"The first publication on Washington state mountain climbing...the booklet describes the wanderings of the party in the area in search of gold...gold was found." -The Columbian (Vancouver, Wa.), April 27, 1964

Was the summit of Mt. St. Helens was first conquered in 1860 by a party of prospectors who, failing to hit pay dirt, decided to make mountain-climbing history?

Their true story was first told by the author "Loo-Wit-Lat-Kla" in his 1861 book "Gold Hunting in the Cascade Mountains."

After becoming lost, these Cascades prospectors luckily crossed paths with a Siwash Indian name John Staps, who said "it was entirely impossible for either white man or Indian to reach the summit of Mount St. Helens." After much persuasion, they hired Staps along with several other Indians to guide them.

Staps told the prospectors that the only other white men to attempt climbing Mt. St. Helens were "a party of Hudson Bay Company's men, headed by old Mr. Lewis. ... Some of the party became discouraged and wanted to return; others wanted to go on. The guide refused to go without more blankets. The advance party threatened to shoot him; the return party encouraged and protected him. Quite an angry scene occurred which resulted in the return of the whole party."

Unknown to the prospectors, the Indians had a legend of an angry god who inhabited Mt. St. Helens and who did not want anyone to cross the snow line or make noise while on the sacred mountain:

"They shuddered at the idea, and strongly protested that it was impossible to ascend the peak; and further intimated that our persistence in this, to them, mad attempt would inevitably bring upon us the sore displeasure of the Sah-hah-ly Ty-ee of the mountain, who would inflict upon us a severe penalty for our temerity."

The Indians believed that previous noisy Indian hunting parties on the mountain had made Sah-hah-ly Ty-ee angry enough to cause the dozen reported Mt. St. Helens' eruptions of ash from 1831 to 1857, including a fairly large one in 1842.

As the prospectors neared the summit, they began the exciting race, to determine who should be first to reach the summit; and the intervening snow, which had been lying there for untold ages, was for the first time impressed with the marks of human footsteps.

Then "at half past two p.m. on the 28th day of Sept. A.D. 1860—the top of Mt. St. Helens ceased to be a Terra incognita. ... And then the first flag, that ever waved over Mt. St. Helens, was fluttering and crackling in the gale ... ready to announce to the next successful pilgrim, that ... 'James A. Burk, Jesse Failing, Amos E. Russell, Lyman Merrill, Squire J. Bozarth and James H. Neyce succeeded in reaching the summit of Loo-wit-lat-kla, or Mt. St. Helens, under the direction of John Staps (Indian) guide.'"

Throughout the book, the author makes notes of the Indian culture and legends. Such as a "fearful monster" living around a lake near Mt. Klickatat who "is always on the watch, and no sooner does he perceive the advantage of the hunters, than he utters one terrific roar which completely paralyses them and sends the game rushing through the woods, far beyond the reach of the swiftest arrow."

In describing how Staps' wife washed dishes, the author relates that "a little, rough, ill-visaged shaggy dog was called to finish the succotash. He very soon got enough, and began to retreat; the squaw perceiving it, immediately made a grab at the little fellow, caught him 'bottom upwards,' doubled him into a mop and deliberately wiped out the kettle from which we had just eaten."

Of course, the men experienced their share of dangers, including nearly flying off a precipice while sliding down the mountain.