TACOMA, Wash. — "The Mountain Was Out" exhibition at the Washington State History Museum tells the story of the mountain that dominates our horizon from the point of view of the people who have lived here first as well as the climbers who have tried to summit her. It also describes how Mount Rainier national park has become a magnet for millions of visitors and how the mountain inspired brand names hoping to profit from her popularity.
Curator Laurel Overstreet says the exhibition is mostly made up of in-house artifacts.
"I think the mountain has really become part of Washington's identity in products and in advertising," Overstreet said. "But also just in how people think of themselves as outdoorsy and part of the Pacific Northwest culture."
Among the interesting stories we learned is that during the Great Depression there was talk of putting a golf course in Mount Rainier National Park to attract visitors. No need of course. The park averages nearly 1.75 million visitors a year.
Visitors to the Washington State History Museum will also see one of the parachutes D.B. Cooper left behind when he jumped out of a plane he hijacked 53 years ago this month. Cooper demanded $200-thousand in ransom money and four parachutes in return for the safety of the people onboard. What happened to Cooper and all that cash remains one of Washington State's greatest mysteries.
Around the corner you can see some of the finest hand-crafted canoes ever made. Over a period of 55 years the Willits Brothers built more than 900, mostly in a workshop on Tacoma's Day Island. Each one is a masterpiece, Historian Michael Sean Sullivan says paddling a Willits canoe along the Narrows is like playing a Stradivarius violin at Carnegie Hall.
Down Pacific Avenue at the Tacoma Art Museum, Charles Peterson's photographs of Nirvana are on display. The museum also recreates Peterson's darkroom and even includes some of the music he's listen to while developing photographs.
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