W. G. Steel

“ Soon Sol's rays had reached the western horizon. Mountain shadows now appeared reaching westward to the limit of our vision; the jagged edges resting on hills and plains and valleys contributed to a changing scene, the memory of which will last so long as life is given.
Our selfish aim more than attained, we were satisfied and determined at once to descend to earth, from whence we came. Our determination being carried out, we reached Hot Springs at 8 p.m., and Tacoma three days later. ”

“ About seven o'clock the wind blew furiously, almost carrying us from the rocks to the snow beneath. Although clad for a land of wintry blasts, it was necessary to pace back and forth, swinging our arms and jumping to keep warm. At eight o'clock the wind died down, and we became comfortable without exercise. Our spirits were low, however, for it seemed that the entire country was covered with a thick veil of smoke, and our labor was to be in vain. Suddenly at 9:30 we saw a red light in the direction of Portland. It was the signal for a complete revolution in our feelings. ”

“ To those who enjoy the noble sport of hunting, the vicinity of Crater Lake is especially attractive. Great numbers of deer, bear and panther roam through the timber in fancied security, inviting the keen eye and steady nerve of the sportsman. Although passionately fond of such sport myself, the grandeur and sublimity of the surroundings so overcame me with desire to see and prosecute our explorations, that I forgot my love for a running shot, in an inordinate desire to climb over the cliffs and view the wonderful place from every conceivable point. ”

“ There is probably no point of interest in America that so completely overcomes the ordinary Indian with fear as Crater Lake. From time immemorial, no power has been strong enough to induce him to approach within sight of it. For a paltry sum he will engage to guide you thither, but, before you reach the mountain top, will leave you to proceed alone. ”

“ Farther up are deep beds of ashes, and light, spongy rocks and cinders, giving evidence of intense heat. Within the crater, as without, the surface is entirely covered with volcanic rocks, but here it forms one of the hottest places on a clear day in August, it has ever been my lot to witness. Not a breath of air seems to enter, and the hot sun pours down upon thousands of rocks and stones that reflect his rays with an intensity that seems to multiply beyond conception. ”

“ Here in the Northwest we are blessed with a wonderful mountain range, extending from California through Oregon and Washington to British Columbia.
For beauty, grandeur and extent it has no superior; while as a field of defense, it simply stands unparalleled, and is rich in minerals, agriculture and commerce. Located at from forty to a hundred miles apart are the following mountain peaks, covered with perpetual snow: Baker, Rainier, Adams, St. Helens, Hood, Jefferson, Three Sisters, Pitt and Shasta. ”

“ Just to the east of the lake is Mt. Scott, partly covered with snow, while close to the camp on the east, is a high cliff known as Cathedral Rock, running far down to the right and at last disappearing below the tree tops. To the south the scene was varied by a wide range of mountain tops, stretching far away to California, chief among which is snow-capped and beautiful Pitt. Just to the left the rough mountain view is changed to a charming plain, in the midst of which is a broad expanse of water, which proves to be Klamath Lake, about thirty miles distant. ”

“ At times when gazing from the surrounding wall, the skies and cliffs are seen perfectly mirrored in the smooth and glassy surface over which the mountain breeze creates scarce a ripple, and it is with great difficulty the eye can distinguish the line dividing the cliffs from their reflected counterfeits. The lake is almost egg-shaped, ranging northeast by southwest and is seven miles long by six in width. ”

“ The reason for this is, that Nature intervenes every barrier to prevent conquests, and shields the native mountaineer from onslaughts of a foreign foe. The ringing words, "Make way for Liberty," could never have become immortal had it not been for a mountain pass. ”

“ This feeling has, to a certain extent, instilled itself in the mind of such whites as have made it their Mecca, until every stray log that floats upon the water is imagined to possess life, and may possibly be a monster. ”

“ Tacoma is Twhauk, which was derived from Twheque, snow, and [Pg 58] Swheque ad. Bright, clear, cloudless sky. Ta-ko-man is mostly used for the Mt. Tacoma, as it is held with much respect and esteemed by nearly all the Indians of the Northwest. The reason for conferring the great honor upon Twhauk, is that the second syllable ko, means water, corresponding with the water, or little lake on top of the mountain, and also in that lake is a great abundance of valuable shells, from which the Indians made their nose and ear-rings, and other valuable jewelry. ”

“ Standing at the point of entry one looks at the opposite side and sees great cracks, yawning cavities with open mouths of blackness, dismal shadows, to which flickering lights give a ghoulish, dance-like appearance. Yes, the devil seems to be holding high carnival, while his imps would dance the night away. They bob up and down and swing their arms in fiendish glee, while the dance goes on forever. None can look therein without seeing these imps and their antics. The floor recedes rapidly from the entrance, and is composed of great rocks scattered in confusion. ”

“ Through the valued assistance of that veteran Indian student and interlocutor, John Flett, some twenty aged, prominent Indians, who would not deign to talk other than their own dialect, who despised even the Chinook Jargon, but adhered to the grunts and syllabic utterances and the pantomime of their race for the ages before the advent of the Hudson's Bay Company or American settlers, gathered in the writer's office in New Tacoma, as the city of Tacoma was then called, and seated on the floor for hours discussed what they called the mountains and mountain range, its surrounding and attributes. ”

“ There are no parallel walls, few straight ones, but corners everywhere. The floor will pitch in all directions, likewise ceiling and walls. Beautiful views of stalactites and stalagmites stand out in bold relief against snow white walls. At the farthest extremity of the upper cave in one direction an immense chamber presents itself, and should be known as the devil's banquet hall. It is probably 75 × 150 feet and sixty in height. Great blocks of rock hang as by a thread from the ceiling, while on every side rocks of equal size lie in all conceivable shapes. ”

“ For miles upon miles to the south, cross ranges, running from east to west seem piled one upon the other, and to their tops is added a covering of snow, changing the solemn, otherwise unbroken, dark green, to a variegated picture, not only of grandeur, but beauty. To the left of the centre stands Jefferson, [Pg 7] similar to Hood as seen from Portland. Next come the Three Sisters to the left of Jefferson, while still further stands Snow Butte. Almost in front of Jefferson is Washington, while to the right McLaughlin looms up in southern Oregon, two hundred and fifty miles distant. ”

“ That interesting study and those comparative views, by old men of the mountain and the sea, extended through hours; and the writer will never forget the eloquence of action required and used by those aged natives, which more than compensated that paucity of syllables or words, which we call language. No such word of beauty as "Tacoma" could possibly be coined by them, nor result from any combination of their uttered but significant grunts, their attempted vocalization of thoughts or ideas. ”

“ Writing our names on a card, with a short account of the climb, we placed it inside of a small box, on which was inscribed, "Oregon Alpine Club, Portland." This was left on the top of the ridge. We heaped rocks around it to prevent the wind from blowing it away. We soon found a sort of semi-spherical opening in the rocks, from which the warm steam poured forth. Clearing away the rocks, leaving a sandy bottom, we built a wall of rocks two feet in height to break the wind, and then turned our attention to looking for canned corned beef. ”

“ Again, however, he became frisky, and pitched head-long over a rocky precipice five hundred feet high. As his limbs mixed with those of the trees below, the thoughts of the spectators above were: "There goes all that is mortal of Croppy, who climbed to the top of Mt. Shasta, but died in a lonely canyon, by his own hand in a fit of temporary insanity. Let him R.I.P."
One day while at work on the lake, my attention was called to what seemed to be a tall, full-bearded man standing on the southern portion of Llao Rock's summit. ”

“ Dear Sir:—I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of Sept. 21st, making certain inquiries about the change of the name of Mt. Rainier to that of Tacoma. Upon careful and diligent inquiry among the Puyallup Indians, I find the following to be the true condition of things:
There is a general impression that the name Tacoma was the original name of the mountain among Indians, and that it signified "nourishing mother," and was so named on account of its being the source of a number of rivers which head there and flow into the waters of Puget Sound. ”

“ In case of a foreign war it is one of the possibilities of the Oregon Alpine Club to [Pg 41] organize a sort of Signal Corps, say five hundred men, each of whom would be thoroughly familiar with every pass, crevasse and crag in the mountains where detailed for service. With a liberal supply of provisions and ammunition on each peak, scarcely anything short of a pestilence could dislodge them. What could a foreign army do around Mt. Hood, for instance, with fifty resolute men well armed and equipped on the summit. ”

“ For twenty miles the trip was made over a very good road by wagon. At this point it became necessary to pack our things on two horses and walk over a trail into the mountains. On a hot day, this [Pg 35] portion of the trip is very laborious, owing to the fact that it is up the steep mountain side about two-thirds of the way, and down an equally steep incline the remainder. We arrived at our destination a little before noon on the 27th, and found two openings, one above the other, and about one hundred yards apart, on the south side of a deep canyon. ”

“ The hill is about a mile and a half long, very steep, sliding, rocky, and filled with roots and stones, added to which were great banks of snow, packed solid by constant thawing. Progress was slow and tedious, a roadway having to be cut in places, while men with picks, axes and shovels dug up rocks, cut down trees and shoveled snow, besides building up or cutting down one side of the roadway. At 10 o'clock on Wednesday the 14th, the boats were landed on the walls of the lake, having traveled four hundred and forty miles from Portland, with scarcely a scratch to mar the paint. ”

“ Ta-ko-man is a name used by many different Indian tribes of this Territory, with the same meaning and a slight variation of pronunciation by each different tribe. It is the name or word from which Tacoma was derived. It originated among the inland Indians. The meaning of Ta-ko-man is a high, treeless, white or light colored peak or mound. The name is applicable to any peak or mound as described, but is generally used for one that is distinguished, or highly honored. And Squa-tach, to climb, and Sba-date mountain, are mostly used for all mountains and peaks. ”

“ The Indian word is Ta-ko-bet or Ta-ke-man, the first being the most general pronunciation used among these Indians, but both words are used, being the different pronunciation used by the dialects. It means a white mountain, and is a general name for any high, snow-covered, or white, treeless peak. It is applied to this mountain by the Indians of this vicinity, because it is the only, or most prominent one of the kind in the vicinity. They use [Pg 56] the word as we would speak of "The White Mountain," there being but one near us. ”

“ To the savage mind it is clothed with a deep veil of mystery, and is the abode of all manner of demons and unshapely monsters. Once inhabited by the Great Spirit, it has now become the sheol of modern times, and it is certain death for any proud savage to behold it. ”

“ No magician of the Arabians ever conjured up by a stroke of his wand a spectacle more sublime. It was one of transcendent beauty, upon which the human eye seldom rests, and when it does its possessor is spellbound by the bewildering vision. ”

“ By noon the sky was heavily overcast, and an hour later undercast as well.
By 3 o'clock rain began to fall. The wind had already risen to quite a gale. Re-staking our tent, digging a ditch around the head and sides, and piling wood and rocks along the edges to keep out the wind and rain, we crawled into our blankets and awaited developments. Soon the storm broke upon us with [Pg 46] all its alpine fury, and raged during the entire night. By morning the rain had turned into sleet and snow, the thermometer, at daylight registering 34 degrees. ”

“ By throwing in stones and brush, a sort of trail was made to terra firma beyond the backbone of the mountain. Over this the pack train was passed safely, except a mule that was blind in one eye. He bore a reputation for dignity and sobriety that any well-to-do mule might envy. However, when just at the point which, above [Pg 31] all others, should have received his undivided attention, he became gay and festive, and as a consequence, fell part way over the precipice. By dint of hard labor, he was drawn back, but little the worse for wear, his pack was removed and he again started across. ”

“ Contemporaneously Tacoma City, now the first ward of Tacoma, was thus named by some Portland town-builders—Gen. McCarver, Lewis M. Starr and James Steel. The then leading hotel of Olympia, about the same time, assumed that title and wore it for several years; but a whole decade passed before the attempt was made to obliterate the time-honored name of the great mountain peak of Northwest America, conferred at the first visit of white men to Commencement Bay in [Pg 60] 1792. ”