Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1891-08-11
AMONG ire ETERNAL SHOWS.
A ctiun ur oxr or rur GIANTS or rIIr
CASCADE RANGE.
Lr.llh.,es lw..hIaE,anl wetIl.l


mit were trodden by the mountaineering
party of eight whiicom sni fairhaycn
gentlemen, Who left herr on the 9Th of
Juic aud returned last Tuesday, having
on July 3 accomplished the most sue
cc..fui ascent ~ this hosry giant 81 the
Cascades ever made. Prior IA their as
cent, there was but Que living man who
had ever been to this sublime summit
i.cv. John Tcnnnst, ~ Lvn'lcn. lie made
the ascent In August, ls''>, With Cole
man, the Engll.h arilsi, tho late Thom's
Strattou, formerly keeper ~ the Port
Angcle. lighthouse, and man named
Oglcsby. Mr.. Tenant state. that his
party planted two American nsgs on the
summit. Que on each of the two small
peak. An account ~ thl. ascent, writ
/ ten by Colsm,n aud Illustrated sith en-
| cravings made from his sketches, aI-
Icarcd IN IIarprr's Magazine for Noycm.
brr, l>ls. The weather vas cloudy.
however. when thl. ascent was made.
| The party that returned Tuesday had the
| advantage of bright, clear day and
made the first discovery 10 smoking
crater near the summit on the southeast
eide. No rryor,l exists of anv prior de
coycry of this crater having been made.
The party making thi. last inyasioa of
this mountains solitary heights vas
comro.c of Messr.. Henry Lowe, Per-
clyai =. rarfis, 4. Hobart Clark, W. %.
| Am.l.n, v. v. Love, Thomas skatbo,
a.. ". smith, and Ei. y. y. Whltsiruck.
They pro,yc,lei from Whatcom to
Clear Lake, on the II. II. 4 II. 4. Rail-
road, anI from thcrr by rnad to l.ldcllc's
siorr. on the Middle Fork ~ the Nook
sack. where supple, were purchased,
each man taking . any pound pack.
rrom ih.rr thcy fought their way With
much difficulty thpugh the underbrush
AMI DEVILS club. over \ high divide and
up a branch ~ the middle fork to point
on the mountain. western slic near the
snow llne, aud about Cst fec, below the
summit. wherr they arrived on the 81 Of
July and pitch.i camp Tor the last time
heforr making the assault upon the ICY
dome. The route Ia this point lay along
the Middle Fork to branch and thenc.
up this tributary. " TIL. camp pro-
visions wcr- cooked for the ascent over
the snow ilclis aud Icy slopes. N ljp
o'clock on the morning ~ the ~. seven
II The party shoi with spiked soles and
provided With alpcnsiocks and ropes,
starts,i out upon the lasi climb Tor the
summit. Henry Lowe, Who weigh.
about a1 pounds, remained IN camp,
feeling too heavy to undertake the great
climb.
The ascrnt was made up the vest side.
II Was q rough and dcsperat. climb, en-
tifely over snow and Ice. Iher was
crust on the snow. bat not hard enough
to hear the climbers. The DAY was clear
aud In plac~s Whefv there was no vind
the bright July sun vas burning hot AMI
caused much suffering. The faces of
the men were swollen beyond fcCogul-
tlon and the kin turned black and peel
"a ofi In day or two. The men all
Norr dark-n~,i goggles, bat notNith-
standing thl. they suffered terribly from
snow blindness. pn the following
morning smith and whltsiruck could
not open their eyes, the lids belng sNol-
len together The rccord ~ these .ui-
fcfing. l. s,lll plainly lcgible on the
faces ~ the men.
They ssw several mountain goat. run
Ming about among the crag,, ani siw
grouse aud mtrnot several thousand
f-rt aloy- the last camp. They tollcd
heavily along through the soit snow,
over the vast snow fields ani acro''
glaciers. cros.ing yawnlng crcvas.e. on
snow bidgrs, soaring tl" mountain
goats With the shots of their rryolNef.,
polling themselyc. up the .l"Pc. with
their Alpcnstock., until they reached the
foot ~ the round dome that form, the
summit. rising like the crown II derby
hat. about epo fect Ia height. Herr
they encountered the most pefilous climb
~ the day. and sefc over tNo hour.
In gaining the summit. The slope was
about sixty degrees, AMI had the ice
hsen hard the Ascent could not have
been made. Step. for hands and fr"t
had to b. cut Ia the ley walls, aud all
we're tied together With q rope. Where
the hr-~Sr struck them u was freezing
cold and Ia sheltered pl,ces the sun va.
burning hot. N ~ ~ o'clock they
r,Achssi the summit aud h.l1eld spread
out below thru view that repaid them
for all they had endured. The summit,
.ligIily rounded, I. sbout sDD acre. ln
extent, With a small comic peak about -
fc-i high on N. eastern edge.
To tho. below the day appeared to bc
perfectly clear. but th. slight hare, Inn
pcrc-niihle In booking through dl.tanc-
.. IL fcW miles, became an impcnetrl-
blr mist when hooking ohliquely through
the great depth ~ air Into distant val
lcys below. The great Fraser valley
and IT, mighty river, lying nearer the
mountain, could be seen, but the Hay
elite. aud water. ~ the sound were con-
ce ,leh In mist. The higher regions of
atmosphere, however, were perfectly
clear aud the party enjoyed a mignln-
cent view of th. sublime chain of snowy
peaks forming the backbone oi the 'i--
cade range, and the awful sea of mount
ain. stretching away Into the oktnsgon
country to the eastward. Ther. are
Kingdom. smaller In AREA than the com
pas. of the vision from this summit.
Mt. Rainier, 10 mile. distant, reared IT.
crystal dome against the southern ky,
while Ia the north~ari the vision traced
snowy peaks Tor hundreds ~ mile. into
British Columbit. The summit. of the
Olymplcs rose like snowy Islands out of
the ml.i. brooilng over the deep beyond
and Oyerhangiug the Sound.
The American il,g wa. planted In the
everlasting snow. ani left io noat on the
Fourth of July from this dome, the
highest banner that waved on that amt
ver.ary of our Independence. Upon re-
turning Ca camp, 5000 feet below, the
fiag was .tlll seen floating In the gale
that forever sweeps the summit of this
snowy monument marking our nations
northwest corner.
The party rem ,incd on the summit
from II 20 until 10. Dinner was pre-
pared and eaten. the men reli.hing tn.
isst. Of high living after their hard
cllmb. After dinner a thorough exam
lnation of the summit add a rrconnois-
ande of the surrounding country Was
made. Ia looking down the southeast
ern slope of the mountain from the edge
~ the summit the eater was s;ii' s.u-
Ing from the sidc about s,OpD feet below.
sulphurou. smoke was slowly rising
from an opening, like smoke from thu
bowl of pipe between pufi.. The hole
l. about '5 feet long by 50 wide. 50
guarded by crags, chs.ms aud declivitie.
a. Ia be- completely insccessible.
Mr.. Amsden. the photographer, took
hls camera To the summit aud suceeded
In getting eight large views, which he
will have printed In few days. should
there be any skepticism as Ia the claims
81 the party regarding its achievements,
he can meet II With the iniubitable eyi-
ience of these views. One negative
which the writer saw shows the dag
planting on the summit, the distant peaks
In the background, showing coBclusively
that the dag wss placed on the utmost
peak. The discovery of the crater was
| also confirmed by Mr.. Amsden's camera.