Mount Baker ( Nooksack : Kweq' Smánit ; Lushootseed : təqʷubəʔ ), also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan , is a 10,781 ft (3,286 m) active glacier -covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington State in the United States. Mount Baker has the second-most thermally active crater in the Cascade Range after Mount St. Helens . About 30 miles (48 km) due east of the city of Bellingham , Whatcom County , Mount Baker is the youngest volcano in the Mount Baker volcanic field. While volcanism has persisted here for some 1.5 million years, the current volcanic cone is likely no more than 140,000 years old, and possibly no older than 80–90,000 years. Older volcanic edifices have mostly eroded away due to glaciation.
94-512: Roosevelt Glacier is located on the north slopes of Mount Baker in the North Cascades of the U.S. state of Washington . Roosevelt Glacier descends to nearly 5,000 ft (1,500 m) at Chromatic Moraine. In the middle of its course, Roosevelt Glacier is connected to Coleman Glacier to its south. Roosevelt Glacier was named for Theodore Roosevelt , who never saw Mount Baker. Mount Baker After Mount Rainier , Mount Baker has
188-513: A $ 1.55 postage stamp to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Vancouver's birth, on 22 June 2007. The stamp has an embossed image of Vancouver seen from behind as he gazes forward towards a mountainous coastline. This may be the first Canadian stamp not to show the subject's face. The City of Vancouver in Canada organised a celebration to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Vancouver's birth, in June 2007 at
282-541: A London street corner. The terms of their subsequent legal dispute required both parties to keep the peace, but nothing stopped Vancouver's civilian brother Charles from interposing and giving Pitt blow after blow until onlookers restrained the attacker. Charges and counter-charges flew in the press, with the wealthy Camelford faction having the greater firepower until Vancouver, ailing from his long naval service, died. Vancouver, at one time amongst Britain's greatest explorers and navigators, died in obscurity on 10 May 1798 at
376-420: A confirmed VEI level had a VEI of 2 but two possible eruptions had a VEI of 3. In 1843, explorers reported a widespread layer of newly fallen rock fragments "like a snowfall" and that the forest was "on fire for miles around". These fires were unlikely to have been caused by ashfall, however, as charred material is not found with deposits of this fine-grained volcanic ash , which was almost certainly cooled in
470-547: A large one occurred on July 27, 2007. In early March 1975, a dramatic increase in fumarolic activity and snow melt in the Sherman Crater area raised concern that an eruption might be imminent. Heat flow increased more than tenfold. Additional monitoring equipment was installed and several geophysical surveys were conducted to try to detect the movement of magma. The increased thermal activity prompted public officials and Puget Power to temporarily close public access to
564-667: A librarian at the University of Waikato , conducted his own research into George Vancouver's ancestry, which he published in an article in the British Columbia History journal. Robson theorises that Vancouver's forebears may have been Flemish rather than Dutch; he believes that Vancouver is descended from the Vangover family of Ipswich in Suffolk and Colchester in Essex. Those towns had
658-659: A memorial plaque in the church in 1841. His grave in Portland stone , renovated in the 1960s, is now Grade II listed in view of its historical associations. Vancouver determined that the Northwest Passage did not exist at the latitudes that had long been suggested. His charts of the North American northwest coast were so extremely accurate that they served as the key reference for coastal navigation for generations. Robin Fisher,
752-600: A narrative of his voyage which he started to write in early 1796 in Petersham . At the time of his death the manuscript covered the period up to mid-1795. The work, A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and Round the World , was completed by his brother John and published in three volumes in the autumn of 1798. A second edition was published in 1801 in six volumes. A modern annotated edition (1984) by W. Kaye Lamb
846-450: A shipboard emergency; sailing master Joseph Whidbey had a competing claim for pay as expedition astronomer ; and Thomas Pitt, 2nd Baron Camelford , whom Vancouver had disciplined for numerous infractions and eventually sent home in disgrace, proceeded to harass him publicly and privately. Pitt's allies, including his cousin, Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger , attacked Vancouver in
940-475: A significant Flemish population in the 16th and 17th centuries. George Vancouver named the south point of what is now Couverden Island , Alaska, Point Couverden during his exploration of the North American Pacific coast, in honour of his family's hometown of Coevorden. It is located at the western point of entry to Lynn Canal in southeastern Alaska. The Admiralty instructed Vancouver to publish
1034-659: A single season—1,140 in (29 m; 95 ft). Mount Baker is the third-highest mountain in Washington and the fifth-highest in the Cascade Range, if Little Tahoma Peak , a subpeak of Mount Rainier, and Shastina , a subpeak of Mount Shasta , are not counted. Located in the Mount Baker Wilderness , it is visible from much of Greater Victoria , Nanaimo , and Greater Vancouver in British Columbia , and to
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#17328733990831128-582: A small hydrovolcanic eruption occurred at Sherman Crater, triggering a second collapse of the flank just east of the Roman Wall. That collapse also became a lahar that mainly followed the course of the first lahar for at least 20 mi (32 km), and also spilled into tributaries of the Baker River. Finally, an eruption cloud deposited ash as far as 40 mi (64 km) downwind to the northeast and east. Several eruptions occurred from Sherman Crater during
1222-660: A square box covered with mats. Vancouver states: This we naturally conjectured contained the remains of some person of consequence, and it much excited the curiosity of some of our party; but as further examination could not possibly have served any useful purpose, and might have given umbrage and pain to the friends of the deceased, should it be their custom to visit the repositories of their dead, I did not think it right that it should be disturbed. Vancouver also displayed contempt in his journals towards unscrupulous western traders who provided guns to natives, writing: I am extremely concerned to be compelled to state here, that many of
1316-432: A very high conspicuous craggy mountain ... presented itself, towering above the clouds: as low down as they allowed it to be visible it was covered with snow; and south of it, was a long ridge of very rugged snowy mountains, much less elevated, which seemed to stretch to a considerable distance ... the high distant land formed, as already observed, like detached islands, amongst which the lofty mountain, discovered in
1410-406: Is a common mineral around these fumaroles. At Sherman Crater, collapses of this weakened rock generated lahars in the 1840s. Around 6,600 years ago, a series of discrete events culminated in the largest tephra-producing eruption in postglacial time at Mount Baker. This is the last episode of undoubted magmatic activity preserved in the geologic record. First, the largest collapse in the history of
1504-614: Is drained on the north by streams that flow into the North Fork Nooksack River , on the west by the Middle Fork Nooksack River , and on the southeast and east by tributaries of the Baker River. Lake Shannon and Baker Lake are the largest nearby bodies of water, formed by two dams on the Baker River. Two ammunition ships of the United States Navy (traditionally named for volcanoes) have been named after
1598-560: Is involved. A considerable amount of research has been done at Mount Baker over the past decade, and it is now among the most-studied of the Cascade Volcanoes . Recent and ongoing projects include gravimetric and GPS-based geodetic monitoring, fumarole gas sampling, tephra distribution mapping, new interpretations of the Schriebers Meadow lava flow, and hazards analyses. Mapping of Carmelo and Sherman craters, and interpretations of
1692-523: Is known to the several Indigenous peoples surrounding the mountain by different names. The Nooksack , who live in the closest proximity to the north face of the mountain, have multiple names for different areas of the mountain. The name Kweq' Smánit , meaning "white mountain," refers to Mount Baker as a whole, and specifically, to the glacier-covered summit above 7,000 feet. The open slopes of Mt. Baker, between about 5,000 feet and 7,000 feet, are known as Kwelshán , meaning "shooting place," referring to
1786-441: Is south of the summit, and its ice-covered floor is 1,000 ft (300 m) below the summit ice dome. This crater is the site of all Holocene eruptive activity. Hundreds of fumaroles vent gases, primarily H 2 O , CO 2 , and H 2 S . Lava flows from the summit vent erupted between 30,000 and 10,000 years ago, and during the final stages of edifice construction, blocky pyroclastic flows entered
1880-431: Is the largest; it has a surface area of 1,285 acres (5.2 km ). The other large glaciers—which have areas greater than 625 acres (2.5 km )—are Roosevelt Glacier , Mazama Glacier , Park Glacier , Boulder Glacier , Easton Glacier , and Deming Glacier . All retreated during the first half of the century, advanced from 1950 to 1975 and have been retreating with increasing rapidity since 1980. Mount Baker
1974-571: The Columbia River . Broughton got as far as the Columbia River Gorge , sighting and naming Mount Hood . Vancouver sailed south along the coast of Spanish Alta California , entered San Francisco Bay , later visiting Monterey ; in both places, he was warmly received by the Spanish. Later he visited Chumash villages at Point Conception and near Mission San Buenaventura . Vancouver spent
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#17328733990832068-511: The Lummi or Halkomelem-speaking peoples , use names for the mountain borrowed from the Nooksack term, as, due to the distance to the mountain from the core homelands of those peoples, only those closely related to the Nooksack might travel to hunt and gather with them at Kwelshán . Thus, the names for Mount Baker in Lummi and Halkomelem are Kwelshan and Kwelxá:lxw respectively. In
2162-770: The Mount Meager massif , nor has it erupted frequently. During this period, four episodes of magmatic eruptive activity have been recently recognized. Magmatic eruptions have produced tephra , pyroclastic flows , and lava flows from summit vents and the Schriebers Meadow Cone . The most destructive and most frequent events at Mount Baker have been lahars or debris flows and debris avalanches. Many, if not most, of these were not related to magmatic eruptions, but may have been induced by magma intrusion , steam eruptions, earthquakes , gravitational instability, or possibly even heavy rainfall. Research beginning in
2256-549: The Nooksack and Upper Skagit peoples hunted and gathered on the north and south faces of the mountain. For the Nooksack, Mount Baker is extremely important in traditional religious beliefs, and was historically a great source of wealth (in the form of mountain goat wool, a highly prized commodity) and food. Nooksack families would travel via the North Fork ( Nooksack : Chuw7álich ) or Middle Fork ( Nooksack : Nuxwt'íqw'em ) of
2350-461: The Nooksack River to the alpine meadows where they would set up temporary summer camps to dry picked berries and meat. From those camps, people would disperse across the mountain to pick berries or hunt. The high slopes of the mountain were prime territory for hunting deer, elk, mountain goat, bear, marmot, and grouse. Nooksack families held almost exclusive usage rights to the northwestern areas of
2444-492: The Spanish Navy set sail from Nootka , a temporary settlement on Vancouver Island , with orders to explore the newly discovered Strait of Juan de Fuca . Accompanying Quimper was first-pilot Gonzalo Lopez de Haro , who drew detailed charts during the six-week expedition. Although Quimper's journal of the voyage does not refer to the mountain, one of Haro's manuscript charts includes a sketch of Mount Baker. The Spanish named
2538-635: The Vancouver Maritime Museum . The one-hour festivities included the presentation of a massive 63 by 114 centimetre carrot cake , the firing of a gun salute by the Royal Canadian Artillery 's 15th Field Regiment and a performance by the Vancouver Firefighter's Band. Vancouver's then-mayor, Sam Sullivan , officially declared 22 June 2007 to be "George Day". The Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) Elder sɁəyeɬəq ( Larry Grant ) attended
2632-428: The last ice age (which culminated 15,000–20,000 years ago), by thick ice sheets that filled the valleys and surrounded the volcano. In the last 14,000 years, the area around the mountain has been largely ice-free, but the mountain itself remains heavily covered with snow and ice. Isolated ridges of lava and hydrothermally altered rock, especially in the area of Sherman Crater, are exposed between glaciers on
2726-573: The "Coeverden" family of the 13th–15th century. In the 16th century, a number of businessmen from the Coevorden area (and the rest of the Netherlands) moved to England. Some of them were known as Van Coeverden . Others adopted the surname Oxford , as in oxen fording (a river) , which is approximately the English translation of Coevorden . However, it is not the exact name of the noble family mentioned in
2820-642: The 19th century; they were witnessed from the Bellingham area. A possible eruption was seen in June 1792 during the Spanish expedition of Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés . Their report read, in part: During the night [while anchored in Bellingham Bay] we constantly saw light to the south and east of the mountain of Carmelo [Baker] and even at times some bursts of flame, signs which left no doubt that there are volcanoes with strong eruptions in those mountains. Most of Mount Baker's eruptions that have
2914-408: The 19th-century lake is now covered by waters of the modern dam-impounded Baker Lake . Similar but lower-level hydrovolcanic activity at Sherman Crater continued intermittently for several decades afterward. On 26 November 1860, passengers who were traveling by steamer from New Westminster to Victoria reported that Mount Baker was "puffing out large volumes of smoke, which upon breaking, rolled down
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3008-458: The 74-gun ship of the line HMS Courageux . When the first Nootka Convention ended the crisis in 1790, Vancouver was given command of Discovery to take possession of Nootka Sound and to survey the coasts. Departing England with two ships, HMS Discovery and HMS Chatham , on 1 April 1791, Vancouver commanded an expedition charged with exploring the Pacific region. In its first year
3102-633: The Columbia River nor the Fraser River were included on any of Vancouver's charts. Stephen R. Bown noted in Mercator's World magazine's November/December 1999 issue that: How Vancouver could have missed these rivers while accurately charting hundreds of comparatively insignificant inlets, islands, and streams is hard to fathom. What is certain is that his failure to spot the Columbia had great implications for
3196-810: The French-held Leeward Islands . Vancouver subsequently saw action at the Battle of the Saintes (April 1782), wherein he distinguished himself. Vancouver returned to England in June 1783. In the late 1780s, the Spanish Empire commissioned an expedition to the Pacific Northwest. In 1789, the Nootka Crisis developed, and Spain and Britain came close to war over ownership of Nootka Sound on contemporary Vancouver Island , and – of greater importance – over
3290-494: The Pacific Northwest , with the 1791 Francisco de Eliza expedition preceding Vancouver by a year, had also missed the Fraser River although they knew from its muddy plume that there was a major river located nearby. Vancouver generally established a rapport with both Indigenous peoples and European trappers. Historical records show Vancouver enjoyed good relations with native leaders both in Hawaii – with King Kamehameha I as well as
3384-505: The Pacific Northwest and California. Vancouver's journals exhibit a high degree of sensitivity to the indigenous populations he encountered. He wrote of meeting the Chumash people , and of his exploration of a small island on the Californian coast on which an important burial site was marked by a sepulchre of "peculiar character" lined with boards and fragments of military instruments lying near
3478-534: The Puget Sound region. Isaac I. Stevens , the first governor of Washington Territory , wrote about Mount Baker in 1853: Mount Baker ... is one of the loftiest and most conspicuous peaks of the northern Cascade range; it is nearly as high as Mount Rainier, and like that mountain, its snow-covered pyramid has the form of a sugar-loaf. It is visible from all the water and islands ... [in Puget Sound] and from
3572-497: The Spanish from claims by Francisco de Eliza for the Spanish crown . The Spanish commander, Juan Francisco Bodega y Quadra , was very cordial and he and Vancouver exchanged the maps they had made, but no agreement was reached; they decided to await further instructions. At this time, they decided to name the large island on which Nootka was now proven to be located as Quadra and Vancouver Island . Years later, as Spanish influence declined,
3666-578: The Vancouver region. Many places around the world have been named after George Vancouver, including: Many collections were made on the voyage: one was donated by Archibald Menzies to the British Museum 1796; another made by surgeon George Goodman Hewett (1765–1834) was donated by Augustus Wollaston Franks to the British Museum in 1891. An account of these has been published. Canada Post issued
3760-458: The academic vice-president of Mount Royal University in Calgary and author of two books on Vancouver, states: He put the northwest coast on the map...He drew up a map of the north-west coast that was accurate to the 9th degree, to the point it was still being used into the modern day as a navigational aid. That's unusual for a map from that early a time. However, Vancouver failed to discover two of
3854-561: The act of going hunting up on the slopes. The third main name for the mountain is Spelhpálhx̠en , meaning "many meadows," refers to the sheltered meadows below around 5,500 feet. The Upper Skagit peoples , who live in the closest proximity to the south face of the mountain along the Skagit River watershed, call the mountain təqʷubəʔ in Lushootseed , which means "permanently snow-covered mountain." Other Indigenous peoples, such as
Roosevelt Glacier - Misplaced Pages Continue
3948-415: The afternoon by the third lieutenant, and in compliment to him called by me Mount Baker, rose a very conspicuous object ... apparently at a very remote distance. Six years later, the official narrative of this voyage was published, including the first printed reference to the mountain. By the mid-1850s, Mount Baker was a well-known feature on the horizon to the explorers and fur traders who traveled in
4042-539: The age of 40, less than three years after completing his voyages and expeditions. No official cause of death was stated, as the medical records pertaining to Vancouver were destroyed; one doctor named John Naish claimed Vancouver died from kidney failure, while others believed it was a hyperthyroid condition. Vancouver's grave is in the churchyard of St Peter's Church, Petersham , in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames , England. The Hudson's Bay Company placed
4136-479: The atmosphere before falling. Rivers south of the volcano were reportedly clogged with ash, and Native Americans reported that many salmon perished. Reports of flooding on the Skagit River from the eruption are, however, probably greatly exaggerated. A short time later, two collapses of the east side of Sherman Crater produced two lahars, the first and larger of which flowed into the natural Baker Lake, increasing its level by at least 10 feet (3.0 m). The location of
4230-690: The city of Vancouver in British Columbia, Vancouver River on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Vancouver, Washington in the United States, Mount Vancouver on the Canadian–US border between Yukon and Alaska, and New Zealand's fourth-highest mountain , also Mount Vancouver , are all named after him. Vancouver was born on 22 June 1757 in the seaport town of King's Lynn in Norfolk , England,
4324-511: The coast of Oregon just prior to Gray's sailing up the Columbia River . Vancouver entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca , between Vancouver Island and the present-day Washington state mainland, on 29 April 1792. His orders included a survey of every inlet and outlet on the west coast of the mainland, all the way north to Alaska. Most of this work was in small craft propelled by both sail and oar; manoeuvring larger sail-powered vessels in uncharted waters
4418-457: The colonials, it [B.C.] wouldn't have been part of Canada to begin with and Britain would be the poorer for it. There has been some debate about the origins of the Vancouver name. It is now commonly accepted that the name Vancouver derives from the expression van Coevorden , meaning "(originating) from Coevorden ", a city in the northeast of the Netherlands. This city is apparently named after
4512-614: The eighteenth century, the estates of the van Couverdens were mostly in the Province of Overijssel , and some of the family were living in Vollenhove , on the Zuider Zee . The English and Dutch branches kept in touch, and in 1798 (the date of Vancouver's death) George Vancouver's brother Charles would marry a kinswoman, Louise Josephine van Couverden, of Vollenhove . Both were great-grandchildren of Reint Wolter van Couverden." In 2006 John Robson,
4606-564: The end of Vancouver's last season – the most serious of which involved a clash with the Tlingit people at Behm Canal in southeast Alaska in 1794 – these were the exceptions to Vancouver's exploration of the US and Canadian Northwest coast. Despite a long history of warfare between Britain and Spain, Vancouver maintained excellent relations with his Spanish counterparts and even fêted a Spanish sea captain aboard his ship Discovery during his 1792 trip to
4700-441: The eruptive history, continue, as well. The Mount Baker Volcano Research Center maintains an online archive of abstracts of this work, and an extensive references list, as well as photos. Mount Baker has an alpine tundra climate ( ET ) Eleven named glaciers descend from Mount Baker. Two additional glaciers ( Hadley Glacier and Sholes Glacier ) descend from lower slopes detached from the main glacial mass. The Coleman Glacier
4794-664: The expedition travelled to Cape Town, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, and Hawaii (then known as the Sandwich Islands), collecting botanical samples and surveying coastlines along the way. He formally claimed at Possession Point, King George Sound Western Australia, now the town of Albany, Western Australia for the British. Proceeding to North America, Vancouver followed the coasts of present-day Oregon and Washington northward. In April 1792 he encountered American Captain Robert Gray off
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#17328733990834888-406: The festivities and acknowledged that some of his people might disapprove of his presence, but also noted: Many people don't feel aboriginal people should be celebrating this occasion...I believe it has helped the world and that's part of who we are. That's the legacy of our people. We're generous to a fault. The legacy is strong and a good one, in the sense that without the first nations working with
4982-401: The future political development of the Pacific Northwest.... While it is difficult to comprehend how Vancouver missed the Fraser River, much of this river's delta was subject to flooding and summer freshet which prevented the captain from spotting any of its great channels as he sailed the entire shoreline from Point Roberts, Washington , to Point Grey in 1792. The Spanish expeditions to
5076-525: The geophysical surveys, nor were any other precursory activities observed that would indicate that magma was moving up into the volcano. Several small lahars formed from material ejected onto the surrounding glaciers and acidic water was discharged into Baker Lake for many months. Activity gradually declined over the next two years, but stabilized at a higher level than before 1975. The increased level of fumarolic activity has continued at Mount Baker since 1975, but no other changes suggest that magma movement
5170-733: The head of Lynn Canal , and charted the rest of Kuiu Island and nearly all of Kupreanof Island. He then set sail for Great Britain by way of Cape Horn , returning in September 1795, thus completing a circumnavigation of South America . Impressed by the view from Richmond Hill , Vancouver retired to Petersham , which was then in Surrey and is now in London. Vancouver faced difficulties when he returned home to England. The accomplished and politically well-connected naturalist Archibald Menzies complained that his servant had been pressed into service during
5264-406: The heaviest glacier cover of the Cascade Range volcanoes; the volume of snow and ice on Mount Baker, 0.43 cu mi (1.79 km ) is greater than that of all the other Cascades volcanoes (except Rainier) combined. It is also one of the snowiest places in the world; in 1999, Mount Baker Ski Area , located 9 mi (14.5 km) to the northeast, set the world record for recorded snowfall in
5358-537: The history books that claim Vancouver's noble lineage: that name was Coeverden not Coevorden. In the 1970s, Adrien Mansvelt, a former consul-general of the Netherlands based in Vancouver, published a collation of information in both historical and genealogical journals and in the Vancouver Sun newspaper. Mansvelt's theory was later presented by the city during the Expo 86 World's Fair , as historical fact. The information
5452-470: The interior. Vancouver noted that the region's "only defenses against foreign attack are a few poor cannons". He again spent the winter in the Sandwich Islands. In 1794, he first went to Cook Inlet , the northernmost point of his exploration, and from there followed the coast south. Boat parties charted the east coasts of Chichagof and Baranof Islands , circumnavigated Admiralty Island , explored to
5546-411: The language of the unidentified "Koma tribe," the name is Tukullum or Nahcullum. The first Europeans to see and name the mountain were the Spanish. Gonzalo Lopez de Haro was the first European to record the mountain, calling it Gran Montaña del Carmelo , meaning "Great Mount Carmel ". The current English name for the mountain, Mount Baker, was chosen by George Vancouver . Vancouver named
5640-695: The largest and most important rivers on the Pacific coast , the Fraser River and the Columbia River . He also missed the Skeena River near Prince Rupert in northern British Columbia. Vancouver did eventually learn of the Columbia River before he finished his survey—from Robert Gray , captain of the American merchant ship that conducted the first Euroamerican sailing of the Columbia River on 11 May 1792, after first sighting it on an earlier voyage in 1788. However, neither
5734-519: The late 1990s shows that Mount Baker is the youngest of several volcanic centers in the area and one of the youngest volcanoes in the Cascade Range. The Pliocene Hannegan caldera is preserved 16 miles (25 km) northeast of Mount Baker Volcanic activity in the Mount Baker volcanic field began more than one million years ago, but many of the earliest lava and tephra deposits have been removed by glacial erosion . The pale-colored rocks northeast of
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#17328733990835828-453: The latter island, as well as circumnavigating Revillagigedo Island and charting parts of the coasts of Mitkof , Zarembo , Etolin , Wrangell , Kuiu and Kupreanof Islands . With worsening weather, he sailed south to Alta California, hoping to find Bodega y Quadra and fulfil his territorial mission, but the Spaniard was not there. The Spanish governor refused to let a foreign official into
5922-532: The midshipmen aboard HMS Resolution , on James Cook 's second voyage (1772–1775) searching for Terra Australis . He also sailed with Cook's third voyage (1776–1780), this time aboard Resolution ' s companion ship, HMS Discovery (1774) , and was present during the first European sighting and exploration of the Hawaiian Islands . Upon his return to Britain in October 1780, Vancouver
6016-410: The modern volcano mark the site of the ancient (1.15 million years old) Kulshan caldera that collapsed after an enormous ash eruption one million years ago. Subsequently, eruptions in the Mount Baker area have produced cones and lava flows of andesite , the rock that constitutes much of the other Cascade Range volcanoes such as Rainier, Adams , and Hood . From about 900,000 years ago to
6110-452: The mountain for 3rd Lieutenant Joseph Baker of HMS Discovery , who saw it on April 30, 1792. Mount Baker is sometimes also known by the alternative English name "Kulshan" which is the Anglicized form of the Nooksack name Kwelshán . The other related name, "Koma Kulshan," is likely the Anglicized version of the Nooksack phrase, Kwóma Kwelshán , meaning "go up into the mountains to Kwelshán ." Prior to European colonization,
6204-440: The mountain, while the usage rights to the southeastern half were held by Skagit families. Certain families of tribes such as the Lummi or Halkomelem-speaking peoples could travel to the mountain if they were intermarried and closely allied with Nooksack families. This meant that some groups which had more hostile relations with the Nooksack, such as the Thompson, were generally barred from the mountain. In 1790, Manuel Quimper of
6298-480: The mountain. After approaching via the North Fork of the Nooksack River, the party navigated through what is now known as Coleman Glacier and ascended to within several hundred feet of the summit before turning back in the face of an "overhanging cornice of ice" and threatening weather. Coleman later returned to the mountain after two years. At 4:00 pm on August 17, 1868, Coleman, Eldridge, Tennant and two new companions (David Ogilvy and Thomas Stratton) scaled
6392-426: The mountain. Ice-filled Carmelo Crater is under the summit ice dome. This crater is the source for the last cone-building eruptions The highest point of Mount Baker, Grant Peak, is on the exposed southeast rim of Carmelo Crater, which is a small pile of andesitic scoria lying on top of a stack of lava flows just below. Carmelo Crater is deeply dissected on its south side by the younger Sherman Crater. This crater
6486-459: The mountain. The first was USS Mount Baker (AE-4) , which was commissioned from 1941 to 1947 and from 1951 to 1969. In 1972, the Navy commissioned USS Mount Baker (AE-34) . She was decommissioned in 1996 and placed in service with the Military Sealift Command as USNS Mount Baker (T-AE-34). She was scrapped in 2012. George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver ( / v æ n ˈ k uː v ər / ; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798)
6580-409: The name Vancouver suggests, the Vancouvers were of Dutch origin. They were descended from the titled van Coeverden family, one of the oldest in the Netherlands. By the twelfth century, and for many years thereafter, their castle at Coevorden , in the Province of Drenthe , was an important fortress on the eastern frontier. George Vancouver was aware of this. In July 1794, he named the Lynn Canal "after
6674-424: The name was shortened to simply Vancouver Island . While at Nootka Sound Vancouver acquired Robert Gray's chart of the lower Columbia River. Gray had entered the river during the summer before sailing to Nootka Sound for repairs. Vancouver realised the importance of verifying Gray's information and conducting a more thorough survey. In October 1792, he sent Lieutenant William Robert Broughton with several boats up
6768-438: The next nine days. Then, on his 35th birthday on 22 June 1792, he returned to Point Grey , the present-day location of the University of British Columbia . Here he unexpectedly met a Spanish expedition led by Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés y Flores . Vancouver was "mortified" ( his word ) to learn they already had a crude chart of the Strait of Georgia based on the 1791 exploratory voyage of José María Narváez
6862-470: The only object of pursuit; and whether this be acquired by fair and honourable means, or otherwise, so long as the advantage is secured, the manner how it is obtained seems to have been, with too many of them, but a very secondary consideration. Robin Fisher notes that Vancouver's "relationships with aboriginal groups were generally peaceful; indeed, his detailed survey would not have been possible if they had been hostile." While there were hostile incidents at
6956-681: The place of my nativity" and Point Couverden (which he spelt incorrectly) "after the seat of my ancestors". Vancouver's great grandfather, Reint Wolter van Couverden, was probably the first of the line to establish an English connection. While serving as a squire at one of the German courts he met Johanna (Jane) Lilingston, an English girl who was one of the ladies in waiting. They were married in 1699. Their son, Lucas Hendrik van Couverden, married Vancouver's grandmother, Sarah. In his later years he probably anglicized his name and spent most of his time in England. By
7050-420: The popular Baker Lake recreation area and to lower the reservoir's water level by 33 feet (10 m). If those actions had not been taken, significant avalanches of debris from the Sherman Crater area could have swept directly into the reservoir, triggering a disastrous wave that could have caused human fatalities and damage to the reservoir. Other than the increased heat flow, few anomalies were recorded during
7144-498: The present, numerous andesitic volcanic centers in the area have come and disappeared through glacial erosion. The largest of these cones is the Black Buttes edifice, active between 500,000 and 300,000 years ago and formerly bigger than today's Mount Baker. Mount Baker was built from stacks of lava and volcanic breccia prior to the end of the last glacial period , which ended about 15,000 years ago. Two craters are on
7238-447: The press. Thomas Pitt took a more direct approach; on 29 August 1796 he sent Vancouver a letter heaping many insults on the head of his former captain, and challenging him to a duel. Vancouver gravely replied that he was unable "in a private capacity to answer for his public conduct in his official duty," and offered instead to submit to formal examination by flag officers . Pitt chose instead to stalk Vancouver, ultimately assaulting him on
7332-484: The right to colonise and settle the Pacific Northwest coast . Henry Roberts had recently taken command of the survey ship HMS Discovery (a new vessel named in honour of the ship on Cook's voyage) with the prospect of another round-the-world voyage, and Roberts selected Vancouver as his first lieutenant, but they both were then posted to other warships due to the crisis. Vancouver went with Joseph Whidbey to
7426-528: The sixth and youngest child of John Jasper Vancouver, a Dutch -born deputy collector of customs, and Bridget Berners. The surname Vancouver comes from Coevorden , Drenthe province, Netherlands (Koevern in Dutch Low Saxon ). In 1771, at age 13, Vancouver entered the Royal Navy as a "young gentleman", a future candidate for midshipman . He was nominally an able seaman (AB) but, in reality, sailed as one of
7520-476: The snow-covered sides of the mountain, forming a pleasing effect of light and shade." In 1891, about 15 km (3.6 cu mi) of rock fell producing a lahar that traveled more than 6 mi (9.7 km) and covered 1 sq mi (2.6 km ). Activity in the 20th century decreased from the 19th century. Numerous small debris avalanches fell from Sherman Peak and descended the Boulder Glacier;
7614-688: The snowy volcano La Gran Montana del Carmelo , as it reminded them of the white-clad monks of the Carmelite Monastery. The British explorer George Vancouver left England a year later. His mission was to survey the northwest coast of North America. Vancouver and his crew reached the Pacific Northwest coast in 1792. While anchored in Dungeness Bay on the south shore of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Joseph Baker made an observation of Mount Baker, which Vancouver recorded in his journal: About this time
7708-450: The south, from Seattle (and on clear days Tacoma ) in Washington. Indigenous peoples have known the mountain for thousands of years, but the first written record of the mountain is from Spanish explorer Gonzalo Lopez de Haro , who mapped it in 1790 as Gran Montaña del Carmelo . The explorer George Vancouver later named the mountain for 3rd Lieutenant Joseph Baker of HMS Discovery , who saw it on April 30, 1792. Mount Baker
7802-497: The summit via the Middle Fork Nooksack River, Marmot Ridge, Coleman Glacier, and the north margin of the Roman Wall. The present-day cone of Mount Baker is relatively young, perhaps less than 100,000 years old. The volcano sits atop a similar older volcanic cone called Black Buttes , which was active between 500,000 and 300,000 years ago. Much of Mount Baker's earlier geological record eroded away during
7896-482: The traders from the civilised world have not only pursued a line of conduct, diametrically opposite to the true principles of justice in their commercial dealings, but have fomented discords, and stirred up contentions, between the different tribes, in order to increase the demand for these destructive engines... They have been likewise eager to instruct the natives in the use of European arms of all descriptions; and have shewn by their own example, that they consider gain as
7990-472: The upper flanks of the volcano; the lower flanks are steep and heavily vegetated . Volcanic rocks of Mount Baker and Black Buttes rest on a foundation of non-volcanic rocks. Deposits recording the last 14,000 years at Mount Baker indicate that Mount Baker has not had highly explosive eruptions like those of other volcanoes in the Cascade Volcanic Arc , such as Mount St. Helens , Glacier Peak , or
8084-537: The volcano occurred from the Roman Wall and transformed into a lahar that was over 300 feet (91 m) deep in the upper reaches of the Middle Fork of the Nooksack River. It was at least 25 ft (7.6 m) deep 30 mi (48 km) downstream from the volcano. At that time, the Nooksack River is believed to have drained north into the Fraser River ; this lahar is unlikely to have reached Bellingham Bay . Next,
8178-433: The volcano's southeastern drainages. An eruption from Sherman Crater 6,600 years ago erupted a blanket of ash that extended more than 40 mi (64 km) to the east. Today, sulfurous gases reach the surface via two fumarole pathways: Dorr Fumarole, northeast of the summit, and Sherman Crater , south of the summit. Both are sites of hydrothermal alteration , converting lavas to weak, white-to-yellow clays ; sulfur
8272-826: The whole southeastern part of the Gulf of Georgia, and likewise from the eastern division of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It is for this region a natural and important landmark. Edmund Thomas Coleman, an Englishman who resided in Victoria, British Columbia , Canada and a veteran of the Alps , made the first attempt to ascend the mountain in 1866. He chose a route via the Skagit River , but was forced to turn back when local Native Americans refused him passage. Later that same year, Coleman recruited Whatcom County settlers Edward Eldridge, John Bennett, and John Tennant to aid him in his second attempt to scale
8366-538: The winter in continuing exploration of the Sandwich Islands , the contemporary name of the islands of Hawaii. The next year, 1793, he returned to British Columbia and proceeded further north, unknowingly missing the overland explorer Alexander Mackenzie by only 48 days. He got to 56°30'N, having explored north from Point Menzies in Burke Channel to the northwest coast of Prince of Wales Island . He sailed around
8460-594: The year before, under command of Francisco de Eliza . For three weeks they cooperatively explored the Georgia Strait and the Discovery Islands area before sailing separately towards Nootka Sound . After the summer surveying season ended, in August 1792, Vancouver went to Nootka, then the region's most important harbour, on contemporary Vancouver Island. Here he was to receive any British buildings and lands returned by
8554-617: Was commissioned as a lieutenant and posted aboard the sloop HMS Martin , initially on escort and patrol duty in the English Channel and North Sea. He accompanied the ship when it left Plymouth on 11 February 1782 for the West Indies. On 7 May 1782 he was appointed fourth lieutenant of the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Fame , which was at the time part of the British West Indies Fleet and assigned to patrolling
8648-482: Was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition , which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what are now the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Alaska , Washington , Oregon , and California . The expedition also explored the Hawaiian Islands and the southwest coast of Australia . Vancouver Island ,
8742-492: Was generally impractical and dangerous. Vancouver named many features for his officers, friends, associates, and his ship Discovery , including: After a Spanish expedition in 1791, Vancouver was the second European to enter Burrard Inlet on 13 June 1792, naming it for his friend Sir Harry Burrard . It is the present day main harbour area of the City of Vancouver beyond Stanley Park . He surveyed Howe Sound and Jervis Inlet over
8836-482: Was then used by historian W. Kaye Lamb in his book A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World, 1791–1795 (1984). W. Kaye Lamb, in summarising Mansvelt's 1973 research, observes evidence of close family ties between the Vancouver family of Britain and the Van Coeverden family of the Netherlands as well as George Vancouver's own words from his diaries in referring to his Dutch ancestry: As
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