Like the new waypoint at these coordinates, this cache is dedicated to the legacy of O.D. Allen and his sons Grenville and Edward, some of the earliest and most influential permanent settlers in "Succotash Valley."
Oscar Dana Allen settled here with his family in 1887 after retiring from his post as Professor of Botany at Yale University. His nearest neighbor, James Kernahan, had established his "Palisade Ranch" homestead a few miles to the west two year earlier. Though retired, Professor Allen retained an intense love of his field of study, and over the years made countless trips with his sons into what is now Mount Rainier National Park, collecting and cataloguing specimens that eventually formed the foundation of the park's extensive herbarium collection.
In early 1893, the vast Mount Rainier Forest Reserve was established just east of here, to protect the forests of the high cascades from unregulated exploitation. Six years later, Congress established Mount Rainier National Park within the Reserve. On July 1st, 1901, Interior Secretary Ethan Hitchcock named Grenville Allen the park's first Acting Superintendent. Allen served part-time in this capacity through 1909, while also working as a Forest Supervisor for the Reserve. Meanwhile, Grenville's brother Edward was named as the region's Forest Inspector, and worked closely with Gifford Pinchot to develop the nascent U.S. Forest Service.
Land protection has always been important in this valley... but has always also had an edge of controversy. Timber, mining, and grazing interests opposed both the development of the Forest Reserve and the National Park. More recently, when this 142-acre parcel of land came up for timber sale in 2006, a coalition of local residents campaigned to raise funds to purchase and protect it through the Nisqually Land Trust, in partnership with Nisqually Headwaters and the Washington Department of Natural Resources.
This beautiful forest grove sits preserved across from the Copper Creek Lodge. Historic in its own right, the Lodge was built in 1919 by lumber baron George Robinson Cartier. Today it's one of many rustic but comfortable places to stay along the road to Rainier.