Mount Rainier is one of the noblest and most imposing mountains in the
world. It stands isolated. Around it are countless peaks, but these
are so small that they but emphasize the colossal bulk and towering
height of majestic Rainier. It is 14,408 feet high. The altitudinal
sweep of the Park is ten thousand feet. Only Mount Rainier territory
is in the Park. The area is three hundred and twenty-four square
miles--about eighteen miles square. Yet so vast is this mountain that
an extensive part of it is outside the Park boundaries. Its outline is
intensified by the extraordinary make-up of black and white which
characterizes it. The upper half of it is strangely white with masses
of snow and ice. The lower slopes are purplish black with dense
coniferous forests. Between the snow and the forest is a magnificent
belt of wild flowers.
Mount Rainier is a sleeping volcano. Beneath its shell of stone is a
heart of fire. Upon this shell are snow-fields and glaciers, rushing
rivers, a stupendous forest, wild-flower gardens in which millions of
"bannered blossoms open their bosoms to the sun."
Additional territory is needed to protect scenery not now in the Park,
and especially for Park road development. At a number of points along
the southern boundary the road winds outside the Park. A similar
condition will exist on the eastern side when the eastern road-system
is built. Much good would result from starting at the southeast corner
of the Park and adding a six-mile strip twelve miles long on the south
and another strip of equal size on the east.
Mount Rainier lies about sixty miles eastward from Seattle and Tacoma.
An excellent automobile road enters the southern boundary and extends
into the Park, passing the snout of the Nisqually Glacier. The
road-plan of the Park embraces an encircling scenic highway around the
mountain on the lower slopes. This road is to be united with entrance
roads from the north, south, east, and west. A trail about fifty miles
long circles this peak near timber-line. It penetrates fifty miles of
unexcelled beauty and splendor. It touches a thousand different scenes
and ever commands the world of light and shade that lies far below and
far away.
Small inns are to be built along this wilderness way. What a poetic,
scene-crowded way to travel! Every boy and girl might well plan to
walk round mighty Rainier on this commanding circle pathway.
[Illustration: STAGE ROAD, MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK]
The uppermost edge of Rainier's dark primeval forest ends at
timber-line in peninsulas, bays, and islands. Between the ragged edges
of the forest and the broken edges of the ice and snow is a
magnificent wild-flower scenic belt, or zone, a mile or two in
width. Mingling are ice, snow, broken groves, brilliant wild flowers,
streams, crags, meadows, and a thousand cascades. Through this scenic
zone lies the timber-line trail.
Steam is constantly issuing from the craters in the summit. During the
last century, there were a number of slight eruptions, the most recent
one occurring in 1870. Indian legends tell of a great cataclysm during
which the summit of the mountain was blown to pieces and scattered
afar. Apparently the peak, before this explosion, was about two
thousand feet higher than at present. The shattered summit indicates
the reality of this traditionary explosion and previous height. It is
three miles across the summit. A part of the great crater-rim still
remains, and Liberty Cap and Peak Success strongly testify to former
elevation and grandeur.
Often this splendid peak wears a vast wreath or belt of clouds or
mists. Visitors to the middle slopes frequently have the delightful
experience of being above the clouds. François E. Matthes, the
well-known geologist, thinks this mountain a wonderful source of
inspiration and wishes that it were possible for all people to share
it. He says, "No doubt the time will come when a pilgrimage to Mount
Rainier shall be esteemed among the most precious joys, the most
coveted privileges which a citizen of this country may hope to realize
for himself or for his fellows."
George Vancouver, the explorer, discovered Mount Rainier in 1792. It
was named in honor of Peter Rainier, an English admiral. Theodore
Winthrop, author of that classic book of travel, "Canoe and Saddle,"
visited the region in 1853. He was an ardent advocate of the original
Indian names of conspicuous objects of interest. The Indian name for
this peak was Tahoma. It is encouraging that the people of Seattle and
Tacoma may early unite to ask that this name be adopted. Said Mr.
Winthrop in "Canoe and Saddle":--
Let us, therefore, develop our own world. It has taken us two
centuries to discover our proper West across the Mississippi, and
to know by indefinite hearsay that among the groups of the Rockies
are heights worth notice.
Farthest away in the West, as near the western sea as mountains
can stand, are the Cascades. Sailors can descry their landmarked
summits firmer than a cloud, a hundred miles away.... Kulshan,
misnamed Mount Baker by the vulgar, is an irregular, massive,
mound-shaped peak.... South of Kulshan the range continues dark,
rough and somewhat unmeaning to the eye, until it is relieved by
Tahoma.
Mount Tahoma was first climbed in 1870 by General Hazard Stevens and
P. B. Van Trump. The first woman to climb it was Miss Fay Fuller, who
went to the summit in 1890. The Indians appear not to have climbed
above the snow-line. They had little occasion to go higher, and they
believed that the god of the mountain forbade their ascending farther.
In 1883, Henry Villard, president of the Northern Pacific Railroad,
sent a large party to enjoy the scenes on the slopes of Mount
Rainier. Among those in the party were James Bryce, afterward British
Ambassador to the United States, and Bailey Willis. These two
gentlemen appear to have discussed the importance of having this peak
set aside as a National Park. On the completion of this excursion,
James Bryce and others recommended to Henry Villard that efforts be
made to have this Park created. Later, similar requests were made by
individuals and organizations, and a recommendation to this effect was
made in writing by the National Academy of Sciences. In 1899 the Park
was established.