“The Mountain is out!” Those of us from the Pacific Northwest, specifically the Puget Sound region, know exactly what this means. The majestic, snowcapped peak has emerged from the clouds to remind us of the surrounding beauty of our setting and community. On a crisp and bright Washington day, the Mountain can and will inspire awe, Tacoma pride, and a respect for her illustrious landscape. Though many of us are familiar with the presence of the tallest mountain in the Cascade Range, we may not be as aware of her history, specifically how she came to be known as Mount Rainier and the efforts to restore her name to Mount Tahoma. In 1792 the British explorer Captain George Vancouver claimed the discovery of and named Mount Rainier after his friend, a fellow Englishmen and Royal Navy Rear Admiral, Peter Rainier, Jr. Though the people of the Puyallup tribe populated the land and stewarded the resources of the sacred mountain, and though the closest Rear Admiral Rainier had ever been to Washington was the east coast (to fight against the United States in the American Revolution), the name has remained. The anchored designation of Mount Rainier goes back to a centuries-long rivalry between Seattle and Tacoma. In the 1890s, approximately 100 years after Captain Vancouver’s “discovery,” Washington State U.S. Senator Watson C. Squire, also known as the largest landowner in King County, went to Washington D.C. to encourage the National Geographic Board to make the name of the mountain officially Mount Rainier and in 1899, Mount Rainier National Park was established. Senator Squire’s actions were in response to Seattle and Tacoma fiercely fighting to become the western terminus of the transcontinental railroad so that their city might be better connected with the rest of the country and, consequently, bring more economic prosperity to their city. Tacoma won and in 1882 the Northern Pacific Railroad Company began to refer to Mount Rainier as Mount Tacoma in its literature and advertising. The city of Tacoma followed the lead of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and for the next 40 years challenged the name of Mount Rainier in hopes of renaming the mountain Mount Tacoma. Knute Berger, in his article “Why Mount Rainier Was Once Called Mount Tacoma,” shared more about the efforts of the Tacoma community. “Decades of lobbying by Tacoma followed, mainly pushed not by the grassroots of the city, but by its business boosters. They objected to the name of Mount Rainier National Park when it was created. They lobbied newspaper editors across the country to support the name change. They went to the state Legislature in Olympia. They demanded the Congress act. Hearings were held. The business community formed a ‘Justice for the Mountain committee’ to push the cause.” Given the economic investment and emotional attachment as well as the loyalty to the name of Mount Rainier, the battle, of which still goes on today, was not easy and, in fact, University of Washington historian John Findlay, who specializes in Pacific Northwest history, says “changing the mountain’s name would be almost unimaginably difficult” because of the very reasons mentioned above. He goes on to state, “For the mountain’s name to be officially changed, it must be approved by the Washington State Board on Geographic Names, which works in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The state board relies heavily on community input. When controversy arises, the board tends to stay with the status quo.” Still, though the “City of Destiny” ultimately lost, activists continue to speak out and advocate in hopes of restoring the mountain’s identity. Cooper Weissman, a University of Puget Sound graduate and writer, urged members of The Mountaineers in a 2017 essay, “The Case for Tahoma,” to take the historical words of an original Mountaineer member, W.D. Lyman, also a former Professor of History and Political Science at Whitman College, to heart and “act as allies to the tribes whose supreme mountain has been a gift to us all.” Lyman pleaded in the inaugural Mountaineers newsletter in 1907, “Tacoma, or rather Tahoma, was the Puyallup name from immemorial time, meaning, according to some, the mountain, the Supreme Mountain, and according to others, the breast of the milk-white waters. We would venture to ask if it would not be a fine thing for the Mountaineers to consider seriously an attempt to restore these beautiful and significant native names thrust aside by the first explorers.” In 2010, Puyallup tribal member Robert Satiacum proposed a name change as well. Actually, in Satiacum’s words, a name “restoration.” However, unlike Weissman or Lyman, Satiacum has proposed to restore the name to T’Swaq, meaning “the sky wiper.” Satiacum explains “Native people living in what is now the Pierce County area were sometimes referred to as the Swaq people, because they lived in the shadow of the sacred being.” The tribal member goes on to state “Long ago, according to ancient Salish legend, humans used to walk hunched over. The sky was too low and didn’t leave room for people to stand upright. The holy people got together, and decided the sky needed to be raised. So, they took their holy staffs, and stacked one on top of the other, until they raised the sky to where it is today. The sky was placed on top of all the mountains to rest. Because T’Swaq is the tallest mountain in the Cascade range, it’s shouldering the heaviest weight.Where the clouds and the summits touch are holy places.” Satiacum said, “Reclaiming the name of such a holy and majestic place, with such significance to his people’s culture and way of life, would help Native people reclaim their identity and start a movement.” This rich history shows that there is no doubt that the Mountain holds a grand significance within many communities and cultures, which is why the debate about how she is known may well continue into the next century. After all, as Berger notes, “Like Mount Rainier, the old volcano name controversy could erupt again at any time.” For links to resource articles, as well as website credits, please click here

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