The Washington Monument is something about the first ascent of San Bernardino peak. They climbed up there for the original government survey of SoCal. - "In 1852, Colonel Henry Washington of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was assigned the task of establishing an initial point from which an east-west base line and a north-south meridian could be surveyed. This point would provide land surveys for all of Southern California. His choice? The 10,624 foot San Bernardino Peak looming high over the San Bernardino Valley and visible from Los Angeles. From this point, 5 ½ miles distant he spotted the bald mass of San Gorgonio Mountain — the first official notice of the peak."