Mount Rainier National Park is visited annually by increasing thousands of tourists. Many of them seek information about the discoveries and explorations of the mountain and its environs. Much of the information sought, especially that about the origin of place names, has never been published. The annals of discovery and exploration, which have been published, have often appeared in books, pamphlets, or periodicals not easily accessible. It is the purpose of this work to gather the essential portions of the desired information within a compact, usable form.

During the summer of 1915, the mountain was for the first time encircled by a large company of travelers. Small parties, carrying their luggage and provisions on their backs, had made the trip a number of times. The Mountaineers Club, in 1915, conducted a party of one hundred, with fully equipped pack train and commissary, around the mountain. They camped each evening at or near the snow-line. At the daily campfires extracts were read from the original sources of the mountain's history. The interest there manifested in such records gave additional impulse to the preparation of this book.

It is natural that the chronological order should be chosen in arranging the materials, beginning with the discovery and naming of the mountain by Captain George Vancouver of the British Navy. The records are then continued to the present time. There still remains to be done much scientific work on the glaciers, snowfields, rocks, and plants within the Park. It is hoped that this book may stimulate such field work as well as the publication of the results.

The reader will notice that several writers in referring to the mountain use some form of the name Tacoma. The editor has not hesitated to publish such names as were used in the original articles here reproduced. In all other cases he has used the name Mount Rainier, approved by the United States Geographic Board.

In the separate chapters it will be noticed that the height of the mountain has been placed at varying figures. The United States Geological Survey has spoken on this subject with apparent official finality, giving the altitude as 14,408 feet above sea level. How this height was determined is told in the official announcement reproduced in Chapter XVIII of the text, with comment thereon by F. E. Matthes, one of the engineers of the United States Geological Survey.

The place names within the Park have been derived from such varied sources that it is well-nigh impossible to ascertain the origin and meaning of all of them. For the first time they are here (Chapter XIX) gathered into a complete alphabetical arrangement with as full information as is now available. The writer would welcome further facts about any of the names.

In the introductory paragraphs before each chapter, the editor has sought to express his acknowledgment for assistance rendered by others in the compilation of the work. For fear some may have been omitted he wishes here to express gratitude for all such help and to mention especially Professor J. Franklin Jameson, Director of the Department of Historical Research of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, for his assistance in securing photostat reproductions of a number of rare items found in the Library of Congress.

The editor also acknowledges the assistance rendered by Victor J. Farrar, research assistant in the University of Washington.

EDMOND S. MEANY.

University of Washington,
Seattle, August, 1916.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

MOUNT RAINIER
A RECORD OF EXPLORATIONS