Oregon Experience: William Gladstone Steel
The Mazamas
William Steel was one of the original founders of the West Coast's oldest continual mountaineering club, the Mazamas.
The Mazamas was founded in 1894 on the summit of Mount Hood after an advertisement was placed in local papers inviting interested, serious mountaineers to join the charter climb. More than 300 people encamped on the flanks of Mount Hood on July 18. By 8 a.m. the next day, the first climbing party reached the 11,239-foot summit, followed by the rest of the 193 men and women who were to reach the summit. One hundred and five climbers became charter members that day. Today, the nonprofit mountaineering education organization is located in Portland, Oregon, and offers over 700 hikes and 350 climbs annually.
- Facts About the Mazamas
- Club Motto: "Nesika Klatawa Sahale" – Chinook Indian jargon for "We Climb High"
- The word "Mazama" means "mountain goat."
- Members are called "Billy Goats" and "Nanny Goats."
- 1894 - Founded July 19 on Mount Hood
- 1895 - Lobbied for preservation of Cascade Range Forest Reserve
- 1896 - First outing to Crater Lake, where members named Mount Mazama
Click the play button to see some historical footage of Mazama climbers on Mount Hood, 1912. Video courtesy of Oregon Historical Society.
© 2009 Oregon Public Broadcasting.