wlitz Glacier.]

Copyright, 1910, 1911, by John H. Williams.

{p.007}
[Illustration: On the summit of Eagle Rock in winter.
Boys looking over an 800-foot precipice.]

FOREWORD.

Every summer there is demand for illustrated literature describing the
mountain variously called "Rainier" or "Tacoma." Hitherto, we have had
only small collections of pictures, without text, and confined to the
familiar south and southwest sides.

The little book which I now offer aims to show the grandest and most
accessible of our extinct volcanoes from all points of view. Like the
glacial rivers, its text will be found a narrow stream flowing swiftly
amidst great mountain scenery. Its abundant illustrations cover not
only the giants' fairyland south of the peak, but also the equally
stupendous scenes that await the adventurer who penetrates the harder
trails and climbs the greater glaciers of the north and east slopes.
* * * *

The title adopted for the book has reference, of course, to the Indian
nature worship, of which something is said in the opening chapter.
Both the title and a small part of the matter are reprinted from an
article which I contributed last year to the _New York Evening Post_.
Attention is called to the tangle in the names of glaciers and the
need of a definitive nomenclature. As to the name of the Mountain
itself, that famous bone of contention between two cities, I greatly
prefer "Tacoma," one of the several authentic forms of the Indian name
used by different tribes; but I believe that "Tahoma," proposed by the
Rotary Club of Seattle, would be a justifiable compromise, and satisfy
nearly everybody. Its adoption would free our national map from one
more of its meaningless names--the name, in this case, of an
undistinguished foreign naval officer whose only connection with our
history is the fact that he fought against us during the American
Revolution. Incidentally, it would also free me from the need of an
apology for using the hybrid "Rainier-Tacoma"! * * * Many of the
illustrations show wide reaches of wonderful country, and their
details may well be studied with a reading glass.

I am much indebted to the librarians and their courteous assistants at
the Seattle and Tacoma public libraries; also to Prof. Flett for his
interesting account of the flora of the National Park; to Mr. Eugene
Ricksecker, of the United States Engineer Corps, for permission to
reproduce his new map of the Park, now