Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1908-06-26
OLD RAINIER.
How the Grand Cid Mountain Narrowly
Escaped O.ficious Annhilation.

Escaped Oticious Annihilaton.
Randall n. Hewitt. an Old-tlme
townsman. now in Los Angeles,
Cad. contributes this chapter to his
tory. regarding the infamous attempt
Of the Northern Pacific townsite
tXploittrS. and other chcc cLt"rE"N. to
change the name Of Rainier To Ia
coma. In Il letter to the STANDARD,
he says:
For a number of years. in the 6os
and 10s. Capt James ;. Lawson was
in charge of the Coast and Geodetc
Surveys in the entire Puget Sound
region. residing in Olympia. No man
was more familiar with early cNplor-
alton. geographical knowledge and
recorded history. in 50 far as IT re
lated to early discoveries and local
nomenclature. than he. He had an
accurate and intimate mental and
written picture of rvr!y inlet. bay.
point. hcadland or mountain IN on
around the Sound. and knew every
place by its name. old or new.
Capt. Lawson was afterwards:
when his work on the Sound had
in the main been completed, trans
ferred to san Francisco, where he
was made Chief Deputy under Prof.
George Davidson, who was in charge
of the entire Coast and Geodetlc Sur
vey. AS a geographer, Prof. Dav-
idson had no superior. Before this
transfer was made. the entire north
west had been thoroughly mapped
and charted, every mountain. river
and bay accurately described, located
and its official name given. These
charts were issued by the War De
partment and Department of the In
terror and duly authenticated. Every
one of the Snow-covered peaks and
Grand old mountains were given the
names that early explorers gave and
had always been accepted.
After the Northern Pacific Railway
located its terminus on Commence
ment Bay and called its location Ia
coma, "a struggle began to change the
name of old Rainier to Tacoma.
This. of course, started feeling OF
resentment that still holds in the
minds of every one not Influenced by
the one local aspiration.
During the period from 1888 to
1898 my occupation frequently took
me to San Francisco, and whenever
| went to that city it was my in
variable habit to call on Capt. Law
son. in the Appraisers Building. On
one of my visits in 1892, an express
messenger delivered a roll of docu-
ments, accompanied by letter from
the Interior. directed to Professor
Davidson as chief of the Coast Sur
vey. AS Mr.. Davidson was out OF
the city on a vacation, Capt. Lawson
was in full charge and removed the
seals and opened the package.
1t proved to be two maps of the Puget
Sound country. The letter requested
Prof. Davidson to examine the maps
at his early convenience and return
! same to the department with such
notationS as he deemed proper.
As many of these maps had been
published and were in general uSt
among those who had occasion fOl
them, it aroused some interest tC
know why Il new one should be
issued; the Coast Survey office haC
no knowledge that new issue was
demanded. Capt. Lawson called ar
Office draughtsman to his assistance
and together they Systematically ex
amined the new chart, comparing
it with the old. 1t was not great
while before they ran against the
change that had been made and was
intended to be made; the secret was
then very apparent; Old Mount
Rainier had been eliminated. wiped
off the map, as it were, and Mount
Tacoma put on in place. On this
discovery, Cap. Lawson exploded"
he said some things in very penetrat
ing language which made the atmos
pnere of the Office fairly vibrate
and then he said some more. His re
marks all through were decidedly
emphatic and left no doubt in his
mind of what the scheme was; this
was the only change in the entire
chart, which, if passed unchanged
would have lost the original name o
Rainier for all time.
Prof. Davidson, on his return Il
duty, at once took the matter W
with the department and sent for
ward q communication which con
WINGED the officials who presided il
Washington, that Rainier was gOOt
name to leave attached to that CRANE
old mountain, and that there was NJ
warrant for officious Juggling. i
subsequently developed that ennis
aries of the Northern Pacific railroad
had induced some one in the Coas
Survey division to make this attempt
ed charge, but they missed thei
figure when it was put up to Prof
Davidson and Capt. Lawson to hav,
the final say. Old Rainier has sine,
remained on the map; but this doe
not mean that some future attemp
| will be made of q similar character
The Fire at Bucoda.
The emberS of the disastrous fir
at Tenino had scarcely cooled befor
! n Oroafar cnpfa rra f;nr ba,,,aoo1 4,