HENRY JOSEPH BREUER (1860-1932)
Mount Shasta (4,322 m - 14,179 ft)
United Sates of America (California)
oil on canvas,1903
The mountain
Mount Shasta (4,322 m- 14,179 ft) named after a tribe of native american the Shasta, is also called "Uytaahkoo" (in Karuk) or "White Mountain". It is a potentially active volcano (last known eruption in 1786) at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. Mount Shasta is the most voluminous stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. The mountain and its surrounding area are managed by the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Mount Shasta was declared a National Natural Landmark in December 1976.
In his Picturesque California in 1888, John Muir described Mount Shasta and its area "The Shasta region is still a fresh unspoiled wilderness, accessible and available for travelers of every kind and degree. Would it not be a fine thing to set it apart like the Yellowstone and Yosemite as a National Park for the welfare and benefit of all mankind, preserving its fountains and forests and all its glad life in primeval beauty?"
At the time of Euro-American contact in the 1820s, the Native American tribes who lived within view of Mount Shasta included: the Shasta, Okwanuchu, Modoc, Achomawi, Atsugewi, Karuk, Klamath, Wintu, and Yana tribes.
The historic eruption of Mount Shasta in 1786 may have been observed by the french explorer Lapérouse. Although perhaps first seen by Spanish explorers, the first reliably reported land sighting of Mount Shasta by a European or American was by Peter Skene Ogden (a leader of a Hudson's Bay Company trapping brigade) in 1826. In 1827, the name "Sasty" or "Sastise" was given to nearby Mount McLoughlin by Ogden. The name was transferred to present-day Mount Shasta in 1841, partly as a result of work by the United States Exploring Expedition.
The lore of some of the Klamath Tribes in the area held that Mount Shasta is inhabited by the Spirit of the Above-World, , who descended from heaven to the mountain's summit at the request of a Klamath chief. Skell fought with Spirit of the Below-World, Llao, who resided at Mount Mazama by throwing hot rocks and lava, probably representing the volcanic eruptions at both mountains.
A group of Native Americans from the McCloud River area practice rituals on the mountain.
Mount Shasta has also been a focus for non-Native American legends, centered on a hidden city of advanced beings from the lost continent of Lemuria. The legend grew from an offhand mention of Lemuria in the 1880s, to a description of a hidden Lemurian village in 1925. In 1931, Wisar Spenle Cerve wrote Lemuria: the lost continent of the Pacific, published by the Rosicrucians, about the hidden Lemurians of Mount Shasta that cemented the legend in many readers' minds.
In August 1987, believers in the spiritual significance of the Harmonic Convergence described Mount Shasta as one of a small number of global "power centers". Mount Shasta remains a focus of "New Age" attention.
Mount Shasta is connected to nearby Shastina, and they dominate the northern California landscape.
The mountain consists of four overlapping volcanic cones that have built a complex shape, including the main summit and the prominent satellite cone of 12,330 ft (3,760 m) Shastina, which has a visibly conical form. If Shastina were a separate mountain, it would rank as the fourth-highest peak of the Cascade Range (after Mount Rainier, Rainier's Liberty Cap, and Mount Shasta itself).
Mount Shasta's surface is relatively free of deep glacial erosion except, paradoxically, for its south side where Sargents Ridge runs parallel to the U-shaped Avalanche Gulch. This is the largest glacial valley on the volcano, although it does not presently have a glacier in it. There are seven named glaciers on Mount Shasta, with the four largest (Whitney, Bolam, Hotlum, and Wintun) radiating down from high on the main summit cone to below 10,000 ft (3,000 m) primarily on the north and east sides. The Whitney Glacier is the longest, and the Hotlum is the most voluminous glacier in the state of California. Three of the smaller named glaciers occupy cirques near and above 11,000 ft (3,400 m) on the south and southeast sides, including the Watkins, Konwakiton, and Mud Creek glaciers.
Climbing Mount Shasta
The first recorded ascent of Mount Shasta occurred in 1854 (by Elias Pearce), after several earlier failed attempts. In 1856, the first women (Harriette Eddy, Mary Campbell McCloud, and their party) reached the summit. By the 1860s and 1870s, Mount Shasta was the subject of scientific and literary interest. A book by California pioneer and entrepreneur James Hutchings, titled Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California, contained an account of an early summit trip in 1855. The summit was achieved (or nearly achieved) by John Muir, Josiah Whitney, Clarence King, and John Wesley Powell. In 1877, Muir wrote a dramatic popular article about his surviving an overnight blizzard on Mount Shasta by lying in the hot sulfur springs near the summit. This experience was inspiration to Kim Stanley Robinson's short story "Muir on Shasta".
The 1887 completion of the Central Pacific Railroad, built along the line of the Siskiyou Trail between California and Oregon, brought a substantial increase in tourism, lumbering, and population into the area around Mount Shasta. Early resorts and hotels, such as Shasta Springs and Upper Soda Springs, grew up along the Siskiyou Trail around Mount Shasta, catering to these early adventuresome tourists and mountaineers.
Many climbers attempt the summit of Mount Shasta. The summer climbing season runs from late April until October, although many attempts are made in the winter. Avalanches and rapidly changing weather conditions make winter climbs more dangerous, however rock fall is a threat year round. Visit the
Shasta-Trinity National Forest web-site for more general information regarding other activites and safety information for The Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
Mount Shasta is also a popular destination for backcountry skiing. Many of the climbing routes can be descended by experienced skiers, and there are numerous lower-angled areas around the base of the mountain.
The most popular route on Mount Shasta is Avalanche Gulch route, which begins at the Bunny Flat Trailhead and gains about 7,300 feet (2,200 m) of elevation in approximately 11.5 miles (18.5 km) round trip. The crux of this route is considered to be to climb from Lake Helen, at approximately 10,443 feet (3,183 m), to the top of Red Banks. The Red Banks are the most technical portion of the climb, as they are usually full of snow/ice, are very steep, and top out at around 13,000 feet (4,000 m) before the route heads to Misery Hill. The Casaval Ridge route is a steeper, more technical route on the mountain's southwest ridge best climbed when there's a lot of snow pack. This route tops out to the left (north) of the Red Banks, directly west of Misery Hill. So the final sections involve a trudge up Misery Hill to the summit plateau, similar to the Avalanche Gulch route.] Mount Shasta's west face as seen from Hidden Valley high on the mountain. The west face gulley is an alternate climbing route to the summit.
No quota system currently exists for climbing Mount Shasta, and reservations are not required. However, climbers must obtain a summit pass and a wilderness permit to climb the mountain. Permits and passes are available at the ranger station in Mount Shasta and the ranger station in McCloud, or climbers can obtain self-issue permits and passes at any of the trailheads 24 hours a day.
Sources:
The painter
Not to be confused with the austrian physician, Joseph Breuer, Henry Joseph Breuer, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 is a american painter who earned a reputation as a well-known "painter of poetic landscapes." He studied art during the 1870s in Buffalo, New York, and then worked as a designer-decorator for the Rockwood Pottery Company in Cincinnati where he also attended the Art Academy. He worked for five years as a lithographer in New York City.
In 1888, he settled in San Francisco where he became art editor for the San Francisco Chronicle and Californian magazine. Then he went to France for art study and was influenced by the Barbizon School of impressionist painters of rural landscapes.
Living out of a horse-drawn wagon, he traveled extensively along the western coast of California and Oregon, painting and earning a national reputation for his landscapes. He also painted in Arizona including Canyon de Chelly in Navajo country and did commissioned views of the San Gabriel Valley for the St. Louis Exposition in 1904.
In 1903 he spent two weeks in Mount Shasta which had a great impact on him. In the Cincinatti Time Stars he wrote:
" I board a train to some station somewhere near Mount Shasta,and this into the woods. I man a one- man camp every night for two weeks. It was cold and sometimes miserable in the thick, wet, cold mist of the mountain side, but the days were grand before that high, white altar, Shasta! I shall feel for all my life that I was a true pilgrim, and for the sake of days like that, I am happy to be what I am, a landscape painter..."
Sources:
- Edan Hughes, Artists in California, 1786-1940
- Peggy and Harold Samuels, The Illustrated Biographical Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West
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