The Mountaineers
The history of the Mazamas began in early 1894 when several Oregon Alpine Club members met to organize a new society. The group drafted a constitution in March, when they chose the name Mazamas, which is a type of mountain goat. All members had to climb a glaciated peak, they decided, to ensure that only real mountaineers would be part of the organization.
On July 19, 1894, more than 350 people assembled near the hamlet of Government Camp at the base of Mount Hood. They established a camp there. Two hundred people started the hike from the camp, and up to the timber line. Despite the nasty weather, 155 men and 38 women reached the summit to elect a president and become the oldest mountaineering group in the U.S. According to an old timer of the Mazamas, that first climb and a few after that was done with a large, long hemp rope which was fixed to the summit. Everyone could just pull themselves up the rope and long lines of hikers used the rope. The first hiking footwear were logger corks and or boots with hobnails driven in the soles. (Oregonian, Dec. 6, 1972.)
On Jan. 15, 1940, Charles Anderson of Sherwood, Oregon made the list of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not for climbing Mt. Hood at 11,225 feet in two hours and 52…