Mount Adams, the long-dormant volcano in southwest Washington, recently experienced unusual seismic activity and the USGS is increasing its monitoring, which seemed like a perfect excuse to look for the origin of the mountain’s name.

But first, an existential question: Is it wrong to be upset that a nearby dormant volcano is showing signs of seismic activity?

Probably. However, many amateur volcanologists in the Pacific Northwest cut their teeth on the great Mount Baker scare of 1975 and then, of course, delved into all things “Harry Truman,” “pyroclastics,” and “dome building” when Mt Saint Helens came back to life in 1980. However, since volcanoes are a fact here on the Pacific Rim, we watch them with awe and wonder, and we also try never to lose sight of the 57 people who died at Mount Saint Helens on May 18, 1980.

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This new information about Mount Adams comes from a “CASCADES VOLCANO OBSERVATORY INFORMATION STATEMENT” issued Thursday afternoon by that branch of the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

USGS officials say six small quakes ranging in magnitude from 0.9 to 2.0 were recorded at Mount Adams in September. The quakes are small, but the quantity is unusual. The USGS statement says such quakes typically only occur about once every two to three years.

There is not much about Mount Adams’ recent history as an active volcano, and USGS scientists say that Mount Adams has been inactive for at least 3,800 years. There is currently only a single seismic reporting station at Mount Adams, but the USGS is working quickly to provide additional resources in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network to provide a complete picture of possible events.

Officials emphasize that there is no reason to panic. “At this time,” the USGS statement said, “there is no indication that the level of earthquake activity is of concern.”

Every long-time resident of the Pacific Northwest is wondering whether this is a distant early warning of something significant and serious, and whether we might yet be witnessing another chapter of volcanic history in real time. The news is also serious motivation to better understand where Mount Adams fits in recent history.

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Although Mount Adams is the second highest peak in Washington after Mount Rainier at 12,307 feet, it is probably the second darkest after Glacier Peak.

Located in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Mount Adams lies largely in Yakima County, with a western portion of the slope and glaciers in adjacent Skamania County. The nearest town is White Salmon.

Mount Adams is easy to miss from the west as it lies at almost the same latitude as Mount Saint Helens. One of the most beautiful views of Mount Adams is often a surprise to motorists driving south from Mount Hood toward the community of Hood River, Oregon.

Of course, the peak wasn’t always known as Mount Adams.

It is often difficult to accurately understand indigenous names for mountains, and it is difficult to know which printed sources, if any, to trust. The names and origin stories are often a bit too tidy and often read like a form of 20^Th Century Eurocentric mythology of expediency.

However, some whites who have written about it agree that the Yakima name for Mount Adams was Pahto. You could be right.

Anyone who has followed All Over The Map closely over the years should know by now that Captain George Vancouver of the British Royal Navy named Mount St. Helens, Mount Baker and Mount Rainier when he (a member of his crew) visited this one in 1792 Area explored by Lieutenant William Broughton called Mount Hood). Neither Vancouver nor Broughton named Mount Adams because they had not seen it. Due to the similar latitude, Mount Adams is hidden behind Mount St. Helens in many parts of the coast.

American explorers Lewis and Clark are believed to have been the first non-Indigenous people to see Mount Adams in April 1806. They saw him but did not name him. Although they died, they described it in their diary as a “high humpbacked mountain.”

As for the origin of the name “Adams” for the volcano that may now be awakening again, this story is a bit complicated.

In the 1830s, a maverick promoter of the Oregon Country named Hall J. Kelly wanted to rename all the Cascade peaks after American presidents and call the whole thing “Presidents Range.”

For example, under the Kelly program, Mount St. Helens would have become Mount Washington; Mount Rainier would have become Mount Harrison; and – this is the complicated part – Mount Hood would have become Mount Adams.

When he proposed his plan, Hall J. Kelly actually didn’t know that today’s Mount Adams existed, so he never suggested another name for it. Many scholars point to a Kelly follower (with his own presidential-inspired nickname) known as Thomas Jefferson Farnham, who successfully named Mount Adams—the site where the USGS is sending more seismic monitoring equipment—“Mount Adams” around 1843 for the name to somehow stick.

As if Hall J. Kelly’s plan hadn’t already caused enough confusion about the origin of the name Mount Adams, there is still some debate among scholarly sources as to which President Adams the peak should be named after: President John Adams or his son , President John Quincy Adams.

No matter what it’s called or who it’s actually named after, only time will tell whether Mount Adams will emerge from obscurity in dramatic fashion in the coming months and years – or perhaps centuries, or perhaps millennia.

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien. Read more from himHereand subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast Here. If you have a story idea or a question about Northwest history, please email FeliksHere.

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