Mount Rainier National Park was officially established on March 2, 1899, when President William McKinley signed the legislation. The park encompasses a 365-square-mile area of forests and alpine scenery in central Washington, making it the fifth national park created by Congress.
Known as Tacoma or Tahoma by Native American tribes for generations, the 14,410-foot volcanic peak was named Mount Rainier in 1792 by English explorer George Vancouver. Famed naturalist John Muir visited the region nearly a century later and advocated for its designation as a national park. Muir was particularly captivated by the abundant wildflowers that carpet the mountain slopes during warmer months.
In his writings, Muir described the area above the forests as "a zone of the loveliest flowers, fifty miles in circuit and nearly two miles wide, so closely planted and luxuriant that it seems as if Nature... were economizing the precious ground, and trying to see how many of her darlings she can get together in one mountain wreath." He noted the presence of "daisies, anemones, geraniums, columbines, erythroniums, larkspurs, etc., among which we wade knee-deep and waist-deep, the bright corollas in myriads touching petal to petal."
While the park's creation was widely praised, some critics suggested the act was a maneuver to benefit the Northern Pacific Railroad. Further information on the relationship between railroads and national parks can be found through relevant historical resources.