FIRST ATTEMPTED ASCENT, 1857 



thermometer, plenty of hard biscuit, and dried beef 

 such as the Indians prepare. 



Information relating to the mountain was exceed- 

 ingly meagre ; no white man had ever been near it, 

 and Indians were very superstitious and afraid of it. 

 The southern slope seemed the least abrupt, and in 

 that direction I proposed to reach the mountain ; 

 but whether to keep the high ground, or follow some 

 stream to its source, was a question. Leshi, the chief 

 of the Nesquallies, was at that time in the guard- 

 house, awaiting his execution, and as I had greatly 

 interested myself to save him from his fate, he vol- 

 unteered the information that the valley of the 

 Nesqually River was the best approach after getting 

 above the falls. He had some hope that I would take 

 him as a guide ; but finding that out of the question 

 he suggested Wah-pow-e-ty, 1 an old Indian of the 

 Nesqually tribe, as knowing more about the Nesqually 

 than any other of his people. 



Mount Rainier is situated on the western side of the 

 Cascade Range, near the forty-seventh parallel. The 

 range to which it belongs averages about 7,000 to 8,000 

 feet in height, and snow may be seen along its sum- 

 mit-level the year round, while Rainier, with its im- 

 mense covering of snow, towers as high again above the 

 range. In various travels and expeditions in the ter- 

 ritory, I had viewed the snow-peaks of this range 

 from all points of the compass, and since that time 

 having visited the mountain regions of Europe, and 

 most of those of North America, I assert that Washing- 

 ton Territory contains mountain scenery in quantity and 

 quality sufficient to make half a dozen Switzerlands, 

 while there is on the continent none more grand and 

 imposing than is presented in the Cascade Range 

 north of the Columbia River. 



About noon on the 8th of July [1857] we finally 

 started. The party consisted of four soldiers two 



1 His name is honored in Wapowety Cleaver overlooking the Kautz Glacier. 



75 



