By Cleone Abrams
2016 research intern
“Which one of these mountains do you like best?”
“Well, route and season and weather
All have something to do with that –
I’ll take the one we did together.”
Clark E. Schurman
My personal background has greatly influenced my decision to study history at the University of Washington. My father was a high-school history teacher and U.S. Forest Service ranger, meaning he knew the best, secret mountains to share with my sister and me. While we pitched our tent next to an old mining cabin, he shared stories of crotchety men who had lived there with shotguns and antlers hung over the door. I would walk around the cabin the next morning, touching the wooden slats that had been haphazardly nailed together to shelter the homesteader from feet of snow outside. These connections captivated me as a child and continue to inspire my studies.
When I was asked to gather information for the upcoming Camp Long 75th anniversary exhibit, I was excited to know more about the Pacific Northwest and bring this history to life.
The story of Washington’s mountains begins with the first documented summit of Mount Rainier. Though other parties had summited by other routes, none were as documented or publicized as the 1870 expedition of Hazard Stevens, Philemon Van Trump, John Longmire and their Native American guide Sluiskin. Their effort revealed an earlier history of The Mountain. Native tribes, naming the mountain “Tacoma” or “Tahoma,” feared the violent spirits inhabiting the area. Stevens’ reputation – as the son of the first governor of the Washington Territory, a distinguished military officer and mountaineer – lives on in Seattle. The main road through the UW campus is named “Stevens Way.”
Soon, explorations began on the Olympic Peninsula. Lt. Joseph O’Neil proposed an expedition in 1885 under the guise of reconnoitering for natural resources valuable to the military. In addition to searching for gold, silver and copper, O’Neil’s crew constructed a short trail from Port Angeles and made notations on the flora, fauna and geology of the peninsula. However, in his final report, O’Neil deemed the land unsuitable for anything besides a national park.
Popularization of the Olympic Peninsula occurred rapidly, as the railroad (1888) in the area brought increased commerce and settling. Washington became the 42nd state in 1889. In 1890, the Oregon Alpine Club coordinated with the U.S. Army to conduct another expedition to study the peninsula’s geology, biology, ornithology, geography and topography while accomplishing an east-west traverse and arguably the first documented summit of Mount Olympus.
That same year, Fay Fuller became the first woman to summit Mount Rainier. She went on to lead expeditions with the Mazamas club from Portland. The Seattle branch became so popular that it separated and named itself The Mountaineers. The club attracted many academic and influential members of the community, including Henry Landes (future UW president), Edward Meany (the namesake of Meany Hall for the Performing Arts) and Lawrence Denny Lindsley, grandson of the leader of Seattle’s founding Denny Party.
In 1915, the Mountaineers’ summer outing was to Mount Rainier. After coordinating with the National Park Service and Rainier National Park Company, the group established a route that would become the Wonderland Trail that circumnavigates The Mountain today. This set the precedent of community involvement in the ranges around Seattle.
Wilderness recreation has become a familiar hobby in the Pacific Northwest, and many begin their adventures from an early age. This trend of youth involvement was greatly influenced by Clark Schurman. Schurman grew up in Wisconsin and trained in New York as a Boy Scout troop leader before moving to Seattle in 1920. Troop 65 of Queen Anne became the most organized, active and popular troop in the city under Schurman’s leadership. He demanded the respect and commitment of his scouts while inspiring them to challenge themselves in the backcountry and take leadership of their outings.
As a professional youth educator and mountaineer (he served as chief guide at Rainier in 1939-1942), Schurman was asked by King County Juvenile Court Judge William Long to develop and direct a camp in West Seattle to reduce juvenile delinquency in the area. This mission, combined with Schurman’s emphasis on safety, was achieved in various aspects of the camp. Pollywog Pond created a separated island for Boy Scouts to practice their fire and cooking skills, and the glacier was intended to present every challenge found on a natural glacier.
Most renowned is Monitor Rock, now named Schurman Rock. Reportedly the first outdoor climbing wall in North America, Monitor Rock was intentionally designed. Schurman wrote, “It isn’t just for fun, it’s to further mountain safety,” and the name he chose, “Monitor,” was to remind climbers to be conscious of their own and their partners’ safety.
Schurman took pride in having the “first ascent” of the rock by spending the night on top of the almost completed wall and being there when the uppermost stone was placed. He was the first of many climbers, young and old, novice and professional.
Boy Scout troops from around the area – and the world – practiced safe climbing techniques at Camp Long. Local mountaineers Lou and Jim Whittaker were among the Scouts who trained at Schurman Rock. They went on to lead local and international mountaineering expeditions, from Rainier to military trainings in Colorado to Everest. They also were involved in the Mountain Rescue Patrol, founded in 1948 by Wolf Bauer with the goal “to organize and standardize mountain rescue procedure in the Pacific Northwest.” This organization led to modern rescue groups and official search and rescue squads within national parks.
Soon, Camp Long will celebrate its 75th anniversary and showcase Schurman’s legacy. However, to me, this project honors the community of the Pacific Northwest as a whole. Since the camp opened in 1941, it has influenced larger Seattle. From Boy Scout training to nature programs throughout the 1980s when it was opened to the public to contemporary rope courses and group retreats, Camp Long has served as a training ground and outdoor classroom that would not exist without the support of the community. Twelve organizations, city, federal and private, came together to provide funding, materials and labor to create the camp, and its lasting value is recognized. In 1986, volunteers restored The Rock so that it may continue to instruct and inspire.
This project taught me professional research skills and encouraged me to pursue museology. More important, the history I discovered allowed me to connect to my new home. Just as the ghosts of mining cabins came to life through stories and encouraged me to live my own life of exploration, this story of community support and outdoor education encouraged me to contribute to the mountaineering and history of the Pacific Northwest. I hope that others will be inspired by the communal efforts of Seattle’s leaders and mountaineers.
I thank Lissa Kramer, curator of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society’s “Birthplace of Seattle” Log House Museum; Sheila Brown, education program supervisor at Camp Long; and Brooke Childrey, park curator at Mount Rainier National Park. Additional sources were found at the University of Washington’s Libraries and Special Collections.
“Just a song of the Mountains
At the end of the day;
Of Rainier and Adams,
Baker, far away.
Glacier, Helens, Olympus,
How our memories go
To the mighty Mountains
Wrapped in afterglow…
Campfire lights on their far snow.”
Clark E. Schurman
Cleone Abrams can be reached by e-mailing cleone@uw.edu.
