III. FIRST RECORDED TRIP THROUGH 

 NACHES PASS, 1841 



BY LIEUTENANT ROBERT E. JOHNSON, U.S.N. 



THE proper and official title of the United States Exploring Ex- 

 pedition, 1838-1842, by common speech has been contracted 

 to the Wilkes Expedition. The commander of the expedition 

 was Charles Wilkes, who entered the United States Navy as a 

 midshipman on January i, 1818. On July 25, 1866, he was pro- 

 moted to rear-admiral on the retired list. He was born at 

 New York City on April 3, 1798, and died at Washington 

 City on February 8, 1877. 



He was honored in Europe and America for his scientific attain- 

 ments, especially in connection with the expedition that now 

 bears his name. That voyage with a squadron of American 

 naval vessels was for the purpose of increasing the world's 

 knowledge of geography and kindred sciences. They reached 

 Puget Sound in 1841 and, while making headquarters at Nis- 

 qually House of the Hudson's Bay Company, Commander 

 Wilkes sent Lieutenant Robert E. Johnson in command of a 

 party to cross the Cascade Range. Search in the Navy De- 

 partment revealed only scant information that Lieutenant 

 Johnson was from North Carolina. The Historical Commission 

 of that State and others there have failed to find information 

 about his subsequent career. 



Since he speaks of obtaining a guide, it is likely that he was not 

 the first white man to cross the Cascades, but he was the first 

 to leave us a known record. The portions of that record which 

 bear upon Mount Rainier and its environs is here reproduced. 



Commander Wilkes, before giving the record of his subordinate, 

 makes reference to the peak as follows : "The height of Mount 

 Rainier was obtained by measuring a base line on the prairies, 

 in which operation I was assisted by Lieutenant Case, and the 

 triangulation gave its height, twelve thousand three hundred 

 and thirty feet." (Narrative, Volume IV., page 413.) 



The final reports of the expedition were to appear in twenty-four 

 large volumes and eleven atlases. Several of the volumes were 

 never published, and of those completed only one hundred sets 

 were printed. The rare monographs were full of information. 



