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spring up near the roots. The other is xerophyllum, mountain lily, sometimes called squaw grass, because it is used by the Indians in basket making. This has tall {p.} stems with small fragrant flowers and coarse grass-like leaves. [Illustration {p.}: Sunrise in Indian Henry's Park, with view of the southwest slope and Peak Success, showing Purple Asters, with bunches of
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Hellebore in center of the flower field.] [Illustration: Anemone Seed Pods.] The orchid family has a few curious saprophytic representatives on the lower slopes. Mertin's coral-root is one of the most common. This generally grows in clusters in the mossy woods, along the trail or government road above Longmire Springs. It is very common all around the mountain at an
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altitude of , to , feet. With it, grow two tway-blades and the rattlesnake plantain. In bogs, two species of piperia, with long spikes of greenish flowers, are abundant. In drier situations, a small form of the ladies' tresses is easily recognized by its spiral spike of small white flowers, which are more or less fragrant. In some of the
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swamps at the base of the mountain grows _Limnorchis leucostachys_. This is one of our most fragrant flowers, as well as one of the most beautiful, with its long spike of pure white blossoms. Of the ferns, the common brake is sometimes seen on the slopes near the terminal moraines of the glaciers. On the old moraines and cliffs is
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found the pea fern (_cryptogramma acrostichoides_), so called because the pinnules of its fruiting fronds resemble those of a pea pod. This dainty little fern with its two kinds of fronds is always admired by mountain visitors. It is strictly a mountain fern. The deer fern also has two kinds of fronds, but this grows all the way from sea
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level to the glaciers, being at its best in the dense forest area. The delicate oak fern grows in great abundance from Eatonville to the timber line, and probably does more to beautify the woods than any other fern. The sword fern grows in dense, radiate clusters, all through the mossy woods. The fronds are often five or six feet
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in length. The maidenhair fern is found along streams, waterfalls and moist cliffs, reaching its highest development in the deep canyons cut through the dense forest. On the very top of Pinnacle Peak and similar elevations, grows the beautiful mountain lace fern (_cheilanthes gracillima._) Nearly every tourist presses a souvenir of it in his notebook. _Phegopteris alpesteris_ is abundant along
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the glacial valleys, where the tall grasses and the beautiful array of alpine plants delight the eye. These ferns and grasses give a rich green color to the varigated slopes where nature blends so many harmonious colors in matchless grandeur in this great fairyland of flowers. {p.} [Illustration: Wind Swept Trees on North Side, the last below the Snow line.]
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The writer has a list of about three hundred and sixty species from the Mountain. It includes only flowering plants and ferns. There are more than twenty type species named from the Mountain, not a few of which are found nowhere else. Its geographical position makes it the boundary between the arctic plants from the North and the plants of
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Oregon and California from the South. Its great altitude has a wonderful effect on plant life. This is seen in the trees at timber line, where snow rests upon them for months. Their prostrate trunks and gnarled branches give ample testimony to their extreme struggle for existence. Where the ordinary plants cease to exist the snowy protococcus holds undisputed sway
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on the extensive snow fields. This is a small one-celled microscopic plant having a blood red color in one stage of its existence. Even in the crater, on the warm rocks of the rim, will be found three or four mosses--I have noted one there which is not found anywhere else--several lichens, and at least one liverwort. [Illustration: Lupines.] {p.}
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[Illustration: Copyright, , by E. F. Cutter. The Mountain, as seen from a high ridge in the Cascades near Green River Hot Springs, showing the north and east faces of the Peak, and Little Tahoma on the left.] NOTES. Rates, Trains, Hotel Accommodations.--The round-trip fare from Tacoma via the Tacoma Eastern is $.. This includes railway transportation to Ashford and
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automobile-stage ride from Ashford to Longmire Springs and return. Tickets are good for the season. To parties of ten or more traveling together a single ticket is issued at $. per capita. A week-end ticket, Saturday to Monday, is sold at $.. The rates from Seattle to the Springs are $. more, in each case, than the Tacoma rates. The
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train schedule for follows: SOUTHBOUND Leave Seattle . A.M. and . P.M. Arrive Tacoma . A.M. and . P.M. Leave Tacoma . A.M. and . P.M. Arrive Ashford . A.M. and . P.M. Leave Ashford . A.M. and . P.M. Arrive at Inn . P.M. and . P.M. NORTHBOUND Leave Inn . A.M. and . P.M. Arrive Ashford . A.M.
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and . P.M. Leave Ashford . A.M. and . P.M. Arrive Tacoma . A.M. and . P.M. Leave Tacoma . A.M. and . P.M. Arrive Seattle . P.M. and . P.M. The National Park Inn, Longmire Springs, provides excellent rooms in the Inn, with a large number of well-furnished and comfortable tents near by. The rates range from $. to
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$. a day, including meals. The dining-room is under the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound dining-car management, which insures a satisfactory table. At the older Longmire Hotel, the rate is $. a day for room and board. This hotel is open all the year, and in winter is much frequented by persons seeking Winter sports, or making use of the
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mineral springs. The springs are of great variety, and are highly recommended for their medicinal virtues. Within an area of several acres, there are a score of these springs, varying from the normal temperature of a mountain stream almost to blood heat. Well-appointed bathhouses are maintained. Fee, including attendance, $.. At Reese's Camp, in Paradise Park, and at Mrs. Hall's
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similar tent hotel in Indian Henry's Park, the charge for meals, with a tent for sleeping, is $. per day. Stages, Horses, Guides.--The cost of getting from Longmire Springs to Paradise or Indian Henry's is moderate. Many prefer to make the trips on foot over the mountain trails. Parties are made up several times a day, under experienced guides, for
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each of these great "parks," and sure-footed horses are provided for those who wish to ride, at $. for the round trip. Guides and horses for the new trail to Eagle Peak are at the same rate. Guides may be had at the {p.} National Park Inn or at either of the "camps" for many interesting trips over the mountain
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trails. Horses also are furnished. The charge varies with the number in a party. Stages carry passengers from the Inn over the government road to Nisqually glacier, Narada Falls and Reese's Camp in Paradise Park. The charge for the trip to Narada and return is $.; to Paradise and return, $.. For those who wish to make the ascent to
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the summit over the Gibraltar trail, trustworthy guides may be engaged at the Inn or at Reese's. Arrangements should be made several days in advance. The cost of such a trip depends upon the number in a party. The guides make a charge of $ for the first member of the party, and $ each for the others. They furnish
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alpenstocks, ropes, and calks for the shoes of climbers at a reasonable charge. Each person should carry with him a blanket or extra coat and a small amount of food, for use in the event of being on the summit over night. Still heavier clothing will be required if the night is to be spent at Camp Muir. A sleeping-bag,
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which can be easily made, or purchased at any outfitter's, will prove invaluable to campers. Ascents from other points than Reese's are usually made in special parties. All persons are warned not to attempt an ascent unless accompanied by experienced guides. Lives have been lost through neglect of this precaution. For persons visiting the North Side, the Northern Pacific rate
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from Tacoma to Fairfax is $., and from Seattle to Fairfax, with change of cars at Puyallup, $.. Guides and horses may be engaged at Fairfax for the Spray Park trail. Automobiles and Motorcycles.--These vehicles are permitted to use the government road, as far as the Nisqually glacier, under the following regulations of the Interior Department: No automobile or motorcycle
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will be permitted within the Park unless its owner secures a written permit from the Superintendent, Edward S. Hall, Ashford, Washington, or his representative. Applications must show: Names of owner and driver, number of machine, and inclusive dates for which permit is desired, not exceeding one year, and be accompanied by a fee of $ for each automobile and $
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for each motorcycle. All permits will expire on December . Permits must be presented to the Superintendent or his authorized representatives at the park entrance on the government road. Automobiles and motorcycles will be permitted on the government road west of Longmire Springs between the hours of A.M. and . P.M., but no automobile or motorcycle shall enter the Park
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or leave Longmire Springs in the direction of the western boundary, later than P.M., the use of automobiles and motorcycles to be permitted between Longmire Springs and Nisqually glacier between the hours of A.M. and . P.M., but no automobile or motorcycle shall leave Longmire Springs in the direction of the glacier later than P.M. When teams, saddle horses, or
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pack trains approach, automobiles and motorcycles shall take position on the outer edge of the roadway, taking care that sufficient room is left on the inside for them to pass, and remaining at rest until they have passed, or until the drivers are satisfied regarding the safety of their horses. Horses have the right of way, and automobiles and motorcycles
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will be backed or otherwise handled to enable horses to pass with safety. Speed shall be limited to miles per hour, except on straight stretches where approaching teams, saddle horses, and pack trains will be visible, when, if none are in sight, this speed may be increased to the rate indicated on signboards along the road; in no event, however,
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shall it exceed miles per hour. Signal with horn shall be given at or near every bend to announce to approaching drivers the proximity of a machine. Violation of any of the foregoing rules, or the general regulations of the Park, will cause the revocation of permit, subject the owner of the automobile or motorcycle to any damages occasioned thereby
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and to ejectment from the reservation, and be cause for refusal to issue a new permit without prior sanction in writing from the Secretary of the Interior. Literature of the Mountain.--Vancouver, Winthrop, Kautz, Stevens and Van Trump have been noted in the text. Other early accounts of, or references to, the Mountain may be found in _Wilkes: Narrative U. S.
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exploring expedition_. Phil. , v. , , , ; _U. S. War Dep't: Explorations for railroad to Pacific, -4_, v. , ; _Gibbs: Journal Am. Geog. Soc._, v. , -. {p.} Gibbs's Indian vocabularies, published at different dates, were reprinted four years after his death in _Contributions to Am. Ethnol._, v. . Wash. . For Emmons's account of his exploration
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in , see _Bulletin Am. Geog. Soc._ v. , -. _Am. Jour. of Science_, v. , -, and _Nation_ v. , . Prof. Israel C. Russell's studies of the peak are in _U. S. geol. survey, 5th an. rep._ - and _18th an. rep., part 2_, -. See also his _Glaciers of N. Am._, Bost. , -, and _Volcanoes of
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N. Am._, Bost. , -. For other accessible studies consult _Wright: Ice age in N. Am. N. Y._ , and _Muir: Our national parks_, Bost. . The long controversy over the name of the peak is impartially reviewed in _Snowden: History of Washington_. N. Y. , v. , -. Snowden calls especial attention to an able paper by the late
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Thaddeus Hanford of Olympia on the Indian names and recommending the name Tacoma for the Territory, which was printed in the _Washington Standard_ in January, . This article should be reprinted by the State Historical Society, as it represents a movement of considerable force at one time against the inept and confusing name adopted for the State. The Indian evidence
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for the native name of the Mountain was collected in _Wickersham: Is it "Mt. Tacoma" or "Mt. Rainier?"_, pamphlet, Tacoma, . The argument of an eminent traveler and author against "Mt. Rainier" may be found in _Finck: Pacific coast scenic tour_. N. Y. , -, -; also in the same writer's more recent article, _Scribner's Magazine_, v. , -. See
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also _Lyman: The Columbia river_. N. Y. , p. , -, and _The Mountains of Washington_, in _The Mountaineer_, v. , -; and Charles F. Lummis's editorial articles in _Out West_, v. , and . On the other hand, Prof. Davidson, in _Sierra Club Bulletin_, v. , -, presents reasons on which that club accepted "Mt. Rainier." _Wheeler: Climbing Mt.
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Rainier_, St. Paul, , and _Plummer: Illustrated guide book to Mt. Tacoma_, Tacoma, n. d., are two pamphlets now out of print. The ascents by the Mazama, Sierra and Mountaineers clubs have furnished material for a great variety of articles on the geology, botany and glacier action, as well as many accounts of climbing adventures. _Mazama_, v. , _Sierra Club
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Bulletin_, v. , and _The Mountaineer_, v. and , are mainly devoted to this peak. For articles in periodicals of wider circulation, see _Review of Reviews_, v. , - (by Carl Snyder); _Out West_, v. , - (Willoughby Rodman); _National geog. mag._, v. , - (Milnor Roberts); _Scribner's_ v. , - (I. C. Russell); _Outing_, v. , - (J. R.
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W. Hitchcock), and v. , - (Ada Woodruff Anderson); _Overland_, n. s., v. , - (W. D. Lyman), v. , - (George Bailey), v. , - (J. P. Montgomery), v. , - (Harry H. Brown), v. , - (A. W. McCully), and v. , - (A. W. McCully); _Pacific monthly_, v. , - (John Muir); _The world today_, v. ,
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- (Anne Shannon Monroe); _Good words_, v. , - (Arthur Inkersley); _Appalachia_, v. , - (Ernest C. Smith), and v. , - (W. A. Brooks); _Country life in Am._, v. , - (C. E. Cutter); _The Northwest_, v. , - (Bailey Willis); _Outdoor life_, v. , - (Edna Cadwallader). Special studies of the rocks of the peak may be found
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in _U. S. geol. sur., 12th an. rep. pt. 1_, (J. P. Iddings), and in _Neues Jahrbuch_, v. , -, Stuttgart, (K. Oebeke). [Illustration: Glacial debris on lower part of Winthrop Glacier, with Sluiskin Mountains beyond.] {p.} INDEX. Figures in light face type refer to the text, those in the heavier type to illustrations. Adams, Mount, , , , .
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Allen, Prof. O. D., cottage, . Alta Vista, , . American Alpine Club, . Anemones, ; seed pods, . Appalachian Club, . Ascents, Kautz, ; Stevens and Van Trump, -; Emmons and Wilson, ; Glascock and Dudley, ; the mountain clubs, . Automobiles, , -, , , , . Avalanche on Willis Wall, . Avalanche Camp, , , . Avalanche
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Lilies, . Baker, Mount, , , . Ballinger, Richard, H. . Basaltic Columns,--South Mowich, ; on Cowlitz, . Bashford, Herbert,--verse, . Bee Hive, , . Beljica, view from, . Brooks, Francis,--verse, . Cabins needed on the ridges, , . Camp of the Clouds, , , . Carbon river, , , . Cascade Mountains, , , , . Cathedral Rocks, ,
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, , . Chittenden, Maj. H. M., urges trail, . Columbia's Crest, , , , . Commencement Bay, . Congress, action affecting the Park, , , , . Cowlitz Chimneys, , , . Cowlitz Cleaver, , , , . Cowlitz Park, , . Crater, , , . Crater Lake, . Crater Peak, , , , . Curtis, Camp, on the
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Wedge, . Cushman, Francis W., , . Dudley, Ernest, . Eagle Cliff, . Eagle Peak (Simlayshe), , ; new trail to, . Eagle Rock in winter, . East-side route to summit, , , . Edmunds, George F., . Electric-power development, -. Electron, The Mountain from, , ; Power plant at, , . Emmons, S. F., Geologist, -. Fairfax, trail from,
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. Fair Mountaineer, A, . Fairy Falls, . Fay Peak, , . Ferns, . Fires, danger of forest, , , . Flett, Prof., J. B., , n. Flint, Frank P., U. S. Senator, . Flood, Indian legend of the, . Fox Island, the Mountain from, . Fountain, Paul, quoted, . Fuller, Miss Fay, , . Gap Point, , . "Ghost
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Trees," . Gibbs, George, on name "Mt. Tacoma," , , . Gibraltar Rock, , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Glaciers, their number and work, -; moraines, , , , , ; rate of flow, , ; names, -; rivers, ; --Carbon, , , , , , , , , , , ,
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; --Cowlitz, , , , , , , , ; --Frying-Pan, , , , ; --Ingraham, , ; --Interglacier, , , ; --Kautz, , , , , , ; --North Mowich, -, , , , , ; --South Mowich, , , , ; --Nisqually, , , , , , , , , , , ; --Paradise, , , , ,
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, , ; --Puyallup, , , , ; --Stevens, , , , , ; --North Tahoma, , , , , , , ; --South Tahoma, , , , , , , ; --Van Trump, , , ; --White, , , , , , , , , , ; --Winthrop, , , , , , , , , , , ,
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, . Glascock, Raglan, . "Goat Island," moraine, . Goat Mountain (Mt. Wow), . Goat Peaks, , , . Grand Park, , , , . Green River, view of the Mountain from, . Guides, , . Hanging glaciers, , . Heather, . Hellebore, . Hiaqua Hunter, Myth, -. Hood, Mt., . Hylebos, P. F. (Rev.), , n. Ice caves, ,
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. Indian Henry's Hunting Ground, , , , , , , , , , , ; --Mrs. Hall's Camp, . Indians, nature worship of the Mountain, -, ; Puget Sound tribes, , ; fear of the snow-peaks, , . Ingraham, Maj. E. S., . Interglaciers, . Iron and Copper mountains, , . Jones, Wesley L., U. S. Senator, . Jordan,
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David Starr, . Judson, Miss Katharine B. , . Kautz, Gen., A. V., . Kulshan, Indian name for Mt. Baker, . Kutz, Maj. C. W., . Liberty Cap (North Peak), , , , . Little Tahoma, , , , , , , , , . Longmire, James, trail and road, . Longmire Hotel, . Longmire Springs, , , , .
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Lost to the World, . Lupines, . McClure, Prof. Edgar, death, . Marmot, . Matthes, Francois E., U. S. geologist, , . Mazama (mountain goat), . Mazama Club, , , . Mazama Ridge, . Mineral Lake, . Moraine Park, , , , , , , . Mosses and ferns, . Mother Mountains, , , , , . Mountaineers, The, ,
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, , . Mountain goat, . Mountain Lily, , . Mountain Pine, . Muir John, quoted, , , ; Portrait, . Muir, Camp, , , , . Mystic Lake, . Narada Falls, , , . National Park, see Rainier Natl. Park. National Parks, proposed Bureau of, . National Park Inn, , , . Nisqually Canyon, . Nisqually Glacier (see Glaciers).
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Nisqually river, , , , , . North Peak (Liberty Cap), , , . Ohop Valley, . Pacific Forest Reserve, . Paradise River, . Paradise Valley, or Park, , -, , , , , , , , . Peak Success (South Peak), , -, , , , , , , , , . Phlox, . Pierce County road, , .
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Piles, S. H., U. S. Senator, . Pinnacle Peak, , , , . Point Defiance Park, . Power-plants on the Mountain, -, , . Proctor, Miss Edna Dean, poem, "The Mountain Speaks," . Ptarmigan, . Puget Sound , , ; named by Vancouver, . Puyallup river, , . Pyramid Peak, , . Railways to Puget Sound, ; to the Mountain,
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, ; rates and time table, . Rainier, Rear-Admiral Peter, , , , , n., . Reese's Camp, , , , . Reflection Lake, , . Rainier National Park, ; increasing use of, , ; its creation, -; see also Roads. Ricksecker, Eugene, engineer, , , , . Rivers fed by the Mountain, . Rocks of the Mountain, , .
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Roads and trails, Pierce County's to the Mountain, , , , , , ; government road in National Park, -, , , , ; trails , , -, , , ; proposed road around the Mountain, -; need , . Rough climbing, . Russell, Prof. Israel C., . Russell Peak, , , . Saghalie Illahe, Indian land of peace, .
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St. Elmo Pass, , , , , . St. Helen's, Mt., , , , . Seattle, , , , . Senecio, . Sierra Club, , , , . Simlayshe (Eagle Peak), . Siwashes, origin of term, , n. See also Indians. Sluiskin, guides Stevens and Van Trump, , , -. Sluiskin Falls, . Sluiskin Mountains, , , , , ,
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. Snipe Lake, . Snow Lake, . Sour-Dough Mountains, , , . Spanaway Lake, . South Peak, see Peak Success. Spray Falls, . Spray Park, , , , , , . Steamboat Prow, , , . Steam Caves in Crater, . Stevens, Gen. Hazard, , n., , , , -, . Stevens Canyon, , . Storm King Peak, . Summit,
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On the, ; South-side route to, ; East-side route, . "Sunshine" and "Storm," . "Tacoma," Indian name for the Mountain, , -. Tacoma (City) , , , . Tatoosh Mountains, , , , , , , . Tolmie, Dr. W. F., . Trees in the National Park, -, , , , . Tyndall, Prof. John, quoted, . Unicorn Peak, .
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United States Geological Survey, . Vancouver, Capt. George, discovers and names the Mountain, -. Van Trump, P. B., , n., , -, . Washington Lake, the Mountain from, . Washington Torrents, . Waterfall above Paradise Valley, . Wedge, The, , , , , , . White river, , , . Whitney, Mt., . Willis, Bailey, geologist, , . Wilson, A.
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D., , . Whulge, see Puget Sound. Winthrop, Theodore, ; describes the Mountain, -; authority for his use of the Indian name, -. Wind-swept trees, , . Wow, Mt. (Goat Mountain), . Yellowstone National Park, , , . [Illustration {p.}: A climbers' cabin on one of the shoulders of Mt. Blanc.] [Illustration: The Lakeside Press Chicago R. R. Donnelley &
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Sons Co.] [Illustration {p.}: Map Of Puget Sound Country And Roads To Mt. Rainier-tacoma] [Illustration {p.}: Map of RAINIER NATIONAL PARK Compiled by EUGENE RICKSECKER U. S. Assistant Engineer FROM "THE MOUNTAIN THAT WAS 'GOD'"] End of Project Gutenberg's The Mountain that was 'God', by John H. Williams
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Produced by Al Haines [Transcriber's note: Extensive research found no evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] Kid Wolf Of Texas A Western Story By WARD M. STEVENS CHELSEA HOUSE Seventh Avenue, New York, N. Y. PUBLISHERS Kid Wolf Of Texas Copyright, , by CHELSEA HOUSE Printed in the U. S. A. All rights reserved, including that
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of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian. CONTENTS . THE LIVING DEAD II. A THANKLESS TASK III. THE GOVERNOR'S ANSWER IV. SURPRISES V. THE CAMP OF THE TERROR VI. ON THE CHISHOLM TRAIL VII. MCCAY'S RECRUIT VIII. ONE GAME HOMBRE IX. THE NIGHT HERD X. TUCUMCARI'S HAND XI. A BUCKSHOT GREETING XII. THE S BAR SPREAD XIII. DESPERATE MEASURES
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XIV. AT DON FLORISTO'S XV. GOLIDAY'S CHOICE XVI. A GAME OF POKER XVII. POT SHOTS XVIII. ON BLACKSNAKE'S TRAIL XIX. THE FANG OF THE WOLF XX. BATTLE ON THE MESA XXI. APACHES XXII. THE RESCUE XXIII. TWO OPEN GRAVES XXIV. PURSUIT XXV. BLIZZARD'S CHARGE KID WOLF OF TEXAS THE LIVING DEAD "Oh, I want to go back to the Rio
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Grande! The Rio! That's where I long to be!" The words, sung in a soft and musical tenor, died away and changed to a plaintive whistle, leaving the scene more lonely than ever. For a few moments nothing was to be seen except the endless expanse of wilderness, and nothing was to be heard save the mournful warble of the
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singer. Then a horse and rider were suddenly framed where the sparse timber opened out upon the plain. Together, man and mount made a striking picture; yet it would have been hard to say which was the more picturesque--the rider or the horse. The latter was a splendid beast, and its spotless hide of snowy white glowed in the rays
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of the afternoon sun. With bit chains jingling, it gracefully leaped a gully, landing with all the agility of a mountain lion, in spite of its enormous size. The rider, still whistling his Texas tune, swung in the concha-decorated California stock saddle as if he were a part of his horse. He was a lithe young figure, dressed in fringed
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buckskin, touched here and there with the gay colors of the Southwest and of Mexico. Two six-guns, wooden-handled, were suspended from a cartridge belt of carved leather, and hung low on each hip. His even teeth showed white against the deep sunburn of his face. "Reckon we-all bettah cut south, Blizzahd," he murmured to his horse. "We haven't got any
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business on the Llano." He spoke in the soft accents of the old South, and yet his speech was colored with just a trace of Spanish--a musical drawl seldom heard far from that portion of Texas bordering the Rio Bravo del Norte. Wheeling his mount, he searched the landscape with his keen blue eyes. Behind him was broken country; ahead
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of him was the terrible land that men have called the Llano Estacado. The land rose to it in a long series of steppes with sharp ridges. Queerly shaped and oddly colored buttes ascended toward it in a puzzling tangle. Dim in the distance was the Llano itself--a mesa with a floor as even as a table; a treeless plain
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without even a weed or shrub for a landmark; a plateau of peril without end. The rider was doing well to avoid the Llano Estacado. Outlaw Indian bands roamed over its desolate expanse--the only human beings who could live there. In the winter, snowstorms raced screaming across it, from Texas to New Mexico, for half a thousand miles. It was
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a country of extremes. In the summer it was a scorching griddle of heat dried out by dry desert winds. Water was hard to find there, and food still harder to obtain. And it was now late summer--the season of mocking mirages and deadly sun. The horseman was just about to turn his steed's head directly to the southward when
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a sound came to his ears--a cry that made his eyes widen with horror. Few sounds are so thrillingly terrible as the dying scream of a mangled horse, and yet this was far more awful. Only the throat of a human being could emit that chilling cry. It rose in shrill crescendo, to die away in a sobbing wail that
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lifted the hair on the listener's head. Again and again it came--a moan born of the frightful torture of mortal agony. Giving his mount a touch of spur, the horseman turned the animal westward toward the Llano Estacado. So horrible were the sounds that he had paled under his tan. But he headed directly toward the direction of the cries.
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He knew that some human being was suffering frightful pain. Crossing a sun-baked gully, he climbed upward and onto a flat-topped, miniature butte. Here he saw a spectacle that literally froze him with horror. Although accustomed to a hundred gruesome sights in that savage land, he had never seen one like this. Staked on the ground, feet and arms wide-stretched,
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and securely bound, was a man. Or rather, it was a thing that had once been a man. It was a torture that even the diabolical mind of an Indian could not have invented. It was the insane creation of another race--the work of a madman. For the suffering wretch had been left on his back, face up to the
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sun, with his eyelids removed! Ants crawled over the sufferer, apparently believing him dead. Flies buzzed, and a raven flapped away, beating the air with its startled wings. The horseman dismounted, took his water bag from his horse, and approached the tortured man. The moaning man on the ground did not see him, for his eyes were shriveled. He was
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blind. The youth with the water bag tried to speak, but at first words failed to come. The sight was too ghastly. "Heah's watah," he muttered finally. "Just--just try and stand the pain fo' a little longah. I'll do all I can fo' yo'." He held the water bag at the swollen, blackened lips. Then he poured a generous portion
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of the contents over the shriveled eyes and skeletonlike face. For a while the tortured man could not speak. But while his rescuer slashed loose the rawhide ropes that bound him, he began to stammer a few words: "Heaven bless yuh! I thought I was dead, or mad! Oh, how I wanted water! Give me more--more!" "In a little while,"
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said the other gently. In spite of the fact that he was now free, the sufferer could not move his limbs. Groans came from his lips. "Shoot me!" he cried. "Put a bullet through me! End this, if yuh've got any pity for me! I'm blind--dying. I can't stand the pain. Yuh must have a gun. Why don't yuh kill
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me and finish me?" It was the living dead! The buckskin-clad youth gave him more water, his face drawn with compassion. "Yo'll feel bettah afta while," he murmured. "Just sit steady." "Too late!" the tortured man almost screamed, "I'm dyin', I tell yuh!" "How long have yo' been like this?" "Three-four days. Maybe five. I lost count." "Who did this
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thing?" was the fierce question. "'The Terror'!" the reply came in a sobbing wail. "'The Masked Terror' and his murderin' band. I was a prospector. A wagon train was startin' across the Llano, and I tried to warn 'em. I never reached 'em. The Terror cut me off and left me like this! Say, I don't know yore name, pard,
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but----" "Call me 'Kid Wolf,'" answered the youth, "from Texas." His eyes had narrowed at the mention of the name "The Terror." "Somethin' on my mind, Kid Wolf. It's that wagon train. The Terror will wipe it out. Promise me yuh'll try and warn 'em." "I promise, old-timah," murmured the Texan. "Only yo' needn't to have asked that. When yo'
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first mentioned it, I intended to do it. Where is this wagon train, sah?" In gasps--for his strength was rapidly failing him--the prospector gave what directions he could. Kid Wolf listened intently, his eyes blazing-blue coals. "I'm passin' in my checks," sighed the sufferer weakly, when he had given what information he could. "I'll go easier now." "Yo' can be
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sure that I'll do all I can," the Texan assured him. "Fo' yo' see, that's always been mah business. I'm just a soldier of misfohtune, goin' through life tryin' to do all I can fo' the weak and oppressed. I'll risk mah life fo' these people, and heah's mah hand on that!" The prospector groped for his hand, took it,
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and tried to smile. In a few moments he had breathed his last, released from his pain. Kid Wolf removed the bandanna from his own throat and placed it over the dead man's face. Then he weighted it down with small rocks and turned to go. "Just about the time I get to thinkin' the world is good, Blizzahd," he
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sighed, addressing his white horse, "I find somethin' like this. Well, seems like we hit out across the Llano, aftah all. Let's get a move on, amigo! We've got work to do." The Texan's face, as he swung himself into the saddle, was set and hard. "Oh, I'm goin' back to the Rio Grande! The Rio! For most a yeah,
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I've been away, And I'm lonesome now fo' me Old Lone Stah! The Rio! Wheah the gila monsters play!" It was Kid Wolf's second day on the Llano Estacado, and his usual good spirits had returned. His voice rose tunefully and cheerily above the steady drumming of Blizzard's hoofs. Surely the scene that lay before his eyes could not have
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aroused his enthusiasm. It was lonely and desolate enough, with its endless sweeps dim against each horizon. The sky, blue, hot and pitiless, came down to meet the land on every hand, making a great circle unbroken by hill or mountain. So clean-swept was the floor of the vast table-land that each mile looked exactly like another mile. There was
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not a tree, not a shrub, not a rock to break the weary monotony. It was no wonder that the Spanish padres, who had crossed this enormous plateau long before, had named it the Llano Estacado--the Staked Plains. They had had a good reason of their own. In order to keep the trail marked, they had been compelled to drive
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stakes in the ground as they went along. Although the stakes had gone long since, the name still stuck. The day before, the Texan had climbed the natural rock steps that led upward and westward toward the terrible mesa itself, each flat-topped table bringing him nearer the Staked Plains. And soon after reaching the plateau he had found the trail
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left by a wagon train. From the ruts left in the soil, Kid Wolf estimated that the outfit must consist of a large number of prairie schooners, at least twenty. The Texan puzzled his mind over why this wagon train was taking such a dangerous route. Where were they bound for? Surely for the Spanish settlements of New Mexico--a perilous
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venture, at best. Even on the level plain, a wagon outfit moves slowly, and the Texan gained rapidly. Hourly the signs he had been following grew fresher. Late in the afternoon he made out a blot on the western horizon--a blot with a hazy smudge above it. It was the wagon train. The smudge was dust, dug up by the
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feet of many oxen. "They must be loco," Kid Wolf muttered, "to try and cut across The Terror's territory." The Texan had heard much of The Terror. And what plainsman of that day hadn't? He was the scourge of the table-lands, with his band of a hundred cutthroats, desperadoes recruited from the worst scum of the border. More than half
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of his hired killers, it was said, were Mexican outlaws from Sonora and Chihuahua. Some were half-breed Indians, and a few were white gunmen who killed for the very joy of killing. And The Terror himself? That was the mystery. Nobody knew his identity. Some rumors held that he was a white man; others maintained that he was a full-blooded
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Comanche Indian. Nobody had ever seen his face, for he always was masked. His deeds were enough. No torture was too cruel for his insane mind. No risk was too great, if he could obtain loot. With his band behind him, no man was safe on the Staked Plains. Many a smoldering pile of human bones testified to that. As
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