Archives West Finding Aid

Series 1: Mount Rainier Album

Mount Rainier is the highest volcano in the Cascade Range (at 14,411 feet, 4,392 m), and was named Rainier by the British explorer Captain George Vancouver. During a mapping expedition of the Puget Sound in 1792, he became the first European to view the mountain. The first well-documented climb of Rainier was made in 1857, led by United States Army Lieutenant August Valentine Kautz who was stationed in nearby Fort Steilacoom. Many in the climbing group suffered from snow blindness and other maladies, so after eight days Kautz turned back when they were just 400 feet from the summit.

Two years later an Indiana settler, James Longmire, founded a trade route named the Packwood Trail, which extended from the coast to the slopes of Mount Rainier. In 1870, Longmire led a group of four men, including a Yakima Indian guide named Sluiskin, on the first recorded successful climb to Mount Rainier summit. In 1883, Longmire discovered several soda and iron springs while camping at the southern foothills of Rainier. He established Mount Rainier's first hotel there and advertised the medicinal value of the spring water and mineral water baths. The success of the Longmire Hotel raised the popularity of Rainier as a destination for mountain climbers and tourists.

In 1888, John Muir and photographer Arthur C. Warner traveled to Rainier. Their writings and pictures further spread Mount Rainier's fame. Schoolteacher Fay Fuller became the first woman to climb the mountain in 1890. Mount Rainier National Park was established on March 2, 1899, by President McKinley, making it the fifth oldest national park in the United States. The park, which encompasses 378 square miles, sparked much debate regarding its title. Many favored Mount Tacoma, based upon the Native American name Takhoma. Note: Sarvant often identifies Mount Rainier as Mount Tacoma.

Series 2: Travels in Alaska and the Yukon

On July 17, 1897, the steamship Portland arrived in Seattle from Alaska carrying over $700,000 in gold bullion. News of this treasure and gold rush fever spread quickly, and the "Rush" was on. Seeing the Klondike as a golden opportunity in what had been a bleak decade (Panic of 1893), over 100,000 "stampeders" set out to the gold fields of the Yukon River and its tributaries in Canada and Alaska. The most popular routes were through Dyea and over the Chilkoot Pass or through Skagway and over the White Horse Path. Neither was easy; during the winter months heavy snow and ice made the trip dangerous and difficult, and in the fall and spring travelers had to contend with thick, unending mud. The Canadian North West Mounted Police were stationed at the summit of both passes, collecting duty on incoming goods and ensuring that each person was adequately outfitted to survive one year in the Klondike (one ton of food and equipment per person). Avalanches, drownings, typhoid, spinal meningitis, and scurvy claimed many lives. Of the tens of thousands who actually made it to Bonanza, only a few found fortunes. Although the Klondike Gold Rush lasted only a few years, it had an immediate and lasting effect on Western Canada and the United States. New towns sprang up along the trails to the gold fields, and the populations of existing towns and cities rose dramatically. The economic strength of these cities increased, as well, because prospectors spent money on supplies, lodging, meals, gambling, prostitution, and other forms of entertainment.