Naming Mount Rainier
A judge finds himself in a comedic bind while trying to deliver a speech in Tacoma and mentioning the iconic mountain by its common, though disputed, name.
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.
Andrew Jackson, Seattle's new chief of police, returned to the city yesterday after an absence of two days, having been in Tacoma attending the meeting of the Grand Lodge, K. of P. 'In his speech to the Tacoma Knights of Pythias, Judge Osborne, of this city, caused a great deal of merriment by inadvertently "putting his foot in it," said the chief. The judge called attention to the open-hearted and generous manner in which the Tacoma Knights received the Seattle visitors, and in his enthusiasm he had occasion to say that they reminded him of 'that great, snow-clad towering peak, the pride of Washington familiar to us all, Mount—' The judge broke off short as he waved his hand towards Mount Rainier, and it was plain that he was very much confused. He wouldn't say 'Mount Tacoma,' and a smothered laugh ran around the hall. Finally the judge found his tongue, and lifting up his voice, said: 'Fellow Knights, I have fought on the battlefield when bullets flew by thick and fast; I have faced many dangers in the dark and in the daylight and knew no fear, but I have not the courage to call the name of that mountain. It's out there, all the same, and you all know what it is.' Everybody yelled, and the roof of the hall was nearly raised from the rafters.
“I have not the courage to call the name of that mountain.”
The 'Mountain Name Dispute' between Seattle and Tacoma lasted for decades. This anecdote captures the raw, localized emotion behind what was essentially a civic branding war.
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