38 The Mountaineer 



EARLY ASCENTS OF MOUNT RAINIER. 



Maj. E, S. Ingraham. 



General A, V. Kautz, then a young lieutenant, was 

 probably the first person to attempt the ascent of Mt. 

 Rainier. That was in July, 1857, and the route chosen 

 was a rocky spur that extends from Longmire's Springs 

 to Peak Success. Lieut. Kautz, with a soldier named 

 Dogue for a companion, climbed to the ridge connect- 

 ing Peak Success with Crater Peak, and probably 

 could have gained the summit, but the lateness of the 

 hour and prudence, lead them to beat a hasty retreat 

 to the lower altitudes. Had they known of the exist- 

 ence of the steam caves in the crater, which have since 

 afiforded protection and shelter to belated climbers, they 

 would doubtless have continued the ascent and thus 

 had the honor of first standing upon the top of The 

 Mountain. 



For thirteen years thereafter the snows of Rainier 

 were unstained by human footprints. In 1870, P. B. 

 Van Trump, who had lived within view of the moun- 

 tain for three years, and Hazard Stevens, son of the 

 first governor of Washington Territory, joined forces 

 to attack the mountain. They were successful, first 

 reaching the summit of Peak Success, and then cross- 

 ing over and climbing Crater Peak, They learned of 

 the existence of the steam caves, and spent the night 

 in one of them. There is no doubt that to Van Trump 

 and Stevens belongs the honor of first standing upon 

 the apex of Mt. Rainier. They gave the names Peak 

 Success, Crater Peak and Liberty Cap to the trident 

 shaped summit. That was in August. In October of 

 the same year S. F. Emmons and A. D. Wilson, geolo- 



