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=== Anglo-European exploration === [[File:Goode Mountain.jpeg|thumb|Goode Mountain is the tallest mountain in the park.|alt=A reddish-brown mountain range. The tops are ragged and sharp and there is dirty old snow on some of the lower parts of the mountains.]] The first white explorer to enter the North Cascades was most likely a Scotsman named [[Alexander Ross (fur trader)|Alexander Ross]], who was in the employ of the American-owned [[Pacific Fur Company]]. To the southeast of the modern park boundary, Ross and other members of the company constructed [[Fort Okanogan]] in 1811, as a base from which to operate during the early period of the Pacific Northwest fur trade.<ref name=luxenberg1>{{cite web|last=Luxenberg |first=Gretchen A.|title=Marketing the Wilderness: Development of Commercial Enterprises|work=Historic Resource Study|publisher=National Park Service|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/noca/hrs/sec3.htm|date=February 7, 1999|access-date=March 29, 2018}}</ref> Fort Okanogan was the first American settlement in present-day Washington State, well north of the route followed by members of the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] of 1804–1806, and also north of [[Fort Vancouver]], on the [[Columbia River]].<ref name=thompson2>{{cite web|last=Thompson|first=Erwin N.|title=Fur Trading and Trapping|work=North Cascades History Basic Data|publisher=National Park Service|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/noca/hbd/chap2.htm|date=June 11, 2008|access-date=March 18, 2018}}</ref> Fort Okanogan was later owned by the [[North West Company]], and then the [[Hudson's Bay Company]], both of which were British-owned.<ref name=thompson2/> Both Native American and white trappers conducted fur transactions at the trading post, which was staffed by representatives of the fur trading company. During one season, Ross traded 1,500 beaver pelts.<ref name=luxenberg1/> In 1814, Ross became the first known white explorer to explore the valleys and high passes of the North Cascades, but he was less interested in exploration than discovering a route that would easily connect the fur trading posts of interior Washington with Puget Sound to the west.<ref name=luxenberg1/><ref name=thompson2/> Ross was accompanied by three Indians, one of whom was a guide who led the party to a high pass in the North Cascades. Ross and the guide may have traveled as far west as the Skagit River, but failed to get to Puget Sound.<ref name=thompson2/> Fur trading slowed considerably as demand for furs decreased in the 1840s, but a few residents continued to augment their income by trapping for furs in the area until 1968, when the park was established, rendering the activity illegal.<ref name=luxenberg1/> Aside from isolated trappers, the North Cascades saw no further explorations until the 1850s. In 1853, US Army Captain [[George B. McClellan]] led a party that explored the area for potential locations for the construction of a railroad through the region. McClellan determined the mountains were too numerous and precipitous, and that any railway would have to be constructed well to the south.<ref name=luxenberg2>{{cite web|last=Luxenberg |first=Gretchen A.|title=Early Impressions: Euro-American Explorations and Surveys|work=Historic Resource Study|publisher=National Park Service|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/noca/hrs/sec1.htm|date=February 7, 1999|access-date=March 29, 2018}}</ref> American and British disputes in the region centered on the fur trade, and the [[Treaty of 1818]] allowed for joint administration of [[Oregon Country]], as it was referred to in the United States{{snd}}the [[British Empire]] referred to the region as the [[Columbia District]].<ref name=thompson3>{{cite web|last=Thompson|first=Erwin N.|title=International Boundary|work=North Cascades History Basic Data|publisher=National Park Service|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/noca/hbd/chap3.htm|date=June 11, 2008|access-date=March 29, 2018}}</ref> The treaty set the international border at the [[49th parallel north|49th parallel]], but this was disputed west of the [[Rocky Mountains]], since the rival fur trading outfits had their own ideas about where the border should be. The [[Oregon boundary dispute]] between Britain and the United States eventually led to the [[Oregon Treaty]] of 1846, and the 49th parallel forms both the current international border as well as the northern limit of the current park.<ref name=thompson3/> During the late 1850s, members of the US North West Boundary Commission explored the border region, attempting to identify which mountains, rivers and lakes belonged to which country.<ref name=thompson3/> One party of the commission was led by explorer Henry Custer, and they explored the northern district of the park, publishing their report in the 1860s. Custer's party crossed Whatcom Pass in 1858, and were the first whites to see [[Challenger Glacier (Washington)|Challenger Glacier]] and Hozomeen Mountain.<ref name=thompson3/> Impressed with the scenic grandeur of the region, Custer stated, "must be seen, it cannot be described".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kiver |first1=Eugene|last2=Harris |first2=David|title=Geology of U.S. Parklands |year=1999|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0471332183|page=192|edition=5th|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S0zDQWiFuvkC&q=Henry+custer+must+be+seen,+it+cannot+be+described&pg=PA192|access-date=July 4, 2018}}</ref> In 1882, US Army Lieutenant Henry Hubbard Pierce led a government-sponsored exploration that traversed the western boundary of the southern section of the current park, in search of transportation routes and natural resources. As with the party led by McClellan in the 1850s, Pierce failed to find a suitable route for a railway, and only marginally suitable routes for roads. However, the expedition discovered gold in a [[quartz]] vein on the slopes of [[Eldorado Peak]].<ref name=explorers>{{cite web|title=Settlers and Explorers|url=http://www.nps.gov/noca/historyculture/settlers-and-explorers.htm|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=May 26, 2014}}</ref> Further expeditions by the military in 1883 and 1887 also determined that the mountains were virtually impenetrable.<ref name=luxenberg2/> Explorers continued to seek out routes for wagon roads and railways and by the end of the 19th century, much of the park had been explored, but it was not until 1972 that the [[Washington State Route 20|North Cascades Highway]] bisected the mountains.<ref name=luxenberg2/>
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