Weldon Baxter Cooke (28 June 1884 - September 6, 1914) was a pioneer aviator. Early life He was born on June 28, 1884 in Oakland, California to Ada L. and William H. Cooke. Cooke grew up in Lockeford, California. Cooke's grandfather, Dr. Dean Jewett Locke, was the founder of the town of Lockeford. Cooke attended the University of California where he graduated from the California School of Mechanical Arts and the College of Electrical Engineering. In 1910, Cooke was racing cars and living in Oakland. Aviation career In 1910, Cooke built and flew a Montgomery-type glider. In 1911, barge captain Lan Maupin and shipyard owner Bernard Lanteri constructed a biplane of their own design in Pittsburg, California that they named 'Black Diamond' after the nearby coal mines. In June 1911 Maupin and Lanteri took a few test hops in their aircraft and decided they needed a professional pilot and hired Cooke, even though Cooke had never flown a powered aircraft. Throughout the summer of 1911,Cooke practiced in the Black Diamond several times a day and made his exhibition flying debut at the Walnut Creek Grape Festival on October 6,7 1911. On 19 December 1911 Cooke was the first person to overfly Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California in the Black Diamond. The flight ended in Mill Valley, California in-route to Oakland after an engine failure and glide to landing from 2000 ft of altitude. In early 1912, Cooke passed his test for his pilot's license, which was presented to him by Oakland Mayor Frank K. Mott on Jan. 13, 1912. He received Aero Club of America's pilots license # 95, making him the second licensed pilot in California. Cooke's Black Diamond exhibition flying culminated in its appearance in the January 1912 Los Angeles International air meet at Dominguez Field. Cooke's flying was outstanding, setting the meet record for endurance and altitude, winning $7,400 in prizes. In 1911 and 1912, including the Los Angeles prize money, Cooke's flying earned Maupin and Lanteri's now named 'Diamond Airplane Co.', a total of $14,800. The Los Angeles meet was the last flight of the Black Diamond. The Black Diamond was disassembled and put into storage and, in 1948, the Maupin family donated it to the Smithsonian. In 1998, it was offered to the Hiller Aviation Museum where it was restored and put on display. At an exhibition on December 31, 1911 – January 1,