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Friday, January 24, 2003

Olympic Hot Springs: Tears of the Dragon   Part Two                Jamie Valadez of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Center said that her elders do not recall a similar story.  They do, however, speak of the hot springs as a very special place in their culture.  People often would go to bathe in the mineral waters purely for pleasure and as preventive medicine.  Those who were suffering from some malady would go and stay until they were healed.  In the summer, it was a place for Klallams and Quileutes to meet for trading, dancing, socializing and arranging inter-tribal marriages.  The two tribes, it seems, got along much better than the dragons. Andrew Jacobsen, a hunter, claimed to be the first white man to “discover” the springs in 1892.  When he returned to Port Angeles to tell of his find, no one believed him.  The springs were all but forgotten by white men until Jacobsen returned from another hunting trip in 1906 with a bottle of water to substantiate his claim.  Apparently, some sort of business arrangement was made to develop the area, but nothing came of it.  The relative inaccessibility of the springs made exploitation difficult. In 1907, William (Billy) Everett rediscovered the springs while on a hunting trip with two companions, Charles Anderson and Thomas Farrell.  They reported a total of 21 springs ranging in temperature from 113 to 138 degrees located on the narrow bench about 200 feet above Boulder Creek.  The three weary hunters hewed out a rough cedar log for a tub, built a flume to carry the hot spring water and named the place Olympic Hot Springs. They formed a partnership and Farrell bought a mineral claim to the site, posting a notice as required by law.  A trail was blazed from the Elwha River to the 2100 foot elevation of the springs and Olympic Hot Springs Resort was in business.  Anderson soon withdrew from the enterprise and Farrell sold his claim to Everett’s wife, Margaret.  The Everetts gradually improved the trail, built bridges and tubs, and put up a rough cabin and bathhouse. People slowly heard about the hot springs and walked the 12 miles from the road (now Highway 101) to bathe in the healing waters.  Some stayed two or three weeks.  In response, the Everetts built tent frames and rented them to tourists.  The springs were officially opened to the public in 1909.  The first store and lodge were soon built from lumber obtained on-site. In 1910, the first family pool was created from a hole originally dug for mining purposes.  That same year, the city of Port Angeles became interested in the therapeutic qualities of the spring water.  The city applied to the National Forest Service, which administered the area, for a permit to pipe the water for use in drinking fountains, natatoriums, hotels and bottling plants.  A permit was issued, but the city never exploited the commercial possibilities of the water. The springs were made more accessible by DeWitt Clinton Sisson, who ran a pack train from his Mountain Inn on the upper Elwha.  For three cents per pound, he hauled up the supplies needed to dam Boulder Creek.  The dam was used to generate electricity and run a sawmill. A promotional brochure issued in 1911 helped spread the fame of the springs.  It declared, “…already has this resort become known outside the country, until this past season a number of tourists and pleasure seekers, as well as others seeking aid from the curative properties of the mineral waters for various ailments, have visited the springs from various cities of the Sound and down the Coast.”  Obviously, the author had never been warned about the dangers of run-on sentences. When the first lodge was constructed in 1917, a second pool measuring 75 by 25 feet was also added.  A 170 foot bridge spanned Boulder Creek and the first cabins replaced the tent frames in 1919.  Jack Henson of the Port Angeles Evening News, known as The Wandering Scribe, rented a cabin each year and held marathon pinochle sessions with his cronies. An even grander lodge was built in 1920 with a dining room and ten sleeping rooms.  The resort, however, was beginning to feel the effects of competition from the more accessible Sol Duc Resort to the west.  In 1920, there were 1100 guests; in 1921, 850; and in 1922, only 600. Harry Schoeffel bought an interest in the resort shortly after World War I and eventually married the Everetts’ daughter, Jeanette.  They assumed management of the resort and continued at the site for more than 40 years.  The Schoeffels addressed the accessibility problem by leasing the Forest Service camp at Altaire on the upper Elwha and running pack trains into the springs. During this period, the Forest Service cooperated with Clallam County to build a narrow dirt road to the springs.  It took six years to complete, but it kept the resort alive even during the difficult times of the Depression.  A careful system of emptying and refilling the pools assured that the waters were always clean.  There were even private baths complete with attendants.   9:49:48 PM    comment [] Olympic Hot Springs: Tears of the Dragon   Part One               The first hint of something unusual is a breath of brimstone wafting through the swirling mists.  This sulfurous scent leads you to a wooden footbridge spanning the tumult of Boulder Creek.  You walk along a narrow path lined with alder saplings.  A stream of water flows across the path, leaving multi-hued tracings of the minerals it carries.  You touch the water.  It is wondrously warm. Off to your left, on a precipitous ledge overhanging the creek, is a rough rock pool.  Two naked humans recline therein, oblivious to everything but the blissful waters.  You walk on and other pools appear to your right, ascending the steep hillside.  None are made of concrete or porcelain or even wood.  The pools are formed by rocks lovingly placed by pilgrims who have come seeking healing. You pass a large pool to your right where a whole family bathes.  Unashamedly naked, they invite you to join them.  You politely decline.  You are here to be alone with Creation and to seek those visions that await you in this sacred place.  The path turns narrow and steep.  It winds through the trees and over stumps.  Finally, it ends in the highest pool of all.  Here, the tears of the dragon are the hottest. You shed your clothing and ease your aching body into the steaming water.  Instantly, your muscles begin to relax.  Soon, you have submerged yourself until just your head is above water.  You gaze up through the firs to the lowering sky.  The water gurgles gently as it emerges from the earth.  A hungry chipmunk chitters and flicks his tail at you.  Suddenly, magically, it begins to snow. Sacred places have always been central to the world’s religions.  Sometimes these sacred places are mountains (Moses, Mohammed).  Sometimes they are deserts (John the Baptist, Jesus).  Sometimes it is a single tree (Buddha).  They are places that seem to harbor unusual concentrations of spiritual power; places where the world of the spirits and the world of humans overlap.  Such a place is Olympic Hot Springs. According to the white man’s science, the rain and snowmelt from the mountains percolate downward until coming into contact with a vein of superheated rock, or magma.  As the water approaches boiling, it forces its way outward through any crack or fissure available to it.  Eventually, it bubbles to the surface as a hot spring. The Quileute tribe has a much more evocative explanation for this phenomenon.  A tribal elder told it to white pioneer Chris Morgenroth in the early 1900s.  Morgenroth recounts it in his autobiography Footprints in the Olympics.             “A very long time ago, the Olympic Mountains were ruled by two large and powerful dragons.  One of these ruled all the country north and east of the Elwha River that drained into Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca.  The other dragon ruled all of the country on the west side of the ridge drained by the Soleduck River and emptying into the Pacific Ocean.  Each dragon ruled over all the Indians within his territory.  These dragons had many disputes and fights over the boundary line, which was along the top of the divide with the Soleduck River on one side and the Elwha River on the other.  Boulder Peak was the highest point of this divide.  The headquarters of these monsters were near Boulder Creek in two great mountain caverns, each one on his respective side of the mountain. “Every full moon during centuries past, these dragons would patrol their domains and had met many times in combat over supremacy of the territory.  They attacked each other with their powerful tails and were so well matched that the battles always ended in a draw, each returning to his mountain home to recuperate until the next meeting.  The immensity of these battles is still evidenced by the barren grassy slopes in the area. “One moonlit night, the two dragons set out on their monthly patrol, meeting on Boulder Peak.  They at once challenged each other for combat.  They fought fiercely for many hours on the mountaintop in an effort to kill one another, clearing the entire ridge of timber and starting many rock slides.  Both dragons suffered greater injuries than before and when completely exhausted, dragged themselves to their respective mountain caves where they sealed up the entrances with huge boulders and in solitude, proceeded to shed great quantities of hot tears over their wounds. “It is said that when their wounds are healed and they have regained their full strength, they will again come forth and renew the battle for supremacy.  In the meantime, the hot breath and tears of the Sol Duc dragon bubble up in the Soleduck Valley to give health and strength to his people during his convalescence.  The Elwha dragon’s hot breath and tears do the same for his people in the Elwha Valley.” 12:17:55 AM    comment []