History of Mt. Rainier NP
MPG V2.7, July 2010

I would be hardpressed to present the history of Mount Rainier National Park in just a few Web pages with other Web pages of related information or materials. There are far too many people who have more than aptly described the history of the NP before and after its designation. What I can do, however, is present some ideas and thoughts I've found interesting and worthwhile to pass along.

Background

The history of Mount Rainier, once Mount Tahoma, can be divided into periods on decades due to the events about the mountain and the work to make it a national park and some of the general trends of nation during the respective periods. But that said, it's still mostly arbitrary on my part for the choice of events because it fits my interests about Mt. Rainier NP for photography, geography, and maps.

I've chosen three early periods, pre-1890 (explorations), 1890-1900 (pre-NP efforts and interests), 1900-1920 (USGS maps), and one later period, post-1920 (follow up to maps, laws, science, etc.). The pre-1890 period, mostly 1870-1890, is when the first explorations, including mount climbs, and first exploitation, mostly mining, timber, wildlife and land, occurred without little, if any, oversight and controls.

The period 1890-1900 was the period for the first scientific expeditions, the desgination of the Washington Forest Reserve and the work from 1893-1899 when the area was set aside as a national park. This was the period where all the efforts changed the course of everything about Mt. Rainier, and with the introduction of emulsion sheet film by Kodak in 1890, it opened the door for a number of photographers to work in and around Mt. Rainier.

The period 1900-1920 were the early years of the stablishment of the NP against the competing development and conservation interests, trying to find the funds for the basic needs and operating expenses before being brought into the new National Park Service, and the new scientific efforts in the NP with respects to developing maps, understanding glaciers, assessing the timber and wildlife resources, and other scientific ventures.

The periods, listed below, will be presented with respect to some the history in, around and about Mount Rainier and the NP. The rest I'll leave to you and the resources listed below.

The history for these periods is obviously not complete, it's just what I've found interesting from my interest and experience in photography, the geography and the maps of Mt. Rainier and the NP.

Additional Resources

Below are some publications and Websites for additional information on the history of Mt. Rainier NP.

• Books in Print
  • "National Park City Park" by Theodore Catton
  • "Windshield Wilderness" by David Louter
  • "Takhoma" by Allan Smith
  • Additional books and resources
• Websites
  • NP Administrative History
  • NP Human History
  • Historical documents (scroll to Mt. Rainier)
  • UW 100 Year History of NP
  • Campaign for NP Designation
  • NPS Nature Notes (1923-89)

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