The Mountain That Was God: Being a Little Book About the Great Peak Which the Indians Named 'Tacoma' but Which is Officially Called 'Rainier' [B1103]

1911 stapled antiquarian PB 2nd 'greatly enlarged' edition, in excellent condition, with 190 illustrations, including eight colored halftones, and a bi-fold map. From the Foreword: "This little book ... aims to show the grandest and most accessible of our extinct volcanoes from all points of view. Like the glacial rivers, its text will be found as a narrow stream flowing swiftly amidst great mountain scenery. Its abundant illustrations cover not only the giant's fairyland south of the peak, but also the equally stupendous scenes that await the adventurer who penetrates the harder trails and climbs the greater glaciers of the north and east slopes."

From the single review I could find: "As a European, I have never been anywhere near Tacoma mountain, but this little book with its stunning black and white photographs made me feel as if I were standing at the foot of this majestic snow peak, this stratovolcano, looking up to the forested slopes, the patches of snow and the glaciers. There is a lot to enjoy in this book. First, there are the legends surrounding the mountain. What to think of the story about a man who went up the mountain as a young hunter looking for hiaqua (Indian shell money) and somehow fell in a deep sleep while he was up there, and after thirty years, he came back down as an old man, his only richness being the lesson that the mountain taught him. And then there is that other legend that somehow sounds familiar, about a big flood that drowns the snakes and all the bad animals, while one man, his children and the good animals are saved by climbing up a ladder into the clouds.

No wonder, writes John H. William, that this mountain of changing moods, overtopping every other eminence in the Northwest, answered the idea of God to the simple, imaginative mind of the Indians who hunted in the forest on its slopes or fished in the waters of Whulge that ebbed and flowed at its base.

The rest of the book describes the Tacoma mountain in all its glory, from every angle, its flora and fauna, the giant fir trees and cedars, the waterfalls, ice caves and glaciers, the snow-filled craters on the top, accompanied by beautiful photographs, including one that shows the rounded cone of St. Helens volcano in the distance.

Written with an obvious passion for nature in general and the Tacoma mountain in specific, I think this is a wonderful read. A walk in one of the few wild places remaining on earth. A fresh mountain breeze."