California, Oregon and Washington Territory. 223 
Mount Rainier is the grandest of all the volcanoes of the 
Northwest and forms the most prominent topographical object 
in Washington Territory, rising proudly above all other peaks, 
and towering far above the crest of the Cascade Range which 
lies about twenty miles to the eastward. The surface features 
of the western portion of the territory have been greatly modi- 
fied by the great lava-flows of the volcano, and no less than 
four important rivers of the territory rise among the glaciers of 
the monntain: the Nisqually, Puyallup and White Rivers, 
which flow into Puget Sound, and the Cowlitz which, running 
In a southwesterly direction pours into the Columbia. Snow 
and ice cover the top of the volcano, reaching downward for 
five or six thousand feet, while with the most marked contrast 
the broad base of the mountain supports a dark, dense forest 
vegetation of great grandeur. The summit of Mount Rainier 
1s formed by three peaks, the highest situated to the eastward 
of the other two aad separated from them by deep and nearly 
accessible gorges, although they attain within a few hundre 
feet of the sa Ititude. The main peak presents a perfect, 
circular cone with a crater about a quarter of a mile in diam- 
eter, The altitude of the peak as determined by the United 
States Coast Survey is 14,444 feet. 
ta 
neighboring ridges rarely attain an altitude of over 3000 feet, 
the volcano eats ede he. spectacle, surpassed by few 
