Mount Rainier also known as Tahoma, Tacoma or Tacobet, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about 59 miles (95 km) south-southeast of Seattle. With a summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 m),[7][8] it is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington and the Cascade Range, the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States, and the tallest in the Cascade Volcanic Arc.
Due to its high probability of eruption in the near future, Mount Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and it is on the Decade Volcano list. The large amount of glacial ice means that Mount Rainier could produce massive lahars which could threaten the entire Puyallup River valley. According to the United States Geological Survey, “about 80,000 people and their homes are at risk in Mount Rainier’s lahar-hazard zones.”
Mount Rainier was first known by the local Salishan speakers as Talol, Tacoma, or Tahoma. One hypothesis of the word origin is ‘mother of waters’ in the Lushootseed language spoken by the Puyallup people.[12] The linguist William Bright gives the origin as ‘snow-covered mountain’. Another hypothesis is that Tacoma means “larger than Mount Baker” in Lushootseed: Ta ‘larger’, plus Koma (Kulshan), (Mount Baker). Other names originally used include Tahoma, Tacobeh, and Pooskaus.
The current name was given by George Vancouver, who named it in honor of his friend, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. The map of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804–1806 refers to it as Mt. Regniere.
Although Rainier had been considered the official name of the mountain, Theodore Winthrop, in his posthumously published 1862 travel book The Canoe and the Saddle, referred to the mountain as Tacoma and for a time, both names were used interchangeably, although Mt. Tacoma was preferred in the nearby city of Tacoma.
In 1890, the United States Board on Geographic Names declared that the mountain would be known as Rainier. Following this in 1897, the Pacific Forest Reserve became the Mount Rainier Forest Reserve, and the national park was established three years later. Despite this, there was still a movement to change the mountain’s name to Tacoma and Congress was still considering a resolution to change the name as late as 1924.
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