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THE GUARDIANS OF THE COLUMBIA

           *       *       *       *       *

THE MOUNTAIN


    I hold above a careless land
            The menace of the skies;
    Within the hollow of my hand
            The sleeping tempest lies.
    Mine are the promise of the morn,
            The triumph of the day;
    And parting sunset's beams forlorn
            Upon my heights delay.
                       --Edward Sydney Tylee

           *       *       *       *       *


[Illustration: COPYRIGHT DR. U. M. LAUMAN

Dawn on Spirit Lake, north side of Mt. St. Helens.

    "Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
          Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops." Shakespeare.]


THE GUARDIANS OF THE COLUMBIA

Mount Hood, Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens

by

JOHN H. WILLIAMS

Author of "The Mountain That Was 'God'"


    _And mountains that like giants stand
    To sentinel enchanted land._
              SCOTT: "The Lady of the Lake."


With More Than Two Hundred Illustrations
Including Eight in Colors







Tacoma
John H. Williams
1912




[Illustration: COPYRIGHT, G. M. WEISTER

Climbing the last steep <DW72> on Mount Hood, from Cooper's Spur, with
ropes anchored on summit.]

    Copyright, 1912, by John H. Williams



[Illustration: Willamette River at Portland, with ships loading wheat
and lumber for foreign ports.]




FOREWORD


In offering this second volume of a proposed series on Western mountain
scenery, I am fortunate in having a subject as unhackneyed as was that
of "The Mountain that Was 'God.'" The Columbia River has been described
in many publications about the Northwest, but the three fine snow-peaks
guarding its great canyon have received scant attention, and that mainly
from periodicals of local circulation.

These peaks are vitally a part of the vast Cascade-Columbia scene to
which they give a climax. Hence the story here told by text and picture
has necessarily included the stage upon which they were built up. And
since the great forests of this mountain and river district are a factor
of its beauty as well as its wealth, I am glad to be able to present a
brief chapter about them from the competent hand of Mr. H. D. Langille,
formerly of the United States forest service. A short bibliography, with
notes on transportation routes, hotels, guides and other matters of
interest to travelers and students, will be found at the end.

Accuracy has been my first aim. I have tried to avoid the exaggeration
employed in much current writing for the supposed edification of
tourists. It has seemed to me that simply and briefly to tell the truth
about the fascinating Columbia country would be the best service I could
render to those who love its splendid mountains and its noble river. A
mass of books, government documents and scientific essays has been
examined. This literature is more or less contradictory, and as I cannot
hope to have avoided all errors, I shall be grateful for any correction
of my text.

In choosing the illustrations, I have sought to show the individuality
of each peak. Mountains, like men, wear their history on their
faces,--none more so than Hood's sharp and finely scarred pyramid; or
Adams, with its wide, truncated dome and deeply carved <DW72>s; or St.
Helens, newest of all our extinct volcanoes--if, indeed, it be
extinct,--and least marred by the ice, its cone as perfect as
Fujiyama's. Each has its own wonderful story to tell of ancient and
often recent vulcanism. Let me again suggest that readers who would get
the full value of the more comprehensive illustrations will find a
reading glass very useful.

Thanks are due to many helpers. More than fifty photographers,
professional and amateur, are named in the table of illustrations.
Without their co-operation the book would have been impossible. I am
also indebted for valued information and assistance to the librarians at
the Portland and Tacoma public libraries, the officers and members of
the several mountaineering clubs in Portland, and the passenger
departments of the railways reaching that city; to Prof. Harry Fielding
Reid, the eminent geologist of Johns Hopkins University; Fred G.
Plummer, geographer of the United States forest service; Dr. George Otis
Smith, director of the United States geological survey; Judge Harrington
Putnam, of New York, president of the American Alpine Club; Messrs.
Rodney L. Glisan, William M. Ladd, H. O. Stabler, T. H. Sherrard, Judge
W. B. Gilbert, H. L. Pittock, George H. Himes, John Gill, C. E. Rusk,
and others in Portland and elsewhere.

The West has much besides magnificent scenery to give those who visit
it. Here have been played, upon a grander stage, the closing acts in the
great drama of state-building which opened three hundred years ago on
the Atlantic Coast. The setting has powerfully moulded the history, and
we must know one if we would understand the other. Europe, of course,
offers to the American student of culture and the arts something which
travel here at home cannot supply. But every influence that brings the
different sections of the United States into closer touch and fuller
sympathy makes for patriotism and increased national strength.

This, rather than regret for the two hundred millions of dollars which
our tourists spend abroad each year, is the true basis of the "See
America First" movement. According to his capacity, the tourist commonly
gets value for his money, whether traveling in Europe or America. But
Eastern ignorance of the West is costing the country more than the drain
of tourist money.

This volume is presented, therefore, as a call to better appreciation of
the splendor and worth of our own land. Its publication will be
justified if it is found to merit in some degree the commendation given
its predecessor by Prof. W. D. Lyman, of Whitman College, whose
delightful book on the Columbia has been consulted and whose personal
advice has been of great value throughout my work. "I wish to express
the conviction," writes Prof. Lyman, "that you have done an inestimable
service to all who love beauty, and who stand for those higher things
among our possessions that cannot be measured in money, but which have
an untold bearing upon the finer sensibilities of a nation."

Tacoma, June 15, 1912.

[Illustration: Mount Adams, seen from south <DW72> of Mount St. Helens,
near the summit, showing the Cascade ranges below. Note the great burn
in the forest cover of the ridges. "Steamboat Mountain" is seen in the
distance beyond. Elevation of camera, nearly 9,000 feet.]




[Illustration: Looking up the Columbia at Lyle, Washington.]




CONTENTS


  I. THE RIVER.

    Dawn at Cloud Cap Inn--The geological dawn--Cascade-Sierra
    uptilt--Rise of the snow-peaks--An age of vulcanism--Origin
    of the great Columbia gorge--Dawn in Indian legend--The
    "Bridge of the Gods"--Victory of Young Chinook--Dawn of
    modern history--The pioneers and the state builders             15


  II. THE MOUNTAINS.

    Portland's snowy sentinels--Ruskin on the mountains--Cascades
    vs. Alps--Mount Hood and its retreating glaciers--The
    Mazamas--A shattered crater--Mount Adams--Lava and ice
    caves--Mount St. Helens--The struggle of the forest on the
    lava beds--Adventures of the climbers--The Mazamas in
    peril--An heroic rescue                                         57


  III. THE FORESTS, by HAROLD DOUGLAS LANGILLE.

    Outposts at timber line--The alpine parks--Zone of the great
    trees--Douglas fir--From snow-line to ocean beach--Conservation
    and reforestation                                              123


  NOTES                                                          140




ILLUSTRATIONS


The * indicates engravings from copyrighted photographs. See notice
under the illustration.

THREE-COLOR HALFTONES.

        Title                                    Photographer    Page
  *Dawn on Spirit Lake, north side of Mount
          St. Helens                   Dr. U. M. Lauman  Frontispiece
  *St. Peter's Dome, with the Columbia and
          Mount Adams                             G. M. Weister    20
  *Nightfall on the Columbia                     Kiser Photo Co.   37
  *Columbia River and Mount Hood, from White
          Salmon,  Washington                    Kiser Photo Co.   56
  *Mount Hood, with crevasses of Eliot glacier     G. M. Weister   73
  *Ice Castle and crevasse, Eliot glacier          G. M. Weister   92
  *Columbia River and Mount Adams, from Hood
          River, Oregon                         Benj. A. Gifford  109
  An Island of Color--Rhododendrons and Squaw
          Grass                                    Asahel Curtis  127


ONE-COLOR HALFTONES.

        Title                                     Photographer   Page

  *Climbing to summit of Mount Hood from Cooper
          Spur                                     G. M. Weister    6
  Willamette River and Portland Harbor             G. M. Weister    7
  Mount Adams, from south <DW72> of Mount St.
          Helens                                   G. M. Weister    8
  Columbia River at Lyle                         William R. King    9
  Mount Hood, seen from the Columbia at
          Vancouver                             L. C. Henrichsen   14
  Trout Lake and Mount Adams           Prof. Harry Fielding Reid   15
  Mount St. Helens, seen from the Columbia,
  with railway bridge                               C. S. Reeves   15
  *View up the Columbia, opposite Astoria          G. M. Weister   16
  Astoria in 1813                              From an old print   16
  *View north from Eliot glacier                   G. M. Weister   17
  Columbia Slough, near mouth of the
          Willamette                            George F. Holman   18
  *Cape Horn                                     Kiser Photo Co.   19
  Mount Hood, seen from Columbia Slough         L. C. Henrichsen   21
  *Campfire of Yakima Indians at Astoria
          Centennial                             Frank Woodfield   21
  Sunset at mouth of the Columbia                Frank Woodfield   22
  Portland, the Willamette, and Mounts
          Hood, Adams and St. Helens           Angelus Photo Co.   22
  "The Coming of the White Man"                 L. C. Henrichsen   23
  "Sacajawea"                                      G. M. Weister   23
  Sunset on Vancouver Lake                    Jas. Waggener, Jr.   24
  Fort Vancouver in 1852                  From an old lithograph   24
  *Rooster Rock                                    G. M. Weister   25
  Seining for Salmon on the lower Columbia       Frank Woodfield   25
  *The Columbia near Butler, looking
          across to Multnomah Falls              Kiser Photo Co.   26
  Captain Som-kin, chief of Indian police         Lee Moorehouse   26
  *Multnomah Falls in Summer and Winter (2)      Kiser Photo Co.   27
  *View from the cliffs at Multnomah Falls       Kiser Photo Co.   28
  *The broad Columbia, seen from Lone Rock       Kiser Photo Co.   29
  Castle Rock, seen from Mosquito Island         Kiser Photo Co.   29
  *The Columbia opposite Oneonta Gorge and
          Horsetail Falls                        Kiser Photo Co.   30
  An Original American                            C. C. Hutchins   30
  *View from elevation west of St. Peter's
          Dome                                   Kiser Photo Co.   31
  *Oneonta Gorge                                   G. M. Weister   32
  Looking up the Columbia, near Bonneville          H. J. Thorne   33
  Salmon trying to jump the Falls of the
          Willamette                          Jas. Waggener, Jr.   33
  *In the Columbia Canyon at Cascade             Kiser Photo Co.   34
  *The Cascades of the Columbia                    G. M. Weister   35
  *Fishwheel below the Cascades, with
          Table Mountain                           G. M. Weister   36
  *Sunrise on the Columbia, from top of
          Table Mountain                         Kiser Photo Co.   36
  Looking down the Columbia below the
          Cascades                                   L. J. Hicks   38
  *Wind Mountain and submerged forest              G. M. Weister   39
  Steamboat entering Cascades Locks                G. M. Weister   39
  Moonlight on the Columbia, with clouds
          on Wind Mountain                          C. S. Reeves   40
  *White Salmon River and its Gorge (2)          Kiser Photo Co.   41
  Looking down the Columbia Canyon from
          White Salmon, Washington                  S. C. Reeves   42
  An Oregon Trout Stream                        L. C. Henrichsen   42
  Looking up the Columbia from Hood
          River, Oregon                             F. C. Howell   43
  *Hood River, fed by the glaciers of
          Mount Hood                            Benj. A. Gifford   43
  A Late Winter Afternoon; the Columbia
          from White Salmon                       C. C. Hutchins   44
  *Memaloose Island                                G. M. Weister   44
  "Gateway to the Inland Empire;" the
          Columbia at Lyle                       Kiser Photo Co.   45
  "Grant Castle" and Palisades of the
          Columbia below The Dalles                G. M. Weister   46
  *The Dalles of the Columbia, lower
          channel                                  G. M. Weister   47
  Cabbage Rock                                    Lee Moorehouse   47
  A True Fish Story of the Columbia              Frank Woodfield   48
  The Zigzag River in Winter                      T. Brook White   48
  *The Dalles, below Celilo                        G. M. Weister   49
  The "Witch's Head," an Indian picture rock      Lee Moorehouse   50
  Village of Indian tepees, Umatilla Reservation  Lee Moorehouse   50
  Mount Adams, seen from Eagle Peak                Asahel Curtis   51
  A Clearing in the Forest; Mount Hood from
          Sandy, Oregon                         L. C. Henrichsen   51
  An Indian Madonna and Child                     Lee Moorehouse   52
  Finished portion of Canal at Celilo             Ed. Ledgerwood   52
  *Sentinels of "the Wallula Gateway"              G. M. Weister   53
  *Tumwater, the falls of the Columbia at
          Celilo                                 Kiser Photo Co.   54
  *Summit of Mount Hood, from west end
          of ridge                                 G. M. Weister   55
  North side of Mount Hood, from ridge west
          of Cloud Cap Inn                      George R. Miller   57
  Winter on Mount Hood                          Rodney L. Glisan   57
  *Watching the Climbers, from Cloud Cap Inn       G. M. Weister   58
  Lower end of Eliot glacier, seen from
          Cooper Spur                            E. D. Jorgensen   59
  Snout of Eliot glacier                       Prof. W. D. Lyman   59
  Cone of Mount Hood, seen from Cooper Spur       F. W. Freeborn   60
  Cloud Cap Inn                                 George R. Miller   60
  *Portland's White Sentinel, Mount Hood           G. M. Weister   61
  *Ice Cascade on Eliot glacier, Mount Hood        G. M. Weister   62
  Portland Snow-shoe Club members on Eliot
          glacier in Winter                     Rodney L. Glisan   62
  *Snow-bridge over great crevasse, Eliot
          glacier                                  G. M. Weister   63
  *Coasting down east side of Mount Hood,
          above Cooper Spur.                       G. M. Weister   63
  *Mount Hood, from hills south of The
          Dalles                                   G. M. Weister   64
  *Mount Hood, from Larch Mountain                   L. J. Hicks   65
  Butterfly on summit of Mount Hood                  Shoji Endow   66
  Portland Snow-shoe Club and Club House (2)    Rodney L. Glisan   66
  Fumarole, or gas vent, near Crater Rock            L. J. Hicks   66
  Looking across the head of Eliot glacier           Shoji Endow   67
  Mount Hood at night, from Cloud Cap Inn        William M. Ladd   67
  Climbing Mount Hood; the rope anchor (2)
                                George R. Miller and Shoji Endow   68
  North side of Mount Hood, from moraine of
          Coe glacier                  Prof. Harry Fielding Reid   69
  *Looking west on summit, with Mazama
          Rock below                               G. M. Weister   70
 