| 1592 - | Supposed discovery of the Strait of
Juan de Fuca, which links Puget Sound with the Pacific, by the Greek
mariner of the same name. |
|
| 1774 - | Juan Perez, in the service of
Spain, sailed north along the coast of California, Oregon, Washington
and British Columbia to 54 degrees north latitude. His is the first
definitely established journey into waters bordering the State of
Washington. A high peak in latitude 48 degrees and 10 minutes (Mount
Olympus) was named Santa Rosalia by Perez - being the first geographical
feature in Washington to receive a name by a civilized man. |
| 1775 - | On July 14 of this year two Spanish
vessels under command of Bruno Heceta and Bodega E. Quadra sailed
northward to 47 degrees north latitude where a landing was made. This
was the first time a white man had touched Washington soil. The spot
was on Destruction Island which was named Isla de Dolores (Island of
Sorrows) by Quadra because a group of men who he had dispatched to land
in a small boat at that point were attacked and killed by
animals. |
| 1787 - | Captain Barclay of the Austrian
East Indian Company, accompanied by his young wife, sailed into and
explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca. He did not penetrate eastward to
Puget Sound, however. Mrs. Barclay was the first white woman to see
these shores. |
| 1792 - | On May 8 Captain George Vancouver
of the English Navy, having sailed through the strait of Juan de Fuca
and anchored near its eastern end, saw a "snowy mountain . . . which
after may friend Rear Admiral Rainier, I distinguished by the name of
Mount Rainier". Vancouver was the first white man to see "The
Mountain". |
| 1833 - | On May 30 Archibald McDonald of the
Hudson's Bay Company with "four men, four oxen and four horses after a
journey of fourteen days" from the Columbia River arrived at the site of
Fort Nisqually which was the first settlement on the Puget Sound
country. A young man, Dr. Tolmie, accompanied the party.
On September 2 Dr. William Fraser Tolmie achieved the "summit" of a
snowy peak immediately under Rainier". He was on a botanizing
expedition from Fort Nisqually and had thus entered the region now
included in Mount Rainier National Park - being the first white man to
set foot on park soil. The "snowy peak" is today known as Tolmie
Peak.
|
|
| 1857 - | July 8-21 inclusive were the days
that Lieut. A. V. Kautz and his small party from Fort Steilacoom, an
American Army post on Puget Sound, were making their attempt at the
summit of Mount Rainier. Kautz did not actually succeed in reaching the
summit but his attempt is one of the historic high spots of Mount
Rainier. July 15, 1857 was the day on which Kautz and his party made
the actual climb of Mount Rainier from his base camp near
timberline. |
| 1870 - | August 17 Hazard Stevens and P. B.
Van Trump succeeded in making the first successful ascent of Mount
Rainier.
In October of the same year S. F. Emmons and A. D. Wilson of the
United States Geological Survey also succeeded in reaching the summit of
Mount Rainier. These men were unaware of the fact that Stevens and Van
Trump had climbed the mountain. They are therefore credited with making
the second successful ascent. |
| 1883 - | Discovery of mineral springs on
southwest slope of Mount Rainier by James Longmire in August and
establishment of a homestead claim about these springs by Longmire in
the fall of the same year. |
| 1884 - | Construction of the first permanent
buildings in the area now known as Mount Rainier National Park by the
Longmires at Longmire Springs. Construction of the first trail into the
area.
Construction of the first road into the area now in the park by the
Longmires. The road ended at Longmire Springs. |
|
| 1890 - | August 10 of this year Fay Fuller,
a school teacher of Yelm, Washington at the time, made an ascent of
Mount Rainier. She was the first woman to reach the mountain's
summit. |
| 1899 - | On March 2 Mount Rainier National
Park was created by Congress - the fifth of our national
parks. |
| 1904 - | In this year two government road
surveys - one under Zug which sought an approach to "The Mountain" from
the eastern part of Washington and one under Ricksecker who surveyed the
present Paradise Valley Highway route - were undertaken. |
| 1906 - | Ricksecker's route being accepted
construction of this road was begun. |
| 1911 - | In August of this year President
William Howard Taft visited Mount Rainier National Park. An attempt was
made to drive the President to Paradise Valley but the car bogged down
in the mud of the uncompleted road and was then hauled into the valley
by a team of mules. |
| 1912 - | In August of this year the first
car reached Paradise Valley under its own power. |
| 1916 - | Establishment of the National Park
Service as a bureau of the Department of the Interior for the purpose of
administering the National Parks. Stephen T. Mather was appointed the
first Director. |
| 1933 - | Celebration of the 100th
anniversary of Dr. Fraser Tolmie's visit to this region. |
