Camp on St. Elmo Pass, north side of the Wedge, between Winthrop Glacier and Interglacier. Elevation, 9,000 feet. Winthrop Glacier and the fork of White River which it feeds are seen in distance below. The man is Maj. E. S. Ingraham, a veteran explorer of the Mountain, after whom Ingraham Glacier is named.
East face of the Mountain, from south side of the Wedge, showing route to the summit over White Glacier.
Happily, the fine Indian name "Tacoma" was not offered up a sacrifice to such obscurity. Forgotten as he is now, Peter Rainier was, in his time, something of a figure. After some ransacking of libraries, I have found a page that gives us a glimpse of a certain hard-fought though unequal combat, in the year 1778, between an American privateer and two British ships. It is of interest in connection with "Mount Rainier," the name recognized by the Geographic Board at Washington in 1889 as official.
On the 8th of July, the 14-gun ship Ostrich, Commander Peter Rainier, on the Jamaica station, in company with the 10-gun armed brig Lowestoffe's Prize, chased a large brig. After a long run, the Ostrich brought the brig, which was the American privateer Polly, to action, and, after an engagement of three hours' duration (by which time the Lowestoffe's Prize had arrived up and taken part in the contest), compelled her to surrender. * * * * Captain Rainier was wounded by a musket ball through the left breast; he could not, however, be prevailed upon to go below, but remained on deck till the close of the action. He was posted, and appointed to command the 64-gun ship Burford. (Allen: "Battles of the British Navy," Vol. I., London, 1872).
