North Cascades

EARLY IMPRESSIONS: EURO-AMERICAN EXPLORATIONS AND SURVEYS

International Boundary marker at Hozomeen, Washington.
Note swath through dense forest following surveyed boundary
on mountain slope behind monument. (Photo by G. Luxenberg, NPS, 1984)

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Northern Cascades were explored by Euro-Americans for more than a hundred years. Among the first were traders and trappers using Indian trails and tracking the wilderness for resources. They were soon followed by a variety of individual adventurers and government explorers who mapped, charted, and described the remote region. Significant among this latter group was the survey party marking the 49th parallel and boundary between the United States and Canada. This journey, perhaps more than any other, left behind a rich collection of early maps, sketches, and verbal descriptions of the area. Furthermore, the need and subsequent search for a northern passage through the Cascade Range maintained interest in the area well into the twentieth century. Because of this interest, maps of the region were continually updated and corrected. Today, many routes followed by explorers and surveyors are still used by backcountry visitors traversing the park.

Because explorations and surveys in the North Cascades were transitory in nature, no tangible structures other than the line of monuments and cairns delineating the boundary between Canada and the United States remain. Twenty-three and one half miles of this boundary line mark the northern edge of the national park. Although difficult to reach, there are two points where a hiker can view the forty-foot-wide swath of land marking the boundary:

• in the northwest section of the park the Chilliwack River trail can be followed to monument no. 51 where the river crosses the 49th parallel (a short hike to the west side of the river leads to monument no. 50)
  
  
• in the northeast section of the park, monument no. 72 stands along a self-guiding nature trail north of Hozomeen Campground on the east side of Ross Lake. Above the western lakeshore stands monument no. 71.

Exploration is a significant theme within the overall context of the human history of the park and should be interpreted accordingly at visitor centers, in park publications, and interpretive programs.

The following resource is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places within the historic theme identified in this chapter:

INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY, and associated monuments located within the national park, for its association with nineteenth century efforts to explore, survey, and delineate a northern boundary for the United States. It is also recommended that these monuments be added to the park's List of Classified Structures.

This study recommends that the trail over Cascade Pass be identified in interpretive programs and visitor centers as a significant historic route of passage between the Stehekin River valley and the Skagit River valley for Native Americans and the explorers, surveyors, miners, and, more recently, recreationists, who followed.