Editing Mount Shasta (section)

== History ==
The oldest-known [[human settlement]] in the area dates to about 7,000 years ago.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}

At the time of Euro-American contact in the 1810s, the Native tribes who lived within view of Mount Shasta included the [[Shasta people|Shasta]], [[Okwanuchu]], [[Modoc people|Modoc]], [[Achomawi]], [[Atsugewi]], [[Karuk]], [[Klamath people|Klamath]], [[Wintu]], and [[Yana people|Yana]] tribes.

A historic eruption of Mount Shasta in 1786 may have been observed by [[Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse|Lapérouse]], but this is disputed. [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[Global Volcanism Program]] says that the 1786 eruption is discredited, and that the last known eruption of Mount Shasta was around 1250 AD, proved by uncorrected [[radiocarbon]] dating.<ref>{{cite gvp|name=Shasta: Eruptive History|vtab=Eruptions|vn=323010|access-date=2021-06-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/californias-mount-shasta-loses-a-historical-eruption/ |title=California's Mount Shasta Loses a Historical Eruption |first=Jennifer |last=Leman |date=August 20, 2019 |magazine=[[Scientific American]] |publisher=Springer Nature America |access-date=August 5, 2021 |archive-date=July 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729215332/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/californias-mount-shasta-loses-a-historical-eruption/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although earlier Spanish explorers are likely to have sighted the mountain, the first written record and description was made on May 20, 1817, by Spaniard Narciso Durán, a member of the Luis Antonio Argüello expedition into the upper areas of the Sacramento River Valley, who wrote "At about ten leagues to the northwest of this place we saw the very high hill called by soldiers that went near its slope Jesus Maria, It is entirely covered with snow."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Duran |first=Narciso Fray |title=Expedition on the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers in 1817: Diary of Fray Narciso Duran. |publisher=University of California |year=1911 |language=EN |url=https://www.siskiyous.edu/library/shasta/documents/AB_Ch5.pdf}}</ref>  [[Peter Skene Ogden]] (a leader of a [[Hudson's Bay Company]] trapping brigade) in 1826 recorded sighting the mountain, and in 1827, the name "Sasty" or "Sastise" was given to nearby [[Mount McLoughlin]] by Ogden.<ref>{{cite web | title = History | publisher = [[College of the Siskiyous]] | year = 1989 | url = http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/his/index.htm | access-date = 2010-03-31 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100308200255/http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/his/index.htm | archive-date = 2010-03-08 }}</ref> An 1839 map by David Burr lists the mountain as Rogers Peak.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~1614~140001:Map-of-the-United-States-Of-North-A?sort=pub_list_no_initialsort,pub_date,pub_list_no,series_no&qvq=q:Oregon;sort:pub_list_no_initialsort,pub_date,pub_list_no,series_no;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=25&trs=1585|title=Map of the United States Of North America. - David Rumsey Historical Map Collection|website=www.davidrumsey.com|access-date=2018-07-02|archive-date=2018-07-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702204514/https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~1614~140001:Map-of-the-United-States-Of-North-A?sort=pub_list_no_initialsort,pub_date,pub_list_no,series_no&qvq=q:Oregon;sort:pub_list_no_initialsort,pub_date,pub_list_no,series_no;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=25&trs=1585|url-status=live}}</ref> This name was apparently dropped, and the name Shasta was transferred to present-day Mount Shasta in 1841, partly as a result of work by the [[United States Exploring Expedition]].

[[File:Mount Shasta Farm.jpg|thumb|left|Mount Shasta seen from south of [[Weed, California]]]]

Beginning in the 1820s, Mount Shasta was a prominent landmark along what became known as the [[Siskiyou Trail]], which runs at Mount Shasta's base. The Siskiyou Trail was on the track of an ancient trade and travel route of Native American footpaths between California's [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]] and the [[Pacific Northwest]].

The [[California Gold Rush]] brought the first Euro-American settlements into the area in the early 1850s, including at [[Yreka, California]] and [[Upper Soda Springs]]. The first recorded ascent of Mount Shasta occurred in 1854 (by Elias Pearce), after several earlier failed attempts. In 1856, the first women (Harriette Eddy, Mary Campbell McCloud, and their party) reached the summit.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.siskiyous.edu/library/shasta/documents/upshasta.pdf |title=Up Shasta in '56 |newspaper=Sisson Mirror |date=March 18, 1897 |at=p.2 col.3 |access-date=October 4, 2014 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006092024/http://www.siskiyous.edu/library/shasta/documents/upshasta.pdf |url-status=live }} The ''Shasta Courier'' reprints from its files of 1856.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/bib/B11.htm |website=Mount Shasta Annotated Bibliography |title=Mountaineering: 19th Century |access-date=2014-10-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006114702/http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/bib/B11.htm |archive-date=2014-10-06 }}</ref>

[[File:King WhitneyGlacier.jpg|thumb|right|[[Clarence King]] exploring the [[Whitney Glacier]] in 1870]]By the 1860s and 1870s, Mount Shasta was the subject of scientific and literary interest. In 1854 [[John Rollin Ridge]] titled a poem "Mount Shasta." A book by California pioneer and entrepreneur [[James Mason Hutchings|James Hutchings]], titled ''Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California'', contained an account of an early summit trip in 1855.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/scenes_of_wonder_and_curiosity/mount_shasta.html|title=Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California|year=1862|first=James M|last=Hutchings|author-link=James Hutchings|access-date=2008-05-01|archive-date=2007-10-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025073812/http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/scenes_of_wonder_and_curiosity/mount_shasta.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The summit was achieved (or nearly so) by [[John Muir]], [[Josiah Whitney]], [[Clarence King]], and [[John Wesley Powell]]. In 1877, Muir wrote a dramatic popular article about his surviving an overnight blizzard on Mount Shasta by lying in the hot sulfur springs near the summit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.siskiyous.edu/library/shasta/documents/snowstormonmtshasta.pdf|title=Snow-Storm on Mount Shasta|website=siskiyous.edu|access-date=23 October 2017|archive-date=25 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525094037/http://www.siskiyous.edu/library/shasta/documents/snowstormonmtshasta.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> This experience was inspiration to [[Kim Stanley Robinson]]'s short story "Muir on Shasta".

The 1887 completion of the [[Central Pacific Railroad]], built along the line of the Siskiyou Trail between California and Oregon, brought a substantial increase in tourism, lumbering, and population into the area around Mount Shasta. Early resorts and hotels, such as [[Shasta Springs]] and [[Upper Soda Springs]], grew up along the Siskiyou Trail around Mount Shasta, catering to these early adventuresome tourists and mountaineers.

In the early 20th century, the [[Pacific Highway (US)|Pacific Highway]] followed the track of the Siskiyou Trail to the base of Mount Shasta, leading to still more access to the mountain. Today's version of the Siskiyou Trail, [[Interstate 5]], brings thousands of people each year to Mount Shasta.

From February 13–19, 1959, the [[Mount Shasta Ski Park|Mount Shasta Ski Bowl]] obtained the record for the most snowfall during one storm in the U.S., with a total of {{convert|15.75|ft|cm}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sierra Snowfall|website=Welcome to the Storm King|publisher=Mic Mac Publishing|date=28 January 2011|url=http://www.thestormking.com/Weather/Sierra_Snowfall/sierra_snowfall.html|access-date=28 January 2011|archive-date=8 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108210857/http://thestormking.com/Weather/Sierra_Snowfall/sierra_snowfall.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Mount Shasta was declared a [[National Natural Landmark]] in December 1976.<ref>{{cite web| website=NPS: Nature & Science » National Natural Landmarks| title=Mount Shasta| url=http://www.nature.nps.gov/nnl/site.cfm?Site=MOSH-CA| access-date=2008-04-07| publisher=[[National Park Service]]| archive-date=2011-10-16| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016090714/http://nature.nps.gov/nnl/site.cfm?Site=MOSH-CA| url-status=dead}}</ref>

The "Shasta Gulch" is referenced in the lyrics to the 1994 song "Unfair" by cult indie rock band [[Pavement (band)|Pavement]].

=== Legends ===
{{Main|Legends of Mount Shasta}}
[[File:Sunrise on Mount Shasta.jpg|thumb|Sunrise over Mount Shasta]]
The lore of some of the [[Klamath Tribes]] in the area held that Mount Shasta is inhabited by the Spirit of the Above-World, Skell, who descended from heaven to the mountain's summit at the request of a Klamath chief. Skell fought with Spirit of the Below-World, Llao, who resided at [[Mount Mazama]] by throwing hot rocks and lava, probably representing the volcanic eruptions at both mountains.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oe.oregonexplorer.info/craterlake/history.html |title=History of Crater Lake |publisher=Oregon Explorer |access-date=2012-04-21 |archive-date=2019-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226011051/http://oe.oregonexplorer.info/craterlake/history.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Italian settlers arrived in the early 1900s to work in the mills as stonemasons and established a strong Catholic presence in the area. [[Mount Shasta, California|Mount Shasta City]] and [[Dunsmuir, California]], small towns near Shasta's western base, are focal points for many of these, which range from a [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] monastery ([[Shasta Abbey]], founded by [[Houn Jiyu-Kennett]] in 1971) to modern-day Native American rituals. A group of Native Americans from the [[McCloud River]] area practice rituals on the mountain.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/inthelightofreverence/|title=In The Light of Reverence|website=POV|publisher=Public Broadcasting Service|access-date=2017-09-05|archive-date=2017-08-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820185407/http://www.pbs.org/pov/inthelightofreverence/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Mount Shasta has also been a focus for non-Native American legends, centered on a hidden city of advanced beings from the lost continent of [[Lemuria (continent)|Lemuria]].<ref name=lemuria>{{cite web|url=http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/fol/lem/index.htm|title=The Origin of the Lemurian Legend|website=Folklore of Mount Shasta|publisher=College of the Siskiyous|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919063057/http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/fol/lem/index.htm|archive-date=2012-09-19}}</ref> The legend grew from an offhand mention of Lemuria in the 1880s, to a description of a hidden Lemurian village in 1925. In 1931, [[Harvey Spencer Lewis]], using the pseudonym Wishar S[penle] Cerve,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cerve|first1=Wishar S.|title=Lemuria, The Lost Continent Of the Pacific|date=1931|publisher=[[AMORC]]|at=title page|url=https://f5db1a33c5d48483c689-1033844f9683e62055e615f7d9cc8875.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/Lemuria%20-%20Wishar%20Cerve.pdf|access-date=2021-09-28|archive-date=2022-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327082340/https://f5db1a33c5d48483c689-1033844f9683e62055e615f7d9cc8875.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/Lemuria%20-%20Wishar%20Cerve.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Melton|first1=J. Gordon|author-link1=J. Gordon Melton|title=Religious leaders of America: a biographical guide to founders and leaders of religious bodies, churches, and spiritual groups in North America|edition=2nd Revised |date= March 1999|publisher=Cengage Gale|isbn=978-0810388789|page=332}}</ref> wrote ''Lemuria: The Lost Continent of the Pacific'', published by [[AMORC]], about the hidden Lemurians of Mount Shasta that cemented the legend in many readers' minds.<ref name=lemuria /> A 1941 novella by [[Robert A. Heinlein]], [[Lost Legacy]], drew on these legends and portrayed the mountain as the home of a community of peaceful and powerful "adepts" who had the goal of advancing the human race.

According to [[Guy Ballard]], while hiking on Mount Shasta, he encountered a man who, introducing himself as the [[Count of St. Germain]], is said to have started Ballard on the path to discovering the teachings that would become the [["I AM" Activity]] religious movement.<ref>{{cite book| title=Encyclopedia of Sacred Places |date= 2011}}</ref>

In August 1987, believers in the spiritual significance of the [[Harmonic Convergence]] described Mount Shasta as one of a small number of global "power centers".<ref>{{cite web | title = Harmonic Convergence | publisher = [[College of the Siskiyous]] | year = 1989 | url = http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/fol/har/index.htm | access-date = 2010-03-31 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100527184532/http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/fol/har/index.htm | archive-date = 2010-05-27 }}</ref> Mount Shasta remains a focus of "[[New Age]]" attention.<ref>{{cite web | title = Legends: Ascended Masters | publisher = [[College of the Siskiyous]] | year = 1989 | url = http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/bib/B17.htm | access-date = 2010-03-31 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100330040045/http://www.siskiyous.edu/shasta/bib/B17.htm | archive-date = 2010-03-30 }}</ref>

In 2009, a group of hikers were making their way up Mt. Shasta when they reported seeing a flying humanoid creature with batlike features. They described what they saw as a man “stocky as Hulk Hogan, with leathery wings fifty feet from one end to the other and the face of a bat.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ropers |first=Jesse |date=19 March 2022 |title=Batsquatch! A Brief History of a Local Cryptid |url=https://pacsentinel.com/batsquatch/ |access-date=3 January 2025 |website=The Pacific Sentinel}}</ref> Despite the conflicting details, both accounts have been added to the legend of Batsquatch as additional proof.

in 2024, a 20-foot bronze statue of the Virgin Mary was built in the Ski Park. The statue was built in memory of Ray Merlo, husband and business partner of the Ski Park's owner, Robin Merlo. Ray Merlo passed away from cancer in 2020.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 December 2024 |title=Mt. Shasta Ski Park Mother Mary statue completed |url=https://kobi5.com/news/mt-shasta-ski-park-mother-mary-statue-completed-259399/ |access-date=3 January 2025 |work=[[KOBI Television (Channel 5)]]}}</ref>