=Juncus mertensianus= Bongard.
Frequent along rills even up to 8,000 feet altitude.
=CYPERACEAE.= (Sedge Family.)
=Eriophorum polystachion= Linnaeus.
This "cotton-grass" occurs in the low ground around the lakes near the
base of Pinnacle Peak.
=Carex paddoensis= Suksdorf.
Springy places at 8,000 feet altitude; Allen, 172; Piper, 2541.
=Carex pyrenaica= Wahlenberg.
With the preceding; Allen, 171; Piper, 2540.
=Carex phaeocephala= Piper.
Dryish places at 7,500 feet elevation; Piper, 2535.
=Carex preslii= Bailey.
Common at 5,000 feet, along streams.
=Carex pachystachya= Chamisso.
This species occurs along rills in Paradise Park.
=Carex nigricans= Meyer.
Common at 4,000 to 6,000 feet elevation.
=Carex rossii= Boott.
On the grassy ridge above Sluiskin Falls.
=Carex geyeri= Boott.
Goat Mountains, Allen, 169.
=Carex mertensii= Prescott.
Rare along stream banks at about 4,000 feet altitude. Some of our
specimens came from near the foot of Cowlitz Glacier.
=Carex spectabilis= Dewey.
(_C. invisa_ Bailey.)
In wet meadows at 4,000 feet elevation.
=Carex scopulorum= Holm.
With the preceding.
=Carex ablata= Bailey.
Frequent in the meadows of Paradise Park.
=Carex accedens= Holm.
Paradise Park; Piper, 2550.
=Carex arcta= Boott.
Mount Rainier, 4,000 feet altitude; Allen 271.
=Carex atrata= Linnaeus.
Collected by Allen, August 14, 1895.
=Carex laeviculmis= Meinschausen.
In swamps near the foot of the mountain.
=Carex hepburnii= Boott.
A handsome little plant common at 8,000 feet altitude.
=Carex kelloggii= W. Boott.
Along Paradise River; Piper, 2548.
=Carex rigida= Goodenough.
Allen, 269, and Piper, 2533, are referred here. The last-named
specimens are from near the foot of Pinnacle Peak.
=GRAMINEAE.= (Grass Family.)
=Phleum alpinum= Linnaeus.
The "mountain timothy" is of frequent occurrence at 5,000 to 6,000
feet altitude.
=Agrostis geminata= Trinius.
Collected by Allen, in 1894.
=Agrostis aequivalvis= Trinius.
The plant referred here is common on the banks of the Paradise River
up to 5,000 feet.
=Agrostis rossae= Vasey.
Slopes at 6,000 feet elevation; common.
=Agrostis humilis= Vasey.
Abundant in springy places at 8,500 feet elevation.
=Calamagrostis vaseyi= Beal.
Goat Mountains, Allen, and common on the rocky ridges north of Cowlitz
Glacier.
=Calamagrostis scabra= Presl.
Not rare at 5,500 feet elevation; near Sluiskin Falls, Piper; Tatoosh
Mountains, Allen.
=Deschampsia atropurpurea= (Wahlenberg) Scheele.
Common at 5,000 to 6,000 feet elevation.
=Danthonia intermedia= Vasey.
Common at about 5,000 feet altitude.
=Trisetum cernuum= Trinius.
Moist places up to 5,000 feet altitude.
=Trisetum spicatum= (Linnaeus) Richter.
Rare on the ridge near Camp of the Clouds.
=Cinna latifolia= (Treviranus) Grisebach.
Common in wet ground about Longmire Springs.
=Poa arctica= R. Brown.
A grass doubtfully referred to this species is common at 5,500 feet
elevation.
=Poa paddensis= Williams.
One of the most frequent grasses at 5,000 to 6,000 feet.
=Poa saxatilis= Scribner & Williams.
On rock cliffs at 6,000 feet. The type of this species is Piper No.
1964, from above Camp of the Clouds.
=Poa suksdorfii= Vasey.
Rather rare in the pumice at 9,000 feet elevation.
=Poa lettermani= Vasey.
On the slopes near Camp Muir, growing with the preceding.
=Festuca viridula= Vasey.
The finest grass on the slopes. Abundant at 5,000 feet elevation.
=Festuca ovina supina= (Schur) Hackel.
In the pumice fields at 8,000 feet altitude.
=Festuca subulata= Trinius.
Longmire Springs, in moist places.
=Bromus marginatus= Nees.
A species doubtfully referred here was collected on the mountains in
1890 by Rev. E. C. Smith. No specimens of it are now in our
possession.
=Sitanion rigidum= J. G. Smith.
Pumice fields at 8,000 feet.
=Sitanion glabrum= J. G. Smith.
Common on the rocky ridges north of Cowlitz Glacier.
=Sitanion rubescens= Piper.
Dry slopes on the south side of the mountain.
=SPARGANIACEAE.= (Bur-reed Family.)
=Sparganium minimum= Fries.
Collected in 1890 by Rev. E. C. Smith, in one of the small lakes near
the base of Pinnacle Peak.
=TAXACEAE.= (Yew Family.)
=Taxus brevifolia= Nuttall. Western Yew.
The yew is not uncommon along the trail from Longmire Springs to
Paradise Park. It does not ascend much above 3,000 feet elevation.
=PINACEAE.= (Pine Family.)
=Juniperus sibirica= Burgsdorff. Mountain Juniper.
The alpine juniper occurs on the banks of the Nisqually, near Longmire
Springs, and is common on the rocks up to 7,500 feet elevation.
=Chamaecyparis nootkatensis= (Lambert) Spach. Alaska Cedar.
The Alaska cedar ranges on the mountain slopes from 3,500 feet up to
6,000 feet altitude. It is far more abundant on the north side of the
peak than on the south. Few, if any, specimens exceed four feet in
diameter, and where the trees are most abundant the trunks are only
one or two feet through.
=Abies grandis= Lindley. White Fir.
Some trees, without cones, which were observed on the trail above
Longmire Springs, are doubtfully referred here. They are more likely
to belong to the following species.
=Abies amabilis= (Douglas) Forbes. Lovely Fir.
The Lovely fir is abundant at from 2,500 to 3,500 feet elevation. It
is usually but a small tree, with beautifully symmetrical form. Except
when fruiting, it is difficult to distinguish from the lowland white
fir.
=Abies nobilis= Lindley. Noble Fir.
The finest of all the firs, frequently four to six feet in diameter,
without a single branch for a hundred feet or more. Easily known by
the deep red color of the bark when chopped into, and by the large
cones, covered with reflexed bracts. Abundant at 4,000 to 5,000 feet.
=Abies lasiocarpa= (Hooker) Nuttall. Subalpine Fir.
This is the primly conical little fir so common in Paradise Park. It
rarely occurs below 4,500 feet elevation. Its dark purple pubescent
cones, only two or three inches long, readily distinguish it from the
preceding species.
=Pseudotsuga mucronata= (Rafinesque) Sudworth. Douglas Spruce.
The Douglas spruce is common up to 3,500 feet elevation. There is a
marked tendency of the cones to be relatively shorter and thicker at
this altitude, but otherwise the tree shows little variation from its
lowland typical form.
=Tsuga heterophylla= Rafinesque. Western Hemlock.
The Western hemlock is abundant at 3,000 feet altitude, but usually
much smaller than when growing near the sea level.
=Tsuga mertensiana= (Bongard) Carriere. Black Hemlock.
The Black hemlock is frequent from 4,000 to 6,000 feet elevation. On
the higher slopes it commonly forms clumps with the Subalpine fir.
When this is the case, the irregular form and dark foliage of the
hemlock, usually festooned with lichens, form a pleasing contrast to
the conical form and lighter foliage of the fir.
=Pinus albicaulis= Engelmann. White-bark Pine.
This white-barked nut pine is abundant on the high ridge north of the
Cowlitz Glacier. It also occurs above Camp of the Clouds. It rarely
fruits, and when it does the cones, with their sweet edible seeds, are
quickly torn to pieces by Clark's crow. The trunk and branches are
frequently adorned with the bright yellow lichen, _Evernia vulpina_.
=Pinus monticola= Douglas. Western White Pine.
Not uncommon at low elevations. The narrow cones, six to twelve inches
long, are characteristic.
=Pinus contorta= Douglas. Lodgepole Pine.
Reported by Mr. Gorman "on the moraines of the Nisqually."
=Picea engelmanni= Parry. Engelmann Spruce.
Rather a rare tree about Mount Rainier, at 3,500 feet elevation. In
the Sitka or Tideland spruce the leaves are decidedly flattened; in
the Engelmann spruce they are nearly square in cross section.
=ISOETACEAE.= (Quillwort Family.)
=Isoetes echinospora braunii= Engelmann.
Common in the small lakes near the foot of Pinnacle Peak.
=LYCOPODIACEAE.= (Club-moss Family.)
=Lycopodium annotinum= Linnaeus.
A large patch of this handsome species occurs at the point where the
trail first crosses Paradise River above Longmire Springs.
=Lycopodium sitchense= Ruprecht.
Common on the meadows at 4,000 feet elevation.
=EQUISETACEAE.= (Horsetail Family.)
=Equisetum limosum= Linnaeus.
This species occurs in the bog on top of the ridge above the foot of
Nisqually Glacier. The old trail to the park led through this bog.
=Equisetum arvense= Linnaeus.
Sterile fronds of this plant were observed at Longmire Springs.
=Equisetum robustum= A. Braun.
Common in damp places up to 3,000 feet elevation. Readily eaten by
cayuses.
=POLYPODIACEAE.= (Fern Family.)
=Polypodium hesperium= Maxon.
Not rare in rock crevices on the cliffs overlooking the lakes at the
foot of Pinnacle Peak.
=Phegopteris dryopteris= (Linnaeus) Fee.
The pretty "oak-fern" is abundant along the trail above Longmire's, in
deep woods.
=Phegopteris alpestris= (Hoppe) Mettenius.
Forming crown-like tufts in the talus at the foot of cliffs in
Paradise Park.
=Dryopteris spinulosa dilatata= (Hoffman) Underwood.
The common wood-fern is frequent in the forests at 3,000 feet
altitude.
=Polystichum lonchitis= (Linnaeus) Roth.
Specimens of this species are in my possession from Mount Rainier, but
the exact place of collection has passed my recollection. Presumably
it was found in or near Paradise Park.
=Filix fragilis= (Linnaeus) Underwood.
Diminutive specimens of this fern were collected on the cliffs at
8,000 feet altitude. Rev. E. C. Smith found much finer examples at a
lower elevation.
=Cryptogramma acrostichoides= R. Brown.
Common in the coarse gravel on the bars of the Nisqually, occurring
even at the foot of the glacier.
=OPHIOGLOSSACEAE.= (Adder's Tongue Family.)
=Botrychium lunaria= (Linnaeus) Swartz.
Specimens were collected by Rev. E. C. Smith on the north side of the
mountain in 1888.
=Botrychium lanceolatum= (S. G. Gmelin) Angstroem.
Longmire Springs, Allen, not otherwise known on the Pacific Coast.
FOOTNOTES:
[27] Am. Jour. Sci., 3d series, Vol. XXVI, 1883, pp. 222-235.
[28] Neues Jahrbuch für Min., etc., Vol. I, 1885, pp. 222-226.
[29] Observed by Iddings: Twelfth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, p.
612.
[30] Hague and Iddings: Twelfth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, p. 225.
[31] Oebbeke, _op. cit._, p. 226.
[32] Jour. Geol., Vol. IV, 1896, p. 276.
[33] Emmons, Bull. Am. Geog. Soc., 1877, No. 4, p. 45.
XVII. CREATION OF MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK
MEMORIAL BY SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES
A surprisingly wide interest was awakened by the proposal to
create a national park to include the great mass of Mount
Rainier and its immediate surroundings. Five societies
appointed committees to coöperate in securing the needed
legislation from Congress. Those committees prepared a
memorial. The Senate Miscellaneous Document, number 247,
Fifty-third Congress, second session, shows that the memorial
was introduced on July 16, 1894, by Senator Watson C. Squire
from the State of Washington. The memorial was deemed of
sufficient importance to be republished in the Eighteenth
Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey for
1896-1897. It is here reproduced from that publication.
With all the interest thus manifested, it required nearly
five years from the introduction of the memorial to witness
the achievement of its purpose. The act of Congress creating
the Mount Rainier National Park bears the date of March 2,
1899.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled:_
At a meeting of the Geological Society of America, in Madison, Wis.,
August 15, 1893, a committee was appointed for the purpose of
memorializing the Congress in relation to the establishment of a
national park in the State of Washington to include Mount Rainier,
often called Mount Tacoma. The committee consists of Dr. David T. Day,
Mr. S. F. Emmons, and Mr. Bailey Willis.
At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science, in Madison, Wis., August 21, 1893, a committee was appointed
by that body for the same purpose as above mentioned, consisting of
Maj. J. W. Powell, Prof. Joseph Le Conte, Prof. I. C. Russell, Mr. B.
E. Fernow, and Dr. C. H. Merriam.
At a meeting of the National Geographic Society, held in Washington,
D. C., on October 13, 1893, there was appointed a committee for the
purpose above mentioned, consisting of Hon. Gardiner G. Hubbard, Hon.
Watson C. Squire, Mr. John W. Thompson, Miss Mary F. Waite, and Miss
Eliza R. Scidmore.
At a meeting of the Sierra Club, held in San Francisco December 30,
1893, a committee for the same purpose was appointed, composed of Mr.
John Muir, President D. S. Jordan, Mr. R. M. Johnson, Mr. George B.
Bayley, Mr. P. B. Van Trump.
At a meeting of the Appalachian Mountain Club, held in Boston April
11, 1894, a similar committee was appointed, consisting of Mr. John
Ritchie, Jr., Rev. E. C. Smith, Dr. Charles E. Fay.
The committees thus appointed were instructed by the several bodies to
which they belong to coöperate in the preparation of a memorial to
Congress, setting forth the substantial reasons for the establishment
of such park.
Pursuant to their instructions, the committees present the following
memorial to the Congress, and pray that such action may be taken by
the honorable Senators and Representatives as will secure to the
people of the United States the benefits of a national park which
shall include the area mentioned above. In support of their prayer
they beg to submit the following statement:
By proclamation of the President, in compliance with the statutes
provided therefor, a Pacific Forest Reserve has been established in
the State of Washington, the western portion of which is nearly
coincident with the tract of land to be included in the national park
for which your memorialists pray.
The western part of this reserve includes many features of unique
interest and wonderful grandeur, which fit it peculiarly to be a
national park, forever set aside for the pleasure and instruction of
the people. The region is one of such exceptional rainfall and
snowfall that the preservation of its forests is of unusual importance
as a protection against floods in the lower valleys; but the scenic
features, which mark it out for a national park, attract tourists, who
set fire to the timber. This destruction goes on notwithstanding it is
a forest reserve, and will continue until protection is afforded by
adequate supervision of the area, whether as a reserve or park.
The reserve is traversed through the middle from north to south by the
crest of the Cascade Range, which has an elevation varying from 5,300
to 6,800 feet. This is the divide between tributaries of Puget Sound,
flowing west, and those of Yakima River, flowing east. Mount Rainier,
the isolated volcanic peak, 14,400 feet high, stands 12 miles west of
the divide, from which it is separated by a deep valley.
The eastern half of the reserve differs from the western in climate,
in flora, and in fauna, in geographic and geologic features, and in
aspects of scenery. The eastern slope of the Cascade Range within the
reserve is a mountainous region, with summits rising to a general
elevation of 6,500 to 7,600 feet above the sea. It is forest covered
and presents many attractions to the tourist and hunter; but it is not
peculiar among the mountain regions of America either for grandeur or
interest, and it is not an essential part of the area to be set apart
as a national park.
The western slope of the Cascades within the reserve is short and
steep as compared with the eastern. Much of it is precipitous,
particularly opposite Mount Rainier, where its bare walls would appear
most grand were they not in the shadow of that overpowering peak.
North and south of Rainier this slope is more gradual and densely
wooded.
The western half of the Pacific reserve, that portion which it is
proposed shall be made a national park, is characterized by Mount
Rainier, whose summit is but 4 miles from the western boundary of the
reserve and whose glaciers extend beyond its limits.
Mount Tacoma is not simply a volcanic cone, peculiar for its hugeness.
It was formerly a vast volcanic dome, 30 miles in radius to the north,
west, and south; but rivers have cut deep canyons, glaciers have
carved ample amphitheaters back into the mass, and now many serrate
ridges rising from a few hundred to 10,000 feet above the sea converge
at that altitude to support the central pyramid, which towers more
than 4,000 feet above its base.
This grand mountain is not, like Mount Blanc, merely the dominant peak
of a chain of snow mountains; it is the only snow peak in view, Mount
St. Helens and Mount Adams being, like it, isolated and many miles
distant. Rainier is majestic in its isolation, reaching 6,000 to 8,000
feet above its neighbors. It is superb in its boldness, rising from
one canyon 11,000 feet in 7 miles. Not only is it the grandest
mountain in this country, it is one of the grand mountains of the
world, to be named with St. Elias, Fusiyama, and Ararat, and the most
superb summits of the Alps. Eminent scientists of England and Germany,
who, as members of the Alpine Club of Switzerland and travelers of
wide experience, would naturally be conservative in their judgment,
have borne witness to the majesty of the scenery about Rainier.
In 1883 Professor Zittel, a well-known German geologist, and Prof.
James Bryce, member of Parliament and author of the American
Commonwealth, made a report on the scenery about Mount Rainier. Among
other things, they said:
"The scenery of Mount Rainier is of rare and varied beauty. The peak
itself is as noble a mountain as we have ever seen in its lines and
structure. The glaciers which descend from its snow fields present
all the characteristic features of those in the Alps, and though less
extensive than the ice streams of the Mount Blanc or Monta Rosa groups
are in their crevasses and séracs equally striking and equally worthy
of close study. We have seen nothing more beautiful in Switzerland or
Tyrol, in Norway or in the Pyrenees, than the Carbon River glaciers
and the great Puyallup glaciers; indeed, the ice in the latter is
unusually pure, and the crevasses unusually fine. The combination of
ice scenery with woodland scenery of the grandest type is to be found
nowhere in the Old World, unless it be in the Himalayas, and, so far
as we know, nowhere else on the American Continent."
These eminent and experienced observers further say:
"We may perhaps be permitted to express a hope that the suggestion
will at no distant date be made to Congress that Mount Rainier should,
like the Yosemite Valley and the geyser region of the Upper
Yellowstone, be reserved by the Federal Government and treated as a
national park."
But Mount Tacoma is single not merely because it is superbly majestic;
it is an arctic island in a temperate zone. In a bygone age an arctic
climate prevailed over the Northwest, and glaciers covered the Cascade
Range. Arctic animals and arctic plants then lived throughout the
region. As the climate became milder and glaciers melted, the
creatures of the cold climate were limited in their geographic range
to the districts of the shrinking glaciers. On the great peak the
glaciers linger still. They give to it its greatest beauty. They are
themselves magnificent, and with them survives a colony of arctic
animals and plants which can not exist in the temperate climate of the
less lofty mountains. These arctic forms are as effectually isolated
as shipwrecked sailors on an island in mid-ocean. There is no refuge
for them beyond their haunts on ice-bound cliffs. But even there the
birds and animals are no longer safe from the keen sportsman, and the
few survivors must soon be exterminated unless protected by the
Government in a national park.
The area of the Pacific forest reserve includes valuable timber and
important water supplies. It is said to contain coal, gold, and
silver.
The timber on the western slope differs from that on the eastern in
size and density of growth and in kinds of trees. The forests of Puget
Sound are world-renowned for the magnitude and beauty of their
hemlocks, cedars, and firs. Their timber constitutes one of the most
important resources of the State. Nowhere are they more luxuriant than
on the foothills west and north of Mount Rainier. But their value as
timber is there subordinate to their value as regulators of floods.
The Puyallup River, whose lower valley is a rich hop garden, is even
now subject to floods during the rapid melting of the snow on Mount
Rainier in the limited area above timber line. In the broader area
below timber line, but above 3,000 feet in elevation, the depth of
snow in the winter of 1893 was 9 to 15 feet. Protected by the dense
canopy of the fir and hemlock trees this snow melts slowly and the
river is high from March to June. But let the forest be once destroyed
by fire or by lumbermen and the snows of each winter, melting in early
spring, will annually overwhelm the Puyallup Valley and transform it
into a gravelly waste. The same is true of White River and the
Nisqually.
The forests of the eastern slope, tributary to the Yakima, are of even
greater importance as water preservers. They constitute a great
reservoir, holding back the precipitation of the wet season and
allowing it to filter down when most needed by crops. In the Yakima
Valley water gives to land its value. Storage of flood waters and
extensive distribution by canals is necessary. The forests being
preserved to control the water, the natural storage basins should be
improved and canals built. For these reasons it is most important
that no part of the forest reserve should be sacrificed, even though
the eastern half is not included in the national park.
The boundaries of the proposed national park have been so drawn as to
exclude from its area all lands upon which coal, gold, or other
valuable minerals are supposed to occur, and they conform to the
purpose that the park shall include all features of peculiar scenic
beauty without encroaching on the interests of miners or settlers.
None save those who can march and camp in the primeval forest can now
visit Mount Rainier; but it is the wilderness, not the distance, that
makes it difficult of approach. On the west the distance up the
Nisqually River from the railroad at Yelm Prairie to the reserve is
but 40 miles. Though heavily timbered, the valley of the Nisqually
affords an easy route for a railroad. The Cowlitz Valley also offers a
line of approach without difficulty by rail, it being about 50 miles
from the railroad to the reserve.
On the northwest the railroad at Wilkeson is but 23 miles from the
summit of Mount Rainier, and the glaciers can be reached by riding 25
miles through the great forest.
On the north the Cascade branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad
crosses the range, only 13 miles in a direct line and 19 miles along
the summit from the northern limit of the reserve.
On the east the city of North Yakima is but 62 miles from the summit
of Mount Rainier.
The proposed park covers a mountain region which lies across the line
of travel from east to west. The railroad winds northward; the travel
down the Columbia River turns southward to avoid it. The great current
of tourists which flows north and south through Portland, Tacoma,
Seattle, Vancouver, and Alaska passes to the west within sight of
Mount Rainier, and when the grand old mountain is obscured by clouds
the travelers linger to see it, or, passing regretfully on their way,
know that they have missed the finest view of their trip.
When a railroad is built up the Nisqually or Cowlitz Valley to the
park and connection by stages is assured northward to the Cascade
branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad and eastward to Yakima, the
flood of travel will be diverted through the park.