Forum Index > Pacific NW History > Earliest Trails in the Olympics
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Fletcher
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PostTue Sep 28, 2010 11:47 pm 
Actually, I just finished reading "Across the Olympic Mountains: The Press Expedition, 1889-90" by Robert L. Wood. Im not going to take the time to find the actual quotes from the book but there are many references pointing to native peoples venturing far into the Olympic Interior. Early on in the book the expedition crosses paths with a band of Native American hunters on the lower Elwha. Today, below Lake Mills and the Elwha damn; back then, miles from the deepest human settlements. Deep wilderness and this was in December during one of the most severe winters ever recorded on the Peninsula. Later in the book, the expedtion comes across blazes on the trees of the Upper Elwha River, still deep wilderness today, that the explorers believed to be made by Indians marking their paths across the range. I recommend the book, great read.

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Phil
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PostWed Sep 29, 2010 10:56 am 
Interesting points Fletcher. I do recall the party finding the hunting sites on the Elwha now that you mention it. I find it intrigueing how others, the newspaper folks, and R Wood, play up the tale that indians were afraid of the interior whereas,as you've noted, the expedition people didnt necessarily believe that. As a sidebar I've always been puzzled by the judgments made by the expeditions, e.g., trying to raft up the Elwha, or going up the south/west side of the north fork skokomish instead of the north/east side. Or tracking through a swamp on the way from Hood Canal to Lake Cushman instead of following the boot trail. It always seems as if they didnt adequately consult local knowledge sources.

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boomheist
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PostFri Oct 01, 2010 1:44 pm 
I was told by Rod F that fire rings and evidence of burns were excavated up on Hurricane Ridge, very old; also that somewhere up high a piece of cloth or basket was found maybe several thousand years old. Does anyone know where there might be an inventory of all the ancient human sites in the Olympics? I tend to agree with those who believe that native Americans ranged all over those mountains for centuries if not thousands of years. Why not?

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Phil
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PostFri Oct 01, 2010 1:50 pm 
I don't know about a catalogue, that would be cool, but there is this from the park's front pages: http://www.nps.gov/olym/historyculture/index.htm

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mike
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PostFri Oct 01, 2010 1:58 pm 
Just now reading Chris Morgenroth's Footprints in the Olympics. Highly recommended. Looks like Easton's has a nice copy.

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achillesbogart
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PostFri Oct 01, 2010 2:40 pm 
boomheist wrote:
Does anyone know where there might be an inventory of all the ancient human sites in the Olympics? I tend to agree with those who believe that native Americans ranged all over those mountains for centuries if not thousands of years. Why not?
Wa Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation (DAHP) has info on known site locations. But, and it is a big but, site location info is classified data because of looting concerns. You pretty much have to have a master's degree in archaeology to even be able to access the info. It was a basket found in the Olympics, near Obstruction point. If you check out Archaeology in Washington by Ruth Kirk and Richard Daugherty you can see a picture of it. @ Phil - Part of the site had been previously excavated, but we had to do some shovel testing for some work there. We found dacite lithic flakes, which weather really easily and are hard to ID. Dacite is like a crumbly basalt, so picture a gray lithic where almost all the identifying characteristics have worn off. The project was in a road so we spent a bit of time debating if some were lithics or crushed gravel from the road. Though we did find a really cool piece of ground stone, it was about 2 inches long tapering to a flat edge with a trapezoid cross section that it maintained all the way. We have no idea what it was for but it looked pretty cool. I'll have to see if I have a picture of it buried somewhere.

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Trailhead
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PostWed Oct 20, 2010 4:45 pm 
Fletcher wrote:
Actually, I just finished reading "Across the Olympic Mountains: The Press Expedition, 1889-90" by Robert L. Wood. Im not going to take the time to find the actual quotes from the book but there are many references pointing to native peoples venturing far into the Olympic Interior. Early on in the book the expedition crosses paths with a band of Native American hunters on the lower Elwha. Today, below Lake Mills and the Elwha damn; back then, miles from the deepest human settlements. Deep wilderness and this was in December during one of the most severe winters ever recorded on the Peninsula. Later in the book, the expedtion comes across blazes on the trees of the Upper Elwha River, still deep wilderness today, that the explorers believed to be made by Indians marking their paths across the range. I recommend the book, great read.
While I believe that Native Americans did penetrate the interior of the Olympics, I really doubt they blazed trees. I don't think they had the tools/time/desire to hack away at a big tree when they they just followed ridges, rivers or game trails. The Press Expedition also thought they found signs of a Native American civilization at Semple Plateau - totally flat ground and trees all the same age - its nothing more than an old landslide.

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Ranger Smith
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PostMon Jun 20, 2011 3:07 pm 
The book "Pioneers of the Olympic Peninsula" might be a good reference. Written by Leroy Smith who moved to the OP back in 1915.He states in the book about knowing or knowing of the original homesteaders and that he was a trail boss. up.gif

I'm a man, I can change, if I have to, I guess.
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elderbob
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PostMon Apr 16, 2012 11:23 am 
This is a link to the text on back of the map posted by RodF. It was made from jpg files created with a camera. The text is old and was done with an old fashion typewriter. I did as good as job as I could in converting the text. There is some data missing due to error in overlap. Some place names are mis-spelled due to me having trouble reading the names. I would appreciate any corrections to the names. http://www.windsox.us/Olympic_Trail_Guide/Olympic_Trail_Guide_Text.html It is not linked to my Web site, although you can go to the Web site using the link at the bottom of the file. I hope someone can go to the library in Seattle and get the missing data sometime in the future. Would be best to print out the file and take it with you to find the missing data.

www.windsox.us Bobs ONP site
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Phil
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PostWed Apr 18, 2012 7:36 am 
Bob I'm not sure what it is exactly in the local library that needs fetching but I could do it.

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elderbob
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PostWed Apr 18, 2012 9:54 am 
Phil wrote:
Bob I'm not sure what it is exactly in the local library that needs fetching but I could do it.
Hi Phil, It would be nice of you to do that. It is in the main branch of the Seattle Library. According to RodF, it is in the ONP Archive section. It is a map with the title " Olympic Trail Guide" and is by Jim Taplin and drawn by G. H. Paulson. Date should be 1932. The text should be on the back of the map. I do not think you can reproduce it, but you could copy down the missing parts of the text. If you can print out the parts of my file with the missing text and then take it with you to find the text on the map. If you have lots of time, but it is not necessary, you could check the spelling the some of the names in the text. The latter is not really necessary. You can tell which parts are missing from my file because they are noted as missing or have series of underlines indicating missing text. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ The inquiry "Who made the first ascent of Mount Olympus?" seems difficult to answer. A claim was made in July, 1907, in "Steel Points," published in Portland, Oregon, that ______ party accompanied by two Indian_____ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Glines Canyon Dam. Space does not permit describing all the minor trail trips. However, up the Hoh _________ (text missing) .........town of Spruce 12 miles up the Hoh River Trail from the Olympic Highway 15 miles trail trip may be made to the junction of the Christmas Creek trail thence 2 miles to the Clearwater River Trail. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ business enterprises are located in Port Angels. Port Townsend, one of the oldest cities in Washington, Port of Entry and Quarantine station________??? The Olympic Peninsula Branch of the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and the Port Townsend Southern are located here. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Thank you for volunteering to do this. You will get credit on my website. Bob aka Elder Bob

www.windsox.us Bobs ONP site
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Phil
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PostWed Apr 18, 2012 2:30 pm 
You're welcome, it will be a very small contribution relative to all the great work you, Rod, and others are doing. I may have a window open next week for this.

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Phil
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PostThu Apr 26, 2012 6:23 pm 
Hey Elder Bob, sending PM with the info you requested.

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elderbob
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PostThu Apr 26, 2012 11:37 pm 
Phil wrote:
Hey Elder Bob, sending PM with the info you requested.
Hi Phil, I got the PM and downloaded the files to my computer. I have added the missing data to my document. Thank you so much for going to the trouble to do this for me and the rest of the people interested in the text on the back of the map. Glad you enjoyed handling the old map. Here is a link to the updated document: http://www.windsox.us/Olympic_Trail_Guide/Olympic_Trail_Guide_Text.html Thanks again. Elder Bob

www.windsox.us Bobs ONP site
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Phil
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PostFri Apr 27, 2012 8:56 am 
Anytime! Details on Olympic trails in the southern Olympics, Wynoochee, Humptulips, and elsewhere were especially fun to see. Apparently it was a different place in 1932; all logged over now.

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