Mount Rainier is so deeply covered with ice and snow that the glacial aspects of the mountain are far more conspicuous than the volcanic ones. The facts about the vulcanism and the history of the growth of the mountain are very difficult to study; and it will be a long time before they are fully known. The glaciers, on the other hand, are very conspicuous, comparatively easy of access, and the many facts concerning their extent, rate of motion, recession, or advance, may be quite readily determined. The glaciers, while very prominent at the present time, were at one time much larger than now. There are many things which go to prove that they formerly reached much farther down the valleys.
From the top of the mountain one may see off to the westward for many miles south of Puget Sound prairies of large size, covering a great many square miles. These prairies represent the plains of gravel derived from the melting glaciers, when these stood in their vicinity. From these points of maximum extension the glaciers have slowly receded to their present position.
That the glaciers are receding at the present time is a matter of common observation. At the lower end of the Nisqually glacier the advancing line of vegetation is about one-fourth mile below the present limit of the ice. It is the opinion of Mr. Longmire that the glacier has retreated about that far since he first came to the valley, twenty-five years ago. General Stevens was able to point out several instances of notable shrinkages in the glaciers, especially in the Paradise glacier, since his ascent of the mountain in 1870. It will interest students of glaciers to know that some permanent monuments have been set up at the lower end of the Nisqually glacier; and that arrangements have been made whereby the retreat of the ice may be accurately measured from year to year.
François Émile Matthes.
XIV. GLACIERS OF MOUNT RAINIER
By F. E. MATTHES
François Émile Matthes was born at Amsterdam, Holland, on March 16, 1874. After pursuing studies in Holland, Switzerland and Germany, he came to the United States in 1891 and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1895. Since 1896 he has been at work with the United States Geological Survey, mostly in the field of topography. He has been honored by and is a member of many scientific societies.
His topographic work on the maps of Yosemite and Mount Rainier National Parks made for him many appreciative friends on the Pacific Coast. His pamphlet on "Mount Rainier and Its Glaciers" was published by the United States Department of the Interior in 1914. He secured consent for its republication in the present work.