Frederick G. Plummer

IN: Holden, E.S., 1898, A catalogue of earthquakes on the Pacific coast, 1769-1897: Smithsonian Institution, City of Washington.

Excerpt from:
"Reported volcanic eruptions in Alaska, Puget Sound, etc., 1690 to 1896", by Frederick G. Plummer, March 13, 1896, IN: Holden, E.S., 1898, A catalogue of earthquakes on the Pacific coast, 1769-1897: Smithsonian Institution, City of Washington, p.24-27.

Reported Volcanic Eruptions on the Pacific Coast

The list of shocks printed in 1887, and those compiled during the succeeding years, contained many reported "eruptions" of mountains in the Puget Sound region. For a number of years I [the author, Mr. Holden] made it my business to apply by letter to intelligent observers in that neighborhood to determine whether Mount Baker and other mountains had ever certainly been known to be in eruption. Clouds hanging over the summit, snow blown from the slopes, etc., might, in my own opinion, account for all the reported phenomena. Still it was not possible to be certain either way, and I have left the accounts of such eruptions as they were first printed.

In 1896 Mr. Frederick G. Plummer, C.E., was kind enough to copy from his papers a list of the eruptions of Alaska volcanoes (1690 to date) and of the reported eruptions of the mountains around Puget Sound. This list was printed in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and is reprinted here. I have not incorporated this data in the catalogue of earthquakes which follows; it is more convenient in its present shape. Particular attention is called to the introductory paragraphs of Mr. Plummer's valuable list. Reports in the newspaper press on this subject are never decisive. To establish the fact of an eruption of one of the Puget Sound volcanoes it is necessary to have the report of an expert who was on the spot.

Reported Volcanic Eruptions in Alaska, Puget Sound, etc., 1690 to 1896.
by Frederick G. Plummer.
Tacoma, Washington, March 13, 1896.

"There can be no doubt that many eruptions are reported which might be contradicted if examination were possible. For example, the reports of the eruption and change in the summit of Mount Tacoma from November 21 to December 25, 1894, filled many columns of the press dispatches, and possibly were intended for that purpose. December 25th was the most perfect day for observation, and, with my 6 1/2-inch refractor, the crater-peak and its surroundings were carefully examined, and no change could be seen. No eruption was noted, other than the usual emission of steam, which varies with the barometer. However, reports came in later from a press party which claimed to have reached the slope of the mountain and witnessed an eruption of smoke. The party was about five miles from the summit, and my telescope, with lower power, brought the summit within half a mile. Although this was the clearest and most definite report of eruption, yet it is so flatly contradicted by the continuous telescopic observations and the later examinations of climbers, that it is omitted from the table."

[NOTE: Alaska volcanoes have been omitted]

Date of Beginning		Name of Volcano	Duration of Eruption	Phenomena
Year	Day	Name of Volcano	Duration of Eruption	Phenomena
1831	---	St. Helens	12 hours	---
1831	---	Hood	---	---
1832	---	St. Helens	---	---
1841	---	Tacoma [Rainier]	---	---
1841	---	St. Helens	---	---
1842	---	St. Helens	2 months	Smoke and light ashes
1842	---	Baker	---	---
1843	November 13	St. Helens	10 days	Flames and light ashes
1843	November 13	Tacoma	---	---
1843	December ?	St. Helens	85 days	---
1846	---	Hood	---	---
1846	---	St. Helens	---	---
1846	---	Baker	---	---
1847	---	Baker	---	---
1852	---	St. Helens	---	---
1853	January	Baker	---	Slight lava flow
1854	February	St. Helens	70 days	---
1854	August	Hood	---	---
1854	Summer	Baker	---	Smoke and ashes
1859	August 15	Hood	2 days	---
1859	---	Baker	---	---
1860	---	Baker	---	---
1861	---	Olympus	---	---
1865	September 23	Hood	15 days	---
1869	---	Hood	3 hours	---
1873	October 19, 4p.m.	Tacoma	7 days	---
1880	May	Tacoma	---	---
1880	December	Baker	---	---
1884	June 16	Tacoma	9 hours	Steam
1891	Autumn	Baker	---	---
1891	---	Hozomeen	---	Flame and smoke
1898	March 9	Olympus	---	---
1894	January 17	Jefferson	---	Smoke and steam

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