Eruptions of Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier
November 23, 1842 * and November 13, 1843
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[November 13, 1843]
... Wherever we came in contact with the rocks of these mountains, we found them volcanic, which is probably the character of the range; and at the time, two of the great snowy cones, Mount Regnier** and St. Helens, were in action. On the 23d of the proceding November, St. Helens had scattered its ashes, like a light fall of snow, over the Dalles of the Columbia, 50 miles distant. A specimen of these ashes was given to me by Mr. Brewer, one of the clergymen at the Dalles. ...
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* Harry M. Majors, writing about the 1842-1844 eruptions of Mount St. Helens (Northwest Discovery, July 1980), suspects this date to be November 25, 1842.
**
George Gibbs, published in 1873, states Fremont in error about Mount Rainier, that it was Mount Baker in eruption.
Map, The Fremont Expedition
Section of John C. Fremont's Map, depicting the Columbia River and the Cascade Range.
Volcanoes labeled are Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood, and Mount Jefferson.
Note Three-Fingered Jack, Mount Washington, and the Three Sisters volcanic peaks in the lower half of the image. Fort Vancouver is today's Vancouver, Washington, Fall River is today's Deschutes River, and John Day's River is now known as simply John Day River. Note the Blue Mountains on the middle right.
-- Map courtesy U.S. Library of Congress Archives Website, 2003. Original map information is: Map of an exploring expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the year 1842 and to Oregon & north California in the years 1843-44 / by Brevet Capt. J.C. Frémont of the Corps of Topographical Engineers under the orders of Col. J.J. Abert, Chief of the Topographical Bureau ; lith. by E. Weber Co., Baltimore, Md., 1845
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