46 AMERICAN HISTORY
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ESS^(^2)That flag-planting celebration had been premature. About
a mile to the northeast the true summit rose about 250 feet
higher. The men followed the rim of a snow-filled depres-
sion to what they called Crater Peak. The sun was setting;
they would have to overnight in place. Van Trump noticed
steam issuing from a crack along the crater’s rim. Edging
into the opening, Stevens and Van Trump entered a cave, its
ceiling four feet in spots, with a smooth rock bottom and a
roof of ice. Steam from deep in the crater had formed the
chamber; the source was a steam vent about 40 feet into the
cave. Devouring their scant meal and emptying the canteen,
they piled stones around the vent. There they lay, each won-
dering if he was going to make it.
Stevens spent New Year’s Eve 1865 waiting out a snow-
storm in New York Harbor aboard the steamer Henry
Chauncey, bound for the Pacific Northwest. Three months
before, he had left the 79th Volunteers as their youngest
brigadier general, declining a regular army commission.
Bureaucratic fumbles had disrupted his late father’s pension
payments, putting his mother and sisters in dire financial
straits. In Washington Territory, Stevens, 23, hoped his mili-
tary reputation and his father’s connections would make up
for his lack of a trade.
Within months Stevens was working for the Oregon
Steam Navigation Company, collecting fees charged freight-
ers and fares from passengers at the Columbia river town of
Wallula, Washington. Wallula was by Stevens’ lights a
“dreary place,” but he had as companions a pair of setters
that loved hunting prairie chickens as much as he did. It
took him a year to save enough money to bring his mother
and the girls back out West.
In 1868, Stevens landed an appoint-
ment as U.S. collector of internal reve-
nue for the territory. The family
returned to Olympia’s maple-lined
streets. Inspecting distilleries and
supervising regional deputies kept
Stevens constantly on horseback, gal-
loping among settlements in Rainier’s
long shadows. In his spare hours, he
studied law under Elwood Evans, one
of the territory’s first attorneys and a
former aide to his father. He passed
the bar exam in 1870.
Any Refuge in a Storm
A 1906 stereograph shows an ice
cave of the sort in which the climbers
took shelter before their final push.
Ghostly Presence
Even Tacoma, Washington,
60 miles distant, offers views
of Rainier when atmospheric
conditions are right.