Chapter II: Part 2

Text size

The elk is the largest of the American deer family, except the moose. The bulls sometimes weigh as much as 1,000 pounds and the cows, 700. Both sexes have a heavy brown mane and a pale, yellowish rump patch. The bulls carry antlers, which are shed in late winter.

Generally, the elk spend winters in the lowland forests and summers in the higher mountain meadows. Many of them, however, remain in the lowlands even in summer, so that it is possible to see elk in some of the western valleys of the park the year round.

During certain times of the year they are vocal. In May and June when the calves are born the cows sometimes bugle, and more frequently the calves give a high-pitched squeal.

Elk are polygamous and during the rutting season a bull will gather a harem, consisting of a few to a dozen or more cows, which he attempts to hold against all other bulls. There is much bugling by the bulls then—thrilling wilderness calls. You will probably recognize the source of this call the first time you hear it. The bulls become less shy during the rutting season and will permit closer approach. This should be done cautiously, however.

Almost any high-country meadow, except in the north to northeast part of the park, may hold a herd of elk from July through September. Cows, calves, and yearlings gather and remain in large herds until split up by the bulls when the mating season begins in the autumn. During summer, bulls remain apart from the cows, either in small groups or alone. The rutting period lasts from early September to mid-November, tapering off in the last month.

When the snow deepens in the mountains the elk that have summered in the high country come down into the valleys, where they gather in herds that may number 50 or more animals.

The COLUMBIAN BLACK-TAILED DEER is one of the most frequently observed larger mammals. Usually, it is seen in the early morning, late afternoon, evening, and often at night—the preferred feeding times. It remains bedded down in some secluded spot during much of the day. Anyone driving in western Washington at night is likely to see a deer suddenly bound out of the forest onto the highway. Where highways pass through localities having large deer populations, signs warn motorists of this danger.

In summer, deer prefer the upper Hudsonian zone, where forest and meadow mingle to provide both nutritious food and nearby secluded shelter. Hurricane Ridge and Deer Park are favorite summering grounds, and a visit to either area at deer mealtime is likely to be rewarding.

With encouragement and repeated opportunities to sample human food, a deer will become “spoiled”—a beggar lacking the sleekness and alertness of a wild creature. It is then no more than a specimen—like a plucked flower about to wilt. Also, it is potentially dangerous to the person who tries to feed it, for it can, and may, strike damaging blows with its sharp hooves. In the autumn mating season, males, “tame” or wild, can be dangerous.

BLACK BEARS may be seen from sea level to alpine meadows in summer and early autumn. The socially disinclined bear travels alone, except for the mother with cubs. However, several bears may be in the same neighborhood for the same reason—food. From a ridgetop, the sleek, black forms may be seen against the green of the lush meadows below, where they search out ants, small rodents, and succulent herbage of various kinds. On mountain slopes covered with ripened huckleberries in late summer, bears become so engrossed with gorging on the delectable fruits that they may be stalked from downwind. A bear’s keen nose quickly distinguishes nonwilderness odors. Should a shifting breeze waft a scent message his way, you will have to find yourself another bear to stalk. A bear’s hearing is good, but his vision is less acute.

Bears frequent valley bottoms and other lowland areas during late autumn, winter, and spring and may be seen along streams during salmon runs. Apparently, bears in the Olympics do hibernate, but the mild winters make a long dormancy unnecessary. It appears that all Olympic bears are black—the brown pelage phase has not been reported.

A black bear is not a dangerous animal unless he has learned to seek food from people or from their camps. Although a mother bear with cubs is not to be trifled with, a bear without those family responsibilities is easily frightened by a shout or other sudden loud noise.

OLYMPIC MARMOTS live just above or below timberline usually near well-watered meadows bordered by alpine fir clumps. Some are found on windswept ridgetop meadows or on rockslide areas. Marmots come out of hibernation in May and remain active until early September. They are most active in the early morning or evening during warm summer days. They have many burrows, which are easily spotted on alpine meadows. While they may feed long distances from their home dens, they are seldom far from burrows down which they can scurry at the first sign of danger.

Although marmots can best be seen and photographed on Hurricane Hill or Deer Park, they also occur in other high-country locations. The marmot blends well with his surroundings. You may not be aware of his presence until you hear his shrill alarm whistle, which at first you may mistake for a human whistle. It is so frequently heard in marmot territory that the name “whistler” has been given the animal.

BIRDS

The snowy peaks, the mountain meadows, the forests, the lakes and streams, and the salt-water shores of the Olympic Peninsula constitute a variety of habitats for birds. The kinds of birds you can expect to see depend on where you are.

In summer, there are approximately 140 species on the Olympic Peninsula. The following list includes birds most easily identified and most likely to be seen, and those of special interest. Many common birds are not included.

_Birds of the Mountain Peaks_

GRAY-CROWNED ROSY FINCH—a rose-colored, sparrowlike bird, tame and easily observed. It feeds characteristically on or near open, rocky slopes and snowbanks.

_Birds of the Mountain Meadows and Timberline_

HORNED LARK—a brownish ground bird, whitish beneath, a little larger than a sparrow. Usually in pairs on bare field and open ground; they utter a plaintive _tee_ when startled into flight. At close range, the forehead and throat show a pale yellow, bordered and striped with black. The male has two black, hornlike feather tufts on the head.

SPARROW HAWK—a small, slender hawk with pointed wings and a rusty-red tail and back. It commonly hovers in the air above fields and meadows and is numerous on the ridges during grasshopper season.

BLUE GROUSE—a dark, hen-shaped bird commonly seen feeding on the ground in meadows and woodland.

GRAY JAY—a usually silent, gray bird with a whitish area on top of the head and a black patch behind the white. It is a little larger than a robin. This jay appears at your camp or picnic expecting food and sometimes helping himself to it.

COMMON RAVEN—distinguished from the crow by its greater size and coarse, guttural croaks. It is seen on the meadows when grasshoppers are abundant.

MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD—“... a flash of azure blue—a crumb from the blue sky above!” (E. A. Kitchin in _Birds of the Olympic Peninsula_.)

OREGON JUNCO is the size of a sparrow, with black head, rusty-brown upperparts and white underparts. The blackish tail has white outer tail feathers.

RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD—the smallest bird in the park. It can be identified by the rapid, darting, humming flight.

COOPER’S HAWK—a medium-sized hawk with short, blunt wings and a long tail. Its flapping, darting, twisting flight, with comparatively little soaring, is characteristic.

RED-TAILED HAWK—a large, soaring hawk with broad, blunt wings. In adults the tail is red on top.

_Birds of the Forest_

Few birds live in the deep forest, but many prefer its edges near streams and openings.

OREGON JUNCO—described in _Birds of the Mountain Meadows and Timberline_.

WINTER WREN—a tiny, dark-brown, short-tailed wren of the deep quiet woods. It sings a trill song from atop a snag or small tree during nesting season and scolds passers-by with staccato, rasping notes.

RUFFED GROUSE—similar to the blue grouse, but reddish-brown, with broad, blackish band toward tip of the tail.

PILIATED WOODPECKER—a big, black, crow-sized woodpecker with a white streak down each side of head and neck. The male has a scarlet tuft on top of head. This bird is found in the deep forest, particularly where there are many dead trees and snags.

GRAY JAY—described in _Birds of the Mountain Meadows and Timberline_.

STELLER’S JAY—a harsh-voiced blue bird with black head and conspicuous black crest.

VARIED THRUSH—somewhat resembles a robin, but has a black bib across the breast. It is a bird of the deep forests, where it is more often heard than seen. “... out of the silence comes a long-drawn quavering note with something of the quality of escaping steam; after a short interval the note is repeated in a higher pitch, again in a lower.” (Ralph Hoffman in _Birds of the Pacific States_.)

RED-SHAFTED FLICKER—a stoutly built woodpecker with a black bib across the breast and a white rump. Orange underwings can be seen when bird is in flight, which is markedly undulating.

HAIRY WOODPECKER—a medium-sized, black and white woodpecker. It is distinguished from a downy woodpecker by its slightly larger size and the lack of black bars on the white outer tail feathers.

DOWNY WOODPECKER—a smaller edition of the hairy woodpecker; the white outer tail feathers are barred with black.

SWAINSON’S THRUSH—distinguished by its russet back and brown-spotted, buff breast; it is smaller than a robin but larger than a sparrow. It sings in the late afternoon and evening; prefers a moist, shady streamside habitat.

RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD—described in _Birds of the Mountain Meadows and Timberline_; it is abundant in the spruce forests along the coast during nesting time.

_Birds Along the Streams_

DIPPER—a chunky, dark slate-colored bird, with a short, wren-like tail, seen among boulders along swift-running streams. It bobs up and down as it stands near the water and then plunges into the streams to feed on the bottom.

BELTED KINGFISHER—a grayish-blue bird with white underparts and a blue band across the breast; the female has a reddish sash. This bird is distinguished by its large head, stout bill, and loud rattling call. It dives from a tree into the water for fish.

HARLEQUIN DUCK—a rather small, dark-colored duck seen on the rivers in spring and summer. The male is bluish above, has reddish-brown flanks, a crescent of white in front of the eye, and various other striking spots and streaks on head and neck—hence its name. The female, though duller, also has white spots on the head.

GREAT BLUE HERON—a tall, lanky, slate-blue bird usually seen walking knee deep in water. In flight, the neck is drawn back in an S-shape.

BALD EAGLE—a large, powerful hawk with slow wing beats. Mature birds, but not the younger ones, have white head and tail. Seen along streams when fish are spawning.

_Birds of the Ocean Shore_

GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL—common along the shores even in summer.

GREAT BLUE HERON—described in _Birds Along the Streams_.

BALD EAGLE—described in _Birds Along the Streams_; it is common along roadless stretches of the Pacific Coast area, where it nests in trees near the shore.

BLACK OYSTERCATCHER—a large, black, sandpiperlike bird with a long red bill and pink legs and feet, about the size of a half-grown chicken.

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT—a large, slender, black bird with a slender, hooked bill; it is often seen with body nearly erect on a rock in the water.

COMMON CROW—occurs in flocks; it caws, while ravens croak.

COMMON RAVEN—described in _Birds of the Mountain Meadows and Timberline_; it is much larger than a crow and occurs chiefly in pairs, singly, or in small groups; not in flocks.

FISH

The Olympic Peninsula is noted for its many miles of beautiful streams. This water provides an abundant world for fishes and gives joy to the fisherman. In these coastal streams the fisherman’s fishes are trout and their relatives, the salmon.

Trout found in the streams include cutthroat, rainbow, brook, Dolly Varden, and steelhead. The steelhead spends the greater part of its life in the ocean, but enters fresh-water streams to reproduce. After spawning, it returns to salt water. During its life span it may make several winter spawning trips up the fresh-water streams. The lives of sea-run cutthroat follow the same pattern, except they spawn in autumn.

In autumn or spring, salmon of several species swim up-stream, driving hard to reach the tributaries where they were hatched. Their mission is to spawn. This is their grand and final act, for unlike the steelhead, they do not return to the sea after spawning, but die. Sport fishing for salmon is done chiefly in salt water, and the waters around the Olympic Peninsula have become famous for the excellent salmon sport fishing they afford.

Some mountain lakes contain rainbow and brook trout. Lake Mills, which is impounded water, contains rainbow, brook, and Dolly Varden trout.

The largest lake in the park, Lake Crescent, formerly contained two varieties of trout that have not been found to be native anywhere else. These were the Beardslee and the Crescenti, varieties of the rainbow and cutthroat, respectively, which frequently reached a weight of between 10 and 15 pounds. These varieties of trout probably no longer exist in the pure state. Recent studies indicate that present trout stocks, contaminated by plantings of hatchery fish that were made before the park was established, are now hybridized from crossbreeding. This is the usual story that follows upon man’s interference with natural waters—a story which has been repeated over and over again in the United States.

A license is not required for fishing in the park. There are regulations, however, pertaining to the season, open water, catch limit, and method of fishing. A copy of these regulations may be obtained at the superintendent’s office or at a park ranger station.

OTHER ANIMAL LIFE

In addition to mammals and birds there are other animals which, though smaller and with less apparent personality, may be equally interesting. They are part of the native wild fauna of the park and are accorded the same protection as the larger forms. The few listed below are frequently seen along trails.

NORTHWESTERN TOAD. This warty animal can be distinguished by the light-colored line that runs down its back. It is common on forest trails, but blends so well with the ground that it may not easily be seen.

PACIFIC TREEFROG. This delicate, moist animal can be identified by the adhesive pads on its toes with which it can cling to smooth surfaces. It has a black line on each cheek, running through the eye. The eyes have a bronze iridescence.

PACIFIC COAST NEWT. This attractive species of salamander can be identified easily by its color—brown on top and orange underneath. They are commonly seen in the spring when they congregate in ponds and small lakes to spawn.

There are several other species of salamanders in the park that live among the rotting logs in the damp woods.

GARTER SNAKE. This is probably the only snake you will see. _There are no poisonous snakes on the Olympic Peninsula._

COMMON SNAIL. If not disturbed, this shelled creature of the woods can be seen moving about carrying its “house” on its back. The shell is about an inch across. The eyes are on the ends of two long stalks, enabling the snail to see over obstructions.

COMMON SLUG. The grayish-green slug with its shiny mucous track is abundant on many forest trails. Some of these slugs are blotched with black.

Pacific Coast Area

There is a detached section of the park known as the Pacific Coast Area. It is a narrow strip of land that borders the ocean for 50 miles—a scenic coastline of unusual interest. The Olympic Highway (US. 101 and Wash. 9) runs through the southern 12 miles of it, but the rest is roadless except for the road to the village of La Push.

The shore is broken by many rocky points separating sandy beaches. Numerous needle rocks and small islands, having survived the abrasion of the encroaching sea, rise offshore.

In places where ocean waves have worn back the land there are rocky platforms that are under shallow water when the tide is in and uncovered when the tide is out. Myriads of animals may be seen among slippery sea plants, under rocks, and in pools left behind when the water recedes. This is a between-the-tides museum, with mussels and barnacles in dense communities holding to rocks near shore, purple shore crabs scurrying for shelter under rocks, ochre and purple starfish (blondes and brunettes of the same species), and numerous limpets clinging tightly to rocks farther from shore. Colorful hydroids, brilliant nudibranchs, chitons, sea urchins, and anemones in pools also thrive where the shore is rocky and protected from strong waves.

Other creatures prefer the sandy beaches. On a weekend in clam season, when the tide is low, the miles-long Kalaloch Beach becomes pock-marked with holes and bumpy with piles from clam diggers’ “guns.” A clam “gun” is a spade with a long, narrow blade set nearly at right angle with the handle. Each year, seasons and limits for razor clams are prescribed by the Washington State Department of Fisheries. The season, which runs from spring to autumn, generally coincides with the most favorable tides and surf for clam digging.

Quileute and Quinault Indians dip silver smelt out of the surf with nets. These small fish ride in on the surf to spawn in the sand, especially during the highest spring tides. Anyone may engage in this fishing sport, with a hand dip net, under certain restrictions. Current regulations pertaining to razor clam digging and smelt dipping can usually be obtained in the immediate area.

Three Indian reservations lie within the ocean strip and a fourth adjoins it on the south. One of these, the Ozette at the northern end, is no longer inhabited, but there are still signs of the village site. An unimposing bit of rock juts into the water here. This is Cape Alava, which is distinguished by being the western extremity of our country, exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii.

Numerous birds nest on the offshore islands. Many others make rest stops during migration, as the strip lies within a major migration flyway. Birds, including gulls, crows, oystercatchers, and cormorants, are always present along the shore. Usually several bald eagles may be seen during a hike along the beach. They build their nests mostly in the tops of tall snags.

Mammals, too, appear on the beach. Raccoons and skunks take advantage of low tides to feed on the various and abundant life available then. Deer frequently come to the beaches, perhaps to escape a cougar, to sun themselves, or to obtain salt or certain beach plants. Not infrequently a black bear is seen, and, occasionally, an elk.

Camping on the beach is pleasant during dry weather. There is ample firewood everywhere and small streams flow out of the forest, providing fresh water. Some of the streams may be contaminated, however, and the water should be either boiled or treated chemically if its purity is doubtful.

There are several trails leading to the beach. Starting at the north, the most important of these are the following:

INDIAN VILLAGE TRAIL, starting at Lake Ozette and extending 3 miles to the Ozette village site at the beach, leads through delightful forest and prairie. Much of the trail is a boardwalk made of split cedar puncheon.

SAND POINT TRAIL also starts at Lake Ozette and is 3 miles long. The distance between the Indian Village Trail and this trail is also 3 miles along the beach. Thus, a triangular 9-mile round trip is possible.

SECOND BEACH TRAIL is about one-half of a mile long.

THIRD BEACH TRAIL is about three-quarters of a mile long. These two latter trails start from the road near the village of La Push and lead to attractive, clean, sandy beaches.

Man in Olympic

INDIANS OF THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA

In aboriginal times, the Olympic Peninsula was a part of the Northwest Coast cultural area, which stretched along the Pacific shoreline from northern California to Alaska. The inhabitants of this extensive region shared many cultural traits, perhaps the most distinctive of which were a keen sense of personal property and a veneration of wealth. These people did little to change their natural environment, but they showed great skill in utilizing what resources their primitive technology made available. Their dug-out canoes, for instance, fashioned from tree trunks, were probably the finest which have ever been made by any aboriginal people.

This remarkable culture was possible largely because the environment provided an abundance of the necessities of life. Food was easily obtained, and 3 or 4 months of gathering provided enough for the balance of the year. Fish were the staple food. Salmon swarmed up the streams of the Olympic Peninsula each summer and were trapped or speared in great quantity. Smelt were dipped from the surf, and clams and other shelled creatures were taken from the seashore. The diet was augmented by berries and roots from the woodlands. Elk, deer, and birds provided meat. Some of the Olympic Indians hunted seals, porpoises, and whales. The capture of the whales required daring journeys on the open sea in dug-out canoes 30 to 40 feet long and accommodating 6 to 8 men.

The great forests of the Peninsula were vitally important to the Indian economy. Cedars provided hulls for canoes or were split into planks for houses. From cedar bark were made baskets, mats, sails, cordage, clothing, and other household necessities.

Most of the year these Indians lived in villages located above the beaches along the ocean or arms of the sea, generally at the mouths of rivers. Their permanent houses were stoutly built of planks. Some of these rectangular structures, designed to accommodate several families, were more than 60 feet long and 30 to 40 feet wide. Many of them were beautifully decorated with painted designs. During summer it was a common practice of these people to migrate, either inland to gather berries and hunt, or along the watercourses to fish.

By primitive standards, the Indians of the Northwest Coast were wealthy; that is, they had plenty of things to eat, wear, and use for shelter. They also had much winter leisure. This combination of wealth and leisure gave rise to a remarkable political and social system in which power and prestige generally belonged to the richest individuals.

An important feature of the social structure was the giving away of possessions during a feast, called a potlatch. Years, even a lifetime, of saving and privation were frequently endured in order to accumulate sufficient wealth for this purpose. Guests were invited from many tribes. The host gave such valuable gifts as canoes, slaves, food, fishing equipment, and, in more recent years, commercial blankets. As a rule, gifts were given only to guests who could afford to give a return potlatch. Gift-giving was a good investment for the host because the recipient was obligated to give a larger gift in return. This act of giving away one’s possessions elevated the giver and his family in the social scale. Wealth was measured not so much in terms of what was owned as by what was given away.

In recent years the Bureau of Indian Affairs has exerted pressure to discourage the potlatch system, and it has declined greatly; but potlatches are still held in modified form.

Today, the scene at Indian villages along the Olympic Peninsula is quite unlike that of a century ago. The cedarplank communal houses are no longer built; and, as the climate is not conducive to preservation, the old ones have disappeared. White man’s clothes have replaced garments of skin and shredded bark. Customs, too, have been modified under the impact of modern civilization. Still, much of the old Indian tradition survives, though it may not be discernible on the surface.

The main source of livelihood still is fishing. The Indians prefer to use dug-out canoes, but now these are usually propelled by outboard motors. Nearly every family owns a canoe, although only a few expert canoe makers build them. They are similar to the oldtime canoes in design, but the tools used to carve them are steel rather than the stone, shell, or bone used for blades in primitive tools.

Thrilling dug-out canoe trips on the Quinault River are available in summer for a moderate fee. The Quinault Indians at Amanda Park, where the river flows out of Lake Quinault, offer such trips over the entire distance of 35 miles to the ocean.

EXPLORATION BY SEA

The first white men to explore the Olympic Peninsula came by sea. Spanish navigators venturing northward from Mexico may have coasted the shoreline as early as the 16th century. Juan de Fuca, said to have been a Greek pilot in the service of Spain, claimed to have entered the strait, which bears his name, in 1592, but satisfactory proof of this discovery is lacking.

Extensive exploration of the Northwest Coast did not begin, however, until the latter part of the 18th century, when rumors that the Russians were venturing southward from Alaska stirred the Spaniards to fresh efforts. In 1774, during the first of these renewed voyages, Juan Perez saw the present Mount Olympus and named it “Santa Rosalia.” He was the first European to name a geographic feature in what is now the State of Washington.

During the next 25 years the Northwest Coast, including that of the Olympic Peninsula, was widely explored and mapped by Spaniards, Englishmen, and Americans. The Spaniards were the first actually to set foot on the Peninsula. During a voyage made by Bruno Heceta and Juan de la Bodega y Quadra in 1775, Heceta landed at Point Grenville, near the mouth of the Quinault River.

Capt. James Cook was the first of several English navigators to explore the Northwest Coast. In 1778, during his search for the Northwest Passage, he named Cape Flattery, in the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula. While on the coast, some of Cook’s crewmen obtained furs from the natives and later sold them in China for high prices. This event turned the eyes of English and American businessmen toward the Pacific Northwest, and thereafter exploration of this region was stimulated by the fur trade.

In 1788, Capt. John Meares, an English trader, saw the mountain which Perez had named 14 years earlier. Not knowing of the earlier discovery, he christened the peak “Mount Olympus.”

Juan Francisco de Eliza, a Spanish captain, entered Juan de Fuca Strait in 1791 and named the harbor, where present Port Angeles is situated, “Puerto de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles,” which means “Port of Our Lady of the Angels.” In the following year the Spaniards established a fort and settlement at Neah Bay. The members of this colony, which existed for only 5 months, were the first white settlers to touch the soil of the Olympic Peninsula and, indeed, of the State of Washington.

In 1792, Capt. Robert Grey, an American trader, discovered the harbor at the southern margin of the Olympic Peninsula which was later named in his honor. Of all the explorers who came by sea, George Vancouver, the English navigator, left the greatest mark in northwest Washington. He explored Puget Sound waters in 1792 and named numerous geographic features, including Port Townsend and Discovery Bay, on the Olympic Peninsula.

EXPLORATION BY LAND

At the same time that maritime traders and explorers were making known the features of the coast, other adventuresome men were opening overland trails into the Northwest. By 1810, fur traders following in the wake of Alexander Mackenzie, David Thompson, and Lewis and Clark were well established in the present British Columbia and in the Columbia River drainage basin. After 1821, the British-controlled Hudson’s Bay Company dominated the fur trade of the Pacific Northwest and for a number of years virtually excluded rivals from the area.

During the 1830’s and 1840’s, however, American traders, missionaries, and settlers in ever-increasing numbers pushed into the Northwest. British influence declined as the American population grew, until, in 1846, Great Britain bowed to the inevitable and gave up her hopes of owning the region as far south as the Columbia River. In that year the 49th parallel was established as the boundary between American and British territory west of the Rockies.

Up to this time few American settlers had established homes on the north side of the Columbia River. Following the adjustment of the boundary dispute, pioneers rapidly pushed into the Puget Sound basin. A few of these newcomers established themselves at Port Townsend in 1851.

Although Port Townsend was the first permanent settlement on the Peninsula, two trappers named John Sutherland and John Everett had crossed the strait from Victoria in 1849 and had operated traplines on the two large lakes west of Port Angeles. One lake still bears the name of Sutherland. The other, first named Lake Everett, is now known as Lake Crescent. The first permanent settlers in the Port Angeles area did not take up claims until 1857.

Settlement of the Olympic Peninsula proceeded slowly, and the mountains remained virtually unknown for several decades despite the fact that the first ascent of Mount Olympus reportedly was made as early as 1854. The first real attempt to explore the Olympic Mountains was made in 1885 by an expedition under the leadership of Lt. Joseph P. O’Neil of the 14th Infantry. Starting at Port Angeles, the explorers cut a trail past Mount Angeles to Hurricane Ridge. They returned by the same route after investigating the country to the southeast, perhaps as far as the head of the Lillian River.

The next major expedition into the Olympic Mountains was promoted by Edmond Meany, the 27-year-old city editor of the Seattle _Press_. At his instigation, the paper, on October 23, 1889, carried an article calling attention to this unknown land and the need for exploration. “There is a fine opportunity,” said the article, “to acquire fame by unveiling the mystery which wraps the land encircled by the snow-capped Olympic range.”

Meany persuaded the _Press_ to finance an expedition, and a party was organized, with James H. Christie, former hunter, Indian fighter, and arctic explorer, as its leader. The company started up the Elwha River in December 1889. It was believed that the mountains visible from the coast were but an outer rim within which there was a central valley, and by making a winter start the expedition hoped to be over the first range and ready for work in the valley when spring should come. This ignorance concerning the true character of the mountains might have brought a tragic ending to the expedition had the explorers not been experienced and resourceful in wilderness travel.

Six months later the party emerged from the mountains at Lake Quinault, having endured severe hardships and privations without any serious mishap. They had blazed a crude trail across the heart of the unknown Olympics. They brought back photographs and a rough topographic map of the country. They reported on its plants, animals, and minerals, and they named 50 peaks, rivers, lakes, and other landmarks. Many of these names remain today. Press Valley, on the Elwha, was named for the newspaper which financed the expedition, and the Bailey Range was named for William H. Bailey, the paper’s proprietor. Mount Meany perpetuates the name of the young city editor, and Mounts Christie and Barnes honor, respectively, the leader and narrator of the expedition.

The _Press_ explorers had been out of the wilderness but a few weeks when another expedition was organized. The Oregon Alpine Club furnished a scientific staff and much of the money; the Army supplied Lieutenant O’Neil to lead the party and soldiers to assist. During the summer of 1890 this expedition crossed the Olympic Mountains from Hood Canal to Lake Quinault by way of the Skokomish and Quinault Rivers. They, too, left names on many geographic features. O’Neil Pass and O’Neil Creek were named for the leader, Mount Henderson for the botanist of the party, and Mount Bretherton for the naturalist-cartographer. In his report O’Neil stated, “while the country on the outer slope of these mountains is valuable, the interior is useless for all practicable purposes. It would, however, serve admirably for a national park.”

These expeditions stimulated settlement on the fringes of the Olympic Peninsula and in the river valleys. They also led to further exploration of the interior and to a realization of the vast recreational resources of this mountain fastness.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PARK

Olympic Forest Reserve was established in 1897 by Executive order, and was surveyed during the next 3 years, by Messrs. Arthur Dodwell and Theodore Rixon. They produced the first accurate map and gave a detailed account of the forests.

Efforts to preserve the Olympic wilderness started in 1904 when Representative Francis W. Cushman introduced a bill for the establishment of Elk National Park. The bill did not pass. In 1906 and 1908, Representative William E. Humphrey introduced bills to create a game refuge on the Olympic Peninsula. These bills also failed. Two days before the end of the Theodore Roosevelt administration he asked the President to set aside a National Monument in the Olympic Mountains under authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. By Presidential proclamation, Mount Olympus National Monument was established in 1909.

The monument was within the boundaries of Olympic National Forest. From 1909 to 1933, it was administered by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. By Executive order, the monument was transferred to the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, on June 10, 1933.

Efforts to establish a national park in the Olympics were renewed in 1935. Representative Monrad C. Wallgren repeatedly introduced bills to have this done, but without success at first. President Roosevelt visited the Olympic Peninsula in 1937 and expressed approval of a large Olympic National Park. The act of June 29, 1938, established Olympic National Park and abolished Mount Olympus National Monument. The park now has an area of 1,400 square miles.

Comments

Olympic National Park, WashingtonChapter II: Part 2

0%26 min left in chapter