Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1915-04-30
VAN TRUMP FOREGOES
TRIP TO MOUNTAIN
PIONEER WHO MADE FIRST AS.
SCENT WITH HAZARD STEVENS
LIVES NEAR YELM.
BY Grace Pulliam in the Tacoma
Tribune,

That venerable mountaineer, Philo.
mon Beecher Van Trump will not 20
to the mountain this summer and
many there are who will be sorry.
The story of how he and Hazard
Stevens made the first ascent is an
old one. Most everyone who wishes
to, has had chance to read it and
yet if you have not been a member of
the campfire at Reese's camp and
heard him tell of it personally, you
know little about the real adventures
and joy of that widely famed trip.
I walked beside him yesterday out
on the prairie, little way from Yelm.
AS he walked he held his head high,
with shoulders erect and step firm,
all signs belying the fact that Father
Time had presented him with over &c
years. His hair is commencing to
grow thin and is very white; his eyes
reflect the blue of the sky. They look
up and straight ahead, shaded with
heavy bushy brows.
He set the pace for our walk, and
as l followed along it was hard to
think that this was not a young man
he was so essentially young in
spirit. Reaching vantage point
from which we could view the noun
tain, he stripped off the top rail from
snake fence that divided the road
from flourishing oat field. and bal
ancing it between a crack Of the fence
and a convenient bowlder, sat down
to talk.
Impressions OF the Mountain.
He told me many things from his
intimate knowledge of the mountain.
II love the view of the mountain out
here at Yelm," he said. ut is nearer
and you learn to know it better.
Down in Tacoma you see only a high
white dome, while now I can show
you the three distinct peaks. Ones
acquaintance with it out here is more
intimate. The people about Yelm
use it for a barometer, and it seldom
fails. Many make the mistake OF
viewing the mists and clouds that so
often hang about its top-as just
clouds. AS matter of fact there is
great difference. The clouds are
fleecy, floating here and there, some
times resting on the mountain and
sometimes rising above or below. But
the cap--and that is the cap that you
are looking at now, is quite different.
That is vapor; it rises from the mouth
of the crater. AS it ascends it comes
in contact with colder air, is con-
densed and settles again, hugging the
top like Chinaman's bowl hat
when you see it you may know that
within three days we will have a
change of weather"
The First Trip Up.
1t was through the help of Mr..
Longmire that hey got "Sluiskin" to
act as guide to the snow line. He
/ came riding into camp early one
morning on an Indian pony, his wife
following on another. with her pap
poose strapped to her back. He wore
buckskin shirt, knee pants pieced out
with leggings, and soft moccasins.
His cap had been the cap of private
soldier. How he came to possess it
history will never be able to say.
Around the visor he had thickly stud
ded it with brass-headed nails. and
on the top of the crown he had fas-
tened brass perforated plate which
doubtless first served as base of an
oil-burner for some lamp, the center
Of which now was used to hold two
huge eagle feathers that stuck
straight up. Over his shoulder was
thrown his blanket which served as
a cloak by day and bed by night.
Sluiskin, OF course. was skeptical,
but he was willing to go until they
should become convinced of their folly
for a consideration of 81 day in
real money, while his squaw, who
was to keep the camp during their
absence, was to receive generous
share of the Boston mans mucka-
muck Oceans and other food).
For this reason he selected the
very longest way of ascent. guiding
them along the rugged backbone OF
the Tatoosh range. After few days
out in which he tested their strength
and endurance and realized that they
were in earnest, he grew quiet and
serious. Making a big campfire. ne
sat by it long and then told them OF
their danger. But when they were
determined he stayed behind, getting
a written statement from them-ane
promising them that after theree days
II they did not return. he would make
his way back down the mountain tt
G-Ix~ ~