A man of legendary stature in the climbing world, author Fred Beckey has literally followed in the footsteps of the early adventurers in his pursuit of this history of the Northern Cascade Range. Covering the mountain area between the Columbia and Fraser rivers, this book brings together the experiences of a wide range of explorers, from the early Native Americans who walked the first mountain trails to the Forest Service employees who traveled and mapped the land extensively. In between there were traders and trappers of the Hudson`s Bay Company; men searching for railroad passes, wagon routes or gold, and also a hearty group of geologists and topographers. The United States and British expeditions sent to survey the northwestern boundary (1857-1862 and 1901-08) are covered in detail as are the important explorations of the U.S. Army. All these groups were in pursuit of an increased knowledge of the terrain, that would allow them to map (and perhaps profit from) the beautiful and mysterious northern Cascades. A Range of Glaciers is rich in colorful detail. The author has made extensive use of the journals, letters and official reports of both the famous and the less well-known explorers of these mountains. Beckey has given us not only the records of where they traveled and what they saw, but also their expressions of the wonder, hardships, camaraderie, disappointments and sheer exhilaration of discovery in an unknown wilderness. This book will appeal to anyone who has been touched by the grandeur of the northern Cascades. It is for the active as well as the armchair adventurer.
