|
By ESTHER K. SMITH
News staff writer
August 23, 2006
“A meeting of Mountain Goats will be
held in the office of Tum-A-Lum Aug. 3 at 8. At this meeting will be
discussed the need of an organization of this kind: ‘Crag Rats.’ Bring
your own ideas and suggestions … Yours truly, Andy.”
This invitation sent from lumberman A.L. Anderson to a small number of
outdoor enthusiasts July 31, 1926, was the start of something big, and
long-lasting: The Hood River-based Crag Rats organization.
Next week marks the 80th birthday of the Crag Rats, a group of men and
women who volunteer their time and talents to do search and rescue
operations when the need arises; the oldest such organization in the
United States.
The oldest rescue group in the
U.S.
THEN: (above) Crag Rats guide climbers from the American
Legion, Hood River Post 22, on Cooper Spur route in the 1940s.
NOW: (below) Crag Rats assist Central Washington Mountain Rescue
in a recovery effort on Mount Adams in 2004.
Photos courtesy of the Crag Rats
The organization got its semi-official
start Aug. 23, 1926, when it was decided that a committee made up of
Anderson, Kent Shoemaker and L.M. Baldwin would draw up bylaws and a
constitution, and propose nominations of officers, according to an
item in the Aug. 27, 1926, Hood River News.
As to the group’s name, it can be credited to one of the men’s wives,
according to charter member Eino Annala in his 1976 book “The Crag
Rats.”
“The meeting Andy had called for August 3rd did not produce a name,
although several had been considered. One that received a good deal of
consideration was Crag Rats. It seems that Delia, Andy Anderson’s
wife, jokingly suggested it, inferring they were just a bunch of rats
climbing around on the crags on weekends, instead of staying home with
their families.”
That meeting was adjourned until the end of the month, Annala said.
But on Aug. 16 “an event occurred that definitely settled the matter.”
On that date Mace Baldwin, Percy Bucklin and Jess Puddy found
7-year-old Jackie Strong on the west slopes of Mount Hood. The search
was going on its third day and had drawn a great deal of publicity and
more than 250 searchers:
“Members of the 7th Infantry soldiers, Mazamas, Trails Club members,
Hood River Guides, Forest Rangers, police, sheriff’s deputies,
mountaineers and Gresham neighbors of the Strongs were searching, or
hurrying to join the search, when rifle shots from higher on the
mountain indicated the boy had been found.”
The men realized that with all the publicity, the news media would be
waiting for them on their return, so they were prepared when the
reporters asked if they belonged to any particular group.
“Yes, the Crag Rats,” they replied.
Photo by Mike McCafferty
At Eagle Creek's Punchbowl, above, the scene of many a rescue by the
Crag Rats, members come to the aid of an injured rock jumper with
assistance from Parkdale and Dee Fire departments. Below, Crag Rats on
ice on Mount Hood, in an undated file photo.
According to Annala, the name was
officially adopted at an organizational meeting Aug. 30, 1926, where
officers were also elected. Mace Baldwin held the first post of “Big
Squeak,” and Andy Anderson “Little Squeak.”
Though the Strong rescue and a rescue that happened soon after, the
White rescue, brought the Crag Rats much attention, it was never
attention they sought. In fact, Baldwin, Bucklin and Puddy turned down
medals that a jeweler in Portland had offered as a reward to whoever
found the lost Strong boy, saying they did not care to receive medals
for what they had done.
Annala wrote that in the 1920s and 1930s, the Crag Rats were
“eulogized in newspapers and magazines all over the country. The
writer remembers when a letter from an author who was writing a text
book for school children was read at our regular meeting. What he
wanted was stories about ‘modern heroes.’
“The members discussed the letter very briefly, and instructed the
Secretary to thank the author, but that we were not heroes.”
Over the years the Crag Rats have been involved in countless rescues
and recoveries, and have also managed to work in some play time on the
mountain. For many years they held the record for “first climb” of the
year of Mount Hood. In the early days their play dates on the mountain
included baseball games on skis.
The Crag Rats built their original Crag Rat Hut, which stood on the
rocks above I-84’s Exit 62 (the stone fireplace, all that remains, is
still visible), in 1932 and used it until 1966, when the present hut
was built, high on the hill east of Pine Grove School.
Since 1954 they have also been stewards of the historical Cloud Cap
Inn, on the north side of Mount Hood, by special permit from the
Forest Service. The group has restored and improved the site in the
50-plus years since it took over its care.
From the 24 original members the group has grown to about 100; 60 of
whom are active in search and rescue. Some members are
third-generation Crag Rats, such as those from the Hukari, Sheppard
and Wells families.
As it was from the beginning, as stated in the Sept. 10, 1926, Hood
River News, “No one can be a member who has not climbed Mt. Hood and
Mt. Adams and must climb at least one mountain each year to keep in
good standing.” Membership is by invitation only and requires a
unanimous vote by the membership.
As Eino Annala said at the end of his book, “The Crag Rats are not in
the public eye as much as they were for so many years. They are
members of larger mountain rescue groups which naturally receive the
publicity connected with rescues in our mountains. But you can rest
assured that usually in the rescue operations will be seen men with
black and white checkered shirts; the men Delia Anderson dubbed the
Crag Rats.” |
