| Volcanic Activity In his 1887 catalog Holden says: "1842. September 28; Eruption of Mt. St. Helens, Oregon.-Perrey. [?]". In Plummer (Tacoma Ledger - February 28, 1893; transcribed in WPPSS documents) the following account is included: " The Rev. Gustavus Hines, an early missionary to the Columbia river country, writes that "in the month of October 1842, St. Helens was discovered all at once to be covered with a dense cloud of smoke, which continued to enlarge and move off in dense masses to the eastward, and filling the heavens in that direction, presented an appearance like that occasioned by a tremendous conflagration viewed at a vast distance. When the first volume of smoke had cleared away it could be distinctly seen from different parts of the country that an eruption had taken place on the north side of St. Helens, a little below the summit, and from the smoke that continued to rise from the chasm or crater it was pronounced to be a volcano in active operation. When the explosion took place the wind was northwest, and on the same day and extending from thirty to fifty miles to the southeast there fell showers of ashes or dust, which covered the ground in some places so as to admit of its being gathered in quantities. This last phenomena has been of frequent occurrence and has led many to suppose that volcanic eruptions are not uncommon in this country." |
