the first Japanese Antarctic Expedition led by Nobu Shirase landed a shore party on the peninsula. Dean Smith was the pilot during aerial overflights in 1929 with Richard E. Byrd's first Antarctic expedition (1928–1930). It originated from Little America near Amundsen's original base camp Framheim in the Bay of Whales, led to the discovery of the Rockefeller Mountains and the Edsel Ford Ranges farther to the east. Byrd named the region after his wife Marie. A geological party led by L. Gould briefly explored parts of the Rockefeller Mountains. The first deep overland exploration occurred during the second Byrd expedition (1933–1935) when a sledge party led by Paul Siple and Franklin Alton Wade reached as far east as the Fosdick Mountains in 1934. Aerial exploration discovered lands farther east along the Ruppert Coast. The Third Byrd Antarctic Expedition, also called the United States Antarctic Service Expedition, took place from 1939 to 1941. This expedition established two base camps apart. West Base was near the former Little America base (68° 29' S, 163° 57' W) and East Base was near the Antarctic Peninsula on Stonington Island (68° 12' S, 67° 03' W). Exploration flights out of these two bases led to the discovery of most of the Marie Byrd Land Volcanic Province (e.g. Executive Committee Range) and much of the coastal region including the Walgreen, Hobbs, and Ruppert Coasts. During the expedition trail parties from West Base visited the northern Ford Ranges and south slopes of the Fosdick Mountains. The United States Navy mounted several expeditions to Antarctica in the period 1946 to 1959. These expeditions (Operation Highjump led by R. E. Byrd, Windmill, and Deep Freeze I–IV) included aerial photography using the Trimetrogon system of aerial photographs (TMA; vertical, left, and right oblique images over the same point) over portions of coastal Marie Byrd Land. The U.S. Navy began construction of Byrd Station at 80°S, 120°W with traverses out of Little America V in 1956–57 during Deep Freeze II. These efforts were in advance of the International Geophysical Year (IGY; from July 1957 to end of 1958) that saw several exploratory overland traverses with tractor trains (Sno-cats and modified bulldozers). Starting in January 1957 (pre-IGY) Charles R. Bentley led a traverse from Little America V to the new Byrd station along the route blazed by United States Army engineers a few months before (the Army-Navy Drive). His team conducted measurements