The Hidden Interior of the Olympics
An expedition traverses the rugged mountain interior, mapping glacial ranges and dispelling legends of a 'giant race' within the Peninsula.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The entire range consists of three main ranges, connected by low divides: the Gibbons range, extending from Cape Flattery to Mount Constance, including Mount Olympus, Mount McMillan, and Mount Anderson; the Miles range, extending from New Dungeness to Mount Eleanor; and a third range extending from Mount Constance south to the foothills of Damon's Point. Contrary to legends of this peninsula, we found no interior inhabitants, no giant race, and no huge central table land. Instead, we found only peak after peak, snow fields, valleys, and raging torrents. We discovered iron and building stone in quantities, and fine potter's clay at Lake Cushman. While timber discoveries were expected, the amount of agricultural land on the Pacific slope was a surprise, though the mineralogical finds were disappointing.
“Contrary to all the legends and stories concerning this peninsula of ours, we found no interior inhabitants, no sign of the giant race.”
The late 19th-century 'exploration' of the Olympic interior was often characterized by a mix of colonial myth-making (the rumors of 'giants') and the pragmatic search for resources. Today, the wilderness remains a point of deep tension between regional resource extraction interests and the preservation of the Olympic National Park.
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