Cascade Range

The Cascade Range is a mountainous region famous for its chain of tall volcanoes called the High Cascades that run north-south along the west coast of North America from British Columbia to the Shasta Cascade area of northern California. The small part of the range in British Columbia is called the Cascade Mountains.

History

Native Americans have inhabited the area for thousands of years and developed their own myths and legends concerning the Cascades. According to some of these tales, Mounts Baker, Jefferson, and Shasta were used as refuge from a great flood. Other stories, such as the Bridge of the Gods tale, had various High Cascades such as Hood and Adams, act as god-like chiefs who made war by throwing fire and stone at each other. St. Helens with its pre-1980 graceful appearance, was regaled as a beautiful maiden for whom Hood and Adams feuded. Native tribes also developed their own names for the High Cascades and many of the smaller peaks.

Related Topics:
Native Americans - Myth - Legend - Baker - Jefferson - Shasta - Flood - Bridge of the Gods - Hood - Adams - War - St. Helens

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In the spring of 1792 British navigator George Vancouver entered Puget Sound and started to give English names to the high mountains he saw. Mount Baker was named for Vancouver's third lieutenant, the graceful Mount St. Helens for a famous diplomat, Mount Hood was named in honor of Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (an admiral of the Royal Navy) and the tallest Cascade, Mount Rainier, is the namesake of Admiral Peter Rainier. Vancouver's expedition did not, however, name the range these peaks belonged to.

Related Topics:
1792 - George Vancouver - Puget Sound - English - Mount Baker - Mount St. Helens - Mount Hood - Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood - Admiral - Royal Navy - Mount Rainier - Peter Rainier

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In 1805 the Lewis and Clark expedition passed through the Cascades by using the Columbia River, which for many years was the only practical way to pass that part of the range. The expedition, and the many settlers and traders that followed, met their last obstacle to their journey at the Cascades Rapids in the Columbia River Gorge, a feature on the river now submerged beneath Lake Bonneville. Before long, the great white-capped mountains that loomed above the rapids were called the "mountains by the cascades" and later simply as the "Cascades" (the earliest attested use of this name is in the writings of botanist David Douglas). On their return trip Lewis and Clarke's group spotted a high but distant snowy pinnacle that they named for the sponsor of the expedition, U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.

Related Topics:
1805 - Lewis and Clark expedition - Columbia River - Cascades Rapids - Columbia River Gorge - Lake Bonneville - David Douglas - Thomas Jefferson

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The Barlow Trail was the first established land path for U.S. settlers through the Cascade Range in 1845, and formed the final overland link for the Oregon Trail (previously, settlers had to raft down the treacherous rapids of the Columbia River). It passes north of Mt. Hood.

Related Topics:
Barlow Trail - 1845 - Oregon Trail - Columbia River

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With the exception of the 1915 eruption of remote Lassen Peak in Northern California, the range was quiet for more than a century. Then, on May 18, 1980, the dramatic eruption of little-known Mount St. Helens shattered the quiet and brought the world's attention to the range. Geologists were also concerned that the St. Helens eruption would awaken other Cascade volcanoes like it did the previous century, when a total of eight erupted between 1800 and 1857. None have erupted since St. Helens, but precautions are being taken nevertheless, such as the Mount Rainier Volcano Lahar Warning System in Pierce County, Washington.http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/About/Highlights/RainierPilot/Pilot_highlight.html

Related Topics:
1915 - Lassen Peak - Northern California - May 18 - 1980 - Mount St. Helens - 1800 - 1857 - Lahar - Pierce County, Washington

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