November 13, 1843 - Mt Rainier in Washington State erupts. In 1843 Brevet Captain J.C. Fremont with the U.S. Exploring Expedition traversed the eastern part of the Columbia River. From Fremonts Report of the Exploring Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842, and to Oregon and North California in the Years 1843-44, published 1845: ... Wherever we came in contact with the rocks of these mountains, we found them volcanic, which is probably the character of the range; and at the time, two of the great snowy cones, Mount Regnier and St. Helens, were in action. On the 23d of the proceeding November, St. Helens had scattered its ashes, like a light fall of snow, over the Dalles of the Columbia, 50 miles distant. A specimen of these ashes was given to me by Mr. Brewer, one of the clergymen at the Dalles. [Fremont, November 13, 1843] ... St. Helens is Mount St. Helens and the Dalles of the Columbia is today an Oregon city called The Dalles. From the U.S. Coast Survey of 1862: ... When off the entrance [of the Columbia River] in fine, clear weather, the beautiful snow peak of Mount St. Helens shows over the lowest part of the land inside, and apparently in the middle of the river valley. It is very regular in outline, and presents a pyramidal appearance, having a base equal to either side. It is over 75 miles eastward from the entrance to the river, and attains an estimated elevation of 13,500 feet. It is volcanic, and occasionally discharges volumes of smoke. On the 23d of November, 1842, during an eruption, the ashes from it fell over the Dalles of the Columbia like a light fall of snow. On the 13th of November, 1843, St. Helens and Rainier were both in action. Humboldt erroneously states that this volcano is always smoking from the summit crater. ... *Naming of Mount Rainier ... On May 8, 1792, Captain George Vancouver of the British Royal Navy anchored his ship near todays Port Townsend, Washington, and wrote in his log: ... the round snowy mountain ... after my friend Rear Admiral Peter Rainier, I distinguished by the name of Mount Rainier ... Peter Rainier was born in 1741 and entered the Royal Navy in 1756 at age 15. He rose through the British Navy ranks until his retirement in 1804. In 1805 he was advanced to the rank of Admiral, became a member of Parliament in 1807, and died in 1808. *Mount Rainier, at 14,410 feet in elevation, covers 235,625 acres, and is the highest peak in the Cascade Range. It is third in volume, after Mount Shasta in California, and another Washington State volcano, Mount Adams. Mount Rainier is host to twenty-five separate, named glaciers, the largest single-peak glacier system in the United States outside of Alaska. Measurements of the movement of the Nisqually Glacier date from 1857.
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 19:04:35 +0000
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