At a meeting of the Appalachian Mountain Club, held in Boston April 11, 1894, a similar committee was appointed, consisting of Mr. John Ritchie, Jr., Rev. E. C. Smith, Dr. Charles E. Fay.
The committees thus appointed were instructed by the several bodies to which they belong to coöperate in the preparation of a memorial to Congress, setting forth the substantial reasons for the establishment of such park.
Pursuant to their instructions, the committees present the following memorial to the Congress, and pray that such action may be taken by the honorable Senators and Representatives as will secure to the people of the United States the benefits of a national park which shall include the area mentioned above. In support of their prayer they beg to submit the following statement:
By proclamation of the President, in compliance with the statutes provided therefor, a Pacific Forest Reserve has been established in the State of Washington, the western portion of which is nearly coincident with the tract of land to be included in the national park for which your memorialists pray.
The western part of this reserve includes many features of unique interest and wonderful grandeur, which fit it peculiarly to be a national park, forever set aside for the pleasure and instruction of the people. The region is one of such exceptional rainfall and snowfall that the preservation of its forests is of unusual importance as a protection against floods in the lower valleys; but the scenic features, which mark it out for a national park, attract tourists, who set fire to the timber. This destruction goes on notwithstanding it is a forest reserve, and will continue until protection is afforded by adequate supervision of the area, whether as a reserve or park.
The reserve is traversed through the middle from north to south by the crest of the Cascade Range, which has an elevation varying from 5,300 to 6,800 feet. This is the divide between tributaries of Puget Sound, flowing west, and those of Yakima River, flowing east. Mount Rainier, the isolated volcanic peak, 14,400 feet high, stands 12 miles west of the divide, from which it is separated by a deep valley.
The eastern half of the reserve differs from the western in climate, in flora, and in fauna, in geographic and geologic features, and in aspects of scenery. The eastern slope of the Cascade Range within the reserve is a mountainous region, with summits rising to a general elevation of 6,500 to 7,600 feet above the sea. It is forest covered and presents many attractions to the tourist and hunter; but it is not peculiar among the mountain regions of America either for grandeur or interest, and it is not an essential part of the area to be set apart as a national park.
The western slope of the Cascades within the reserve is short and steep as compared with the eastern. Much of it is precipitous, particularly opposite Mount Rainier, where its bare walls would appear most grand were they not in the shadow of that overpowering peak. North and south of Rainier this slope is more gradual and densely wooded.
The western half of the Pacific reserve, that portion which it is proposed shall be made a national park, is characterized by Mount Rainier, whose summit is but 4 miles from the western boundary of the reserve and whose glaciers extend beyond its limits.
Mount Tacoma is not simply a volcanic cone, peculiar for its hugeness. It was formerly a vast volcanic dome, 30 miles in radius to the north, west, and south; but rivers have cut deep canyons, glaciers have carved ample amphitheaters back into the mass, and now many serrate ridges rising from a few hundred to 10,000 feet above the sea converge at that altitude to support the central pyramid, which towers more than 4,000 feet above its base.