Thunder Mountain is located in the northern part of the Great Western Divide

Great Western Divide

The Great Western Divide is a Sierra Nevada mountain range that forms part of the border between the Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. The High Sierra Trail crosses the range at Kaweah Gap from Sequoia National Park.- References :...

, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The summit marks a point on the boundary between Sequoia

Sequoia National Park

Sequoia National Park is a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California, in the United States. It was established on September 25, 1890. The park spans . Encompassing a vertical relief of nearly , the park contains among its natural resources the highest point in the...

 and Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon National Park is a National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Fresno, California. The park was established in 1940 and covers...

 national parks and is 0.6 mile (0.965604 km) north of Table Mountain and south 2.8 miles (4.5 km) Mount Brewer

Mount Brewer

Mount Brewer is on the Great Western Divide, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada in California. It is located in Kings Canyon National Park,The peak was named for William Henry Brewer who worked on the first California Geological Survey and was the first Chair of Agriculture at Yale University's...

. Thunder pass, on the mountains east side, has an elevation of 12,720+ feet (3 877+ m). This pass marks the western end of the Kings-Kern Divide.

The mountain was named by George R. Davis, a topographer

Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...

 with the United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

. He made the first ascent, in August 1905, to establish a benchmark

Benchmark (surveying)

The term bench mark, or benchmark, originates from the chiseled horizontal marks that surveyors made in stone structures, into which an angle-iron could be placed to form a "bench" for a leveling rod, thus ensuring that a leveling rod could be accurately repositioned in the same place in the future...

 on the summit.
The name appears on the Mt. Whitney, USGS 30 minute topographic map of 1905,
and was officially recognized by the Board on Geographic Names

United States Board on Geographic Names

The United States Board on Geographic Names is a United States federal body whose purpose is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the U.S. government.-Overview:...

in 1928.