RAINIER, ra'nee, Mount. An old volcanic cone in central western Washington named from Admiral Rainier of the 13rifish navy hy Vancouver the navigator, who saw it from Puget Sound in 1793. It is also known by the Indian name of Tacoma Peak and rises about 56 miles southwest of the city of Tacoma. Its altitude is 14,408 feet or about 8,000 feet higher than the adjoining Cascade Mountain region. It was once thought to be the highest peak in the United States but Mount Whitney in Cali fornia is 93 feet higher and a few peaks in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado exceed it slightly. Its upper part is mostly •covered by snow and ice, the latter in 11 main glaciers radiating from the summit like the arms of a great starfish. The glaciers are from four to six miles long and equal in size and beauty those in the Alps. The larger one extends down to 4,000 feet. A luxuriant forest extends part way up the slopes, and the timber line is between 7,000 and 7,5(X) feet. Around the bast are many natural meadows of .1noSt picturesque character with profusion of summer flowers. The peak, the noblest of the fire-mountains which, like beacons, once blazed along the Paci fic Coast,* is the remains of a. huge volcano built up of thick layers of lava and originally 2,000 feet or more higher, its top having been blown off by a great explosion a few centuries ago. A large crater resulted from this erup tion and several small cones and craters have since been built. The latest eruptions were
slight ones in 1843, 1854, 1858 and 1870. Now the only activity is a slight emission of steam at one locality. The first ascent by a scientifit observer was made by S. F. Emmons in 1870.
In 1897 it was ascended and thoroughly ex plored by a large party. *Almost 250 feet higher than Mount Shasta, its nearest rival in grandeur and in mass,* they described it as impressive both by the. vast ness of its snow-capped summit, its glacial man tle and by the striking sculpture of its cliffs.* The total area of its glaciers amounts to 45 square miles, an expanse of ice far exceeding that of any other single peak in the United States. The region now forms the fully pro tected Mount Rainier National Park created by act of Congress approved 2 March 1899. Cen tred by the towering mass of Mount Rainier, the park reserve is nearly a perfect square, the sides of which are 18 miles ht length and eon tains 324 square miles, or sections of 640 acres each (207,360, acres). It is completely sur rounded by lands embraced within the Rainier National Forest. Every year large numbers of tourists visit the park to camp in its meadows, and occasional ascents are made to the summit of the mountain. Consult 'Mount Rainier National Park, and Annual Report by the supervisor of the Mount Rainier National Park (Washington, D. C., Department of the Interior, 1915 et seq.)..