Human History

5000 B.C. to A.D. 1800s — American Indian tribes live in the foothills of the mountain they call "Takhoma."

1792 — British explorer Captain George Vancouver names the mountain Mount Rainier for his friend Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. 

1833 — Dr. William Tolmie, a Scottish physician at nearby Fort Nisqually, is probably the first white man to venture into what is now the park.

1870 — General Hazard Stevens and Philemon Van Trump make the first well-documented ascent of Mount Rainier. 

1890 — Longmire and his wife build Longmire's Springs, Mount Rainier's first hotel. Fay Fuller, a school teacher from a small town near Olympia, becomes the first woman to climb the mountain.

1899 — Mount Rainier is established as the nation's fifth national park.

1915 — Automobiles are permitted on the road between Longmire and Paradise.

1930s — The Civilian Conservation Corps builds and repairs many park buildings, trails and bridges, which are still used today.

1962 — Mount Rainier is the training ground for the successful American expedition to Mount Everest.

1981 — Nine out of 11 members of Project Pelion, a group of climbers with disabilities, reach the summit. 

2006 — The Great Flood — A deluge dumps 36 inches of rain on the park, causing almost $40 million in damage.

2007 — Mount Rainier National Park celebrates its 108th Anniversary.