The General Who Conquered Rainier First

It may not be generally known that A. V. Kautz, who is now spending a four-month's leave from Fort Kearney, Nebraska, of which he is commandant, in reminiscence the familiar scenes in Washington Territory, with the early history of which his name is inseparably identified, was the first white man to make the ascent of Mount Rainier and to establish the existence of glaciers in United States territory.

Both, however, are historical facts, and Gen. Kautz's claim to the honor is now so well established that none dare dispute it.

A reporter who called on General Kautz last evening at his rooms in the Occidental hotel, to get his story of the expedition, was cordially greeted and placed at ease by that gentleman, who by a rare fondness for stories of a romantic nature, which he tells in a pleasant conversational manner. Upon being questioned as to his ascent of Rainier, the general said:

"Yes, it is true that I was the first white man to make the ascent of Mount Rainier," said the general, "and I was also first to establish the existence of glaciers in United States territory. I made the ascent in July, 1857, and an account of the expedition which was printed in the Washington Reporter, published at Seattle [City], July 24, 1857, I believe, to contain the first authenticated recognition of a glacier in United States territory."

"In 1870 Clarence King, who had charge of the United States geological survey of the 41st parallel, published an article in the Atlantic Monthly intended to set up a claim to his being the discoverer of glaciers in United States territories. He was taken to task for this by a number of historians and scientific societies and particularly by the California Academy of Sciences. Prof. Davis, president of that association, published an answer to King's article, in which he gave evidence of various ascents made of Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Mount St. Helena and other mountains prior to 1872, and my ascent of Mount Rainier took precedence of all of them. At the request of Prof. Davis I filed a copy of the Washington Reporter containing the account of the ascent made by me with the society, and since that time my claim has not been disputed."

"I was stationed at Fort Steilacoom in 1853 and was made a full second lieutenant about six months later. Orders had just been issued from the department at Washington for the surveys to be made in this part of the country. I was young and full of ardor and wanted to distinguish myself. In July, 1857, I started out and made the trip through Nisqually pass. Very few had been through there before me and the trip was attended with great danger. A month afterwards Theodore Winthrop followed me, and in his book 'Canoe and Paddle,' he gave the name of Tacoma to the mountain. He stated, however, that the name was applied to all snow-peaks. It was a number of years after this that I made the ascent of Mount Rainier, of which I will now tell you."

"On the 11th of July I left Fort Steilacoom with a party organized to ascertain the practicability of ascending the mountain, whose precipitous and glittering sides presented a seemingly impassable barrier to progress. The expedition consisted of myself (I was a first lieutenant at the time), four enlisted men from the fort and an Indian guide named Wa-pow-e-ty, who had once, when a boy, been across from the Skagit river, down the Nisqually, and Dr. Craig, the post surgeon, who joined us at the last moment. We had 10 days' supplies and took horses as far as the Mishawl prairie, a distance of about 40 miles. There, with six days' provisions consisting of dried meat and hard bread, and a single blanket for each man, we proceeded afoot across the mountains between the Mishawl and Nisqually, coming on the last named stream above the falls. We continued for five days up the river, traveling on the bars wherever possible, but a greater part of the way through the dense undergrowth of the bottom, from where we emerged from an immense glacier."

"The sixth day we started up the mountain, but the weather was very bad and we were soon enveloped in a storm of hail and mist, so that we were unable to see our course and were obliged to seek a camp at an elevation of 7,000 feet above the level of the sea. The next morning, the 13th, the storm ceased and we again commenced the ascent. Two of the soldiers remained at the camp and at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, at an elevation of about 10,000 feet, another soldier and the Indian gave out and returned to camp. At an elevation of 12,000 feet the fourth soldier gave out and Dr. Craig, who was behind, came up to that point and joined him, but they could proceed no further."

"At this point the crest of the mountain was turned and the ascent was less steep and a continual journey alone to the nearest peak, which was necessary to attain to make the observations contemplated. When I finally reached the summit it was 6 o'clock and as it was out of the question to pass around the crest, where a dangerous crater was located, after dark, I only remained there about 15 minutes. Maxfield Stevens, who reached the summit in 1863, claims to have found an extinct crater there which made it warm enough for him to remain all night, and his statement has been confirmed by others. This is a very important fact for exploring parties to be made aware of, as it requires nearly a full day to make the ascent. As the intense cold precluded the possibility of staying on the mountain overnight I returned to camp. We decided to try to make the ascent again the next day; but when morning came we were all so worn out with our previous exertion that the plan came up [up]. Another thing caused us to hurry our return to the fort. An examination of our stores of provisions showed about three crackers and a pound of dried meat to each man, to carry over a track of country that required six days' hard travel. We arrived at Fort Steilacoom at 6 o'clock after an absence of 19 days, all in good health, although much reduced in flesh and greatly fatigued."

"The country we traveled over had but little interest for me at the time; the magnificent scenery of the mountains... For about twenty miles above the falls of Nisqually there is a valley several miles in width, densely timbered with large cedar and fir. There are no prairies, unless one burnt district several miles in extent, about 10 miles above the falls, at the head of the valley, may be so classed. Above this the hills come more closely down to the river. The two principal branches of the Nisqually head on the south side of the mountains, and it was the spur between these two branches that the party ascended."

"Our party demonstrated the fact that the mountain can be seen from no point on any side, although there is great danger from chasms in the snow. When I look back at it now it appears to have been an easy piece of business; but at that time I was young and full of energy and took no account of risk so long as I accomplished whatever I set about doing."