of this use of the balloon, and four additional balloons were ordered for service.
Later several officers of high rank made ascensions of moderate height under La Mountain's direction; but for various reasons, largely connected with the difficulty of transporting the balloons, the aeronautic section did not develop as had been expected. La Mountain's companions on his aerial voyages give him credit for his good judgment at critical moments and speak of him as a daring and brave aeronaut. His name is sometimes spelled La Mountane, which may have been the original form.
La Mountain was known as a ballooning pioneer. The most long-distance flight lasted 1 850 km from St. Louis, Missouri to Henderson, Jefferson County. He also employed balloons as aerial observation platforms for the Union army and was accredited with having made the first report of useful intelligence on enemy activity.
