Mount Elbert was named by miners in honor of Samuel Hitt Elbert , the governor of the then @-@ Territory of Colorado , because he brokered a treaty in September 1873 with the Ute tribe that opened up more than 3 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 acres ( 12 @,@ 000 km2 ) of reservation land to mining and railroad activity . The first recorded ascent of the peak was by H.W. Stuckle in 1874 , who was surveying the mountain as part of the Hayden Survey .