Wolf G. Bauer papers, 1897-2015

Wolf G. Bauer was a pioneer climber on Mt. Rainier and Mt. Goode. He was the founder of the Mountaineers climbing course and helped establish the Mountain Rescue Council.

Bauer was born on February 24, 1912, in the Bavarian Alps. He started skiing in 1919. Bauer, with his parents, Hubert and Elsbeth, and four siblings moved to Seattle when he was 13 in 1925, where he attended Lincoln High School and joined Boy Scout Troop 145. In 1929, Bauer was one of three scouts selected to receive a free membership in The Mountaineers. After moving briefly to West Virginia with his family in 1930, Bauer returned to Seattle to study engineering at the University of Washington. He graduated in 1935 with his bachelor's degree in ceramic engineering and a minor in geology. Bauer published articles on ceramic engineering in journals such as "Chemical Engineering," "Pit and Quarry," and "Rock Products."

Bauer excelled not only as a skier and a climber, but also as a teacher. Beginning in 1933, he taught basic mountaineering skills to local Explorer Boy Scouts. One year later, he began to teach a climbing course to the Mountaineer Climbers' Group. He also taught rescue techniques. He continued to climb as he taught, and in 1935, Bauer and Jack Hossack were the first to reach the summit of Mount Rainier from its north side. In 1936, Bauer and four of his students were the first to climb Mount Goode.

Bauer began to work at Roche Harbor Lime & Cement Co. on San Juan Island in 1936. That same year, he married Harriet Woodward. Their son, Rocky, was born in 1937, and Larry was born in 1940. After many years of travel and relocation, in 1945 the family settled in Seattle, where Bauer worked as an independent consulting engineer.

Bauer also helped to establish the Mountain Rescue Council, which began as the Mountain Rescue and Safety Council, in 1948. Inspired by a volunteer rescue group in Bavaria, the Mountain Rescue Council was the first of its kind in the United States and provided year-round wilderness search and rescue. Bauer used the books "Anwendung des Seiles" and "Die Anwendung des Seiles im Fels, im Eis, in Bergnot" while setting up the Mountain Rescue Council.

Bauer was also an avid kayaker, which led to his interest in and concern for conservation. He founded the Washington Foldboat Club, later renamed Washington Kayak Club, in 1948. He worked on successful efforts to save the 12-mile Green River Gorge in the mid-1960s before focusing more broadly on shorelines throughout Puget Sound. He was also a founding member of the Washington Environmental Council in 1969. In 1975, he became a fulltime shoreline resource consultant and helped to successfully transform parks and beaches in Seattle and around Washington State. In 1991, he received an award from the Washington State Department of Ecology in recognition of his dedication and commitment in protecting shore resources. Bauer died at the age of 103 in 2016.

[Source: Seattle Times Obituary]

The Woodward family originally came from a Pennsylvania Quaker family. George Carlton Woodward (1874-1956) and C. Harry Woodward (1872- unknown) moved to Fairbanks, Alaska, and Dawson City, Yukon to join the Yukon Gold Rush, which they wrote about to their brother, Charles Fredrick Woodward (1871-1948). They started the Fairbanks Miner newspaper with G. Carlton as an editor in 1902. G. Carlton enjoyed curling and was involved in the Yukon Order of Pioneers and Dawson’s Lodge. He also served as the American Vice Consul in Dawson until 1935, then retired and moved to Seattle.

Harriet Woodward Bauer was the daughter of G. Carlton Woodward and Reva Gray Woodward. Harriet attended Roosevelt High School in Seattle and was active in the Girl Scouts. She attended the University of Washington, where she excelled in athletics, and graduated in 1935. She was involved in curling, kayaking, and climbing, and was the first woman to reach the top of Columbia Peak in Monte Cristo County in 1935. Harriet married Wolf Bauer in 1936 and had two sons, Rolf ("Rocky"), born in 1937, and Laurence, in 1940. She was a famous lawn bowler and won many awards, competing in England and Australia. Other notable hobbies included bookbinding, pottery, and winemaking.