Our Noblest Volcano 



5*5 



ing rainy and foggy weather, with the 

 mountain much of the time hidden from 

 view, but the 28th was bright and clear. 

 My cook, Wm. Hinshaw, of Portland, 

 and teamster, O. G. Mclntyre, of Sal- 

 mon, Oregon, were in the main camp. 

 They are men in whose word and com- 

 mon sense I believe reliance may be 

 placed. 



They saw a column of smoke, prob- 

 ably dense steam, rising from Crater 

 Rock, high above the sky-line of the sum- 

 mit of the mountain. This persisted 

 throughout the day. 



There were probably as many as a 

 dozen other people at Government Camp 

 who also saw the smoke. An unsuccess- 

 ful attempt was made to photograph it. 

 My own view of that side of the moun- 

 tain was effectually cut off by Steel Cliff. 

 In the afternoon Mclntyre came around 

 to me. He says that when crossing the 

 White River Valley he could look di- 

 rectly up the canyon, in behind Crater 

 Rock, and the smoke appeared much 

 plainer than it had from Government 

 Camp. The stream, White River, as he 

 crossed it that day, was at its usual stage. 



MORE EVIDENCE OE VOLCANIC ACTIVITY 



That night Hinshaw, from the main 

 camp, saw with field glasses a glow from 

 behind Crater Rock which he described 

 as looking like a chimney burning out. 



I returned the next day, the 29th, to 

 Government Camp, crossing on the way 

 th White River, which had swollen over 

 night to an angry stream of treble its vol- 

 ume of the day before. The weather 

 was cold, and though a drizzling rain had 

 begun to fall in the early morning, there 



zvas no warrant for the rise in the 

 stream except the volcanic heat melting 

 the glacier which is its source. Clouds 

 obscured the mountain for a week fol- 

 lowing the 28th. 



I moved camp on the 30th out of sight 

 of the crater, and during the month that 

 remained of the field season saw no fur- 

 ther signs of activity. 



Mr S. N. Stoner, formerly of the Sur- 

 vey, on about the 12th of November, 

 which was a very clear day, saw from 

 Portland what he took to be smoke rising: 

 from Hood. I have heard of no further 

 disturbance, and his observation at the 

 distance of 50 miles is of course of ques- 

 tionable value. 



It is interesting to note that this activ- 

 ity of the old volcano was occurring at 

 the same time that daily changes were 

 being observed in the Bogaslof group of 

 volcanic islands off the Alaskan coast. 



Whether the phenomena observed last 

 August presage an awakening of the old 

 volcano to new life, or whether they were 

 but a dying gasp, which over, the giant 

 will relapse into a yet deeper and per- 

 haps final sleep, time alone can deter- 

 mine. They do show, however, as Mr 

 J. S. Diller has pointed out, that vol- 

 canoes like Pelee or Vesuvius, which are 

 intermittently active, continue to feel 

 throes of life at long intervals, but 

 weaker and weaker with the passing of 

 time, long after they are destructively 

 active. 



But for the present Mount Hood must 

 be taken from the list of extinct vol- 

 canoes and placed at least among the 

 doubtful. 



