Marys Peak
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Marys Peak (formerly Mary's Peak and sometimes still spelled this way) is a mountain in Benton County,
Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
,
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, just southwest of
Philomath A philomath () is a lover of learning and studying. The term is from Greek (; "beloved", "loving", as in philosophy or philanthropy) and , (, ; "to learn", as in polymath). Philomathy is similar to, but distinguished from, philosophy in that ...
. The
Kalapuya The Kalapuya are a Native American people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Valley of present-day western Oregon in the United Sta ...
people call the peak "chatímanwi", or 'place of spiritual power'. It is the highest peak in the
Oregon Coast Range The Oregon Coast Range, often called simply the Coast Range and sometimes the Pacific Coast Range, is a mountain range, in the Pacific Coast Ranges Physiographic regions of the world, physiographic region, in the United States, U.S. state of Or ...
. It is also the highest point in Benton County, and ranks eleventh in the state for prominence. On a clear day at the top of the peak, facing east, northeast, and southeast, one can see the cities and suburbs of the
Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...
, as well as the
Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...
. To the west, the Pacific Ocean is visible on clear days. The road to the peak now remains open in the winter. During the 2010–2011 winter, the Forest Service announced that it will leave the gates open to facilitate travel to the summit. The road will not be maintained, so a lifted
4x4 A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case provi ...
or four-wheel chains are required for motor access during the winter months. On June 15, 2019, the Oregon Geographic Names Board unanimously endorsed a proposal to give Native American names to 10 unnamed creeks that flow down Marys Peak. The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde and
Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians in the United States is a federally recognized confederation of more than 27 Native American tribes and bands who once inhabited an extensive homeland of more than 20 million acres from northern Calif ...
were enlisted to be involved in representing the ancient indigenous groups and selecting the new names. The names proposed for adoption are in the languages of the Kalapuya, Wusi’n and Yaqo’n people who originally inhabited the land. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names unanimously approved the 10 names in September 2019.


History

The Kalapuya name for Marys Peak is "chatímanwi", sometimes written as "tcha Timanwi" or "chintimini". Kalapuya oral history describes their ancestors climbing the mountain to escape a massive flood. Chatímanwi is an important spiritual site for the Kalapuya. Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde council member Brenda Tuomi described Marys Peak as "a place that's always been our protector, our provider, a place where our people could come to feel empowered, come to pray, come to heal". Kalapuya people hunted and fished on Marys Peak. They also harvested beargrass, hazel, and cedar from the mountain for use in clothing and baskets. In 1856, the United States government forcibly removed the southern Kalapuya bands from their homes, including the Marys Peak area. Early American settlers grazed their livestock on the mountain. In the late 1800s, a community called Peak was founded on the northwest slope of Marys Peak. Peak's post office closed in 1917, and the community is abandoned today. The name Marys Peak, given by settlers of European ancestry, may have been inspired by Mary Lloyd, who came to Oregon in 1845. Lloyd was known as the first white woman to cross the Marys River, which has its origin on the mountain. However, there are alternate theories about the name. The city of Corvallis began using the Rock Creek watershed on Marys Peak for its municipal water supply in 1906. As logging operations spread throughout the area, the Corvallis city government bought land in the Rock Creek watershed to preserve its water quality. From 1946 to 1984,
Shriners International Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society. Founded in 1872 in New York City, it is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and has over 200 chapters ...
held an annual picnic on the summit of Marys Peak to raise money for the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children (now Shriners Children's Portland). In 1982, a ''
Statesman Journal The ''Statesman Journal'' is the major daily newspaper published in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1851 as the ''Oregon Statesman'', it later merged with the ''Capital Journal'' to form the current newspaper, the second-oldest in Orego ...
'' article reported that the event had raised more than $900,000 since it began. In 1984, poor weather caused the event organizers to move locations.


Ecology

A grassland at the summit of the peak supports diverse wildflower species. The upper slopes are dominated by
noble fir ''Abies procera'', the noble fir, also called red fir, is a species of fir native to the Cascade Range and Pacific Coast Ranges of the northwestern Pacific Coast of the United States. It occurs at altitudes of . Description ''A. procera'' is a ...
, and the lower slopes are dominated by
Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...
and
western hemlock ''Tsuga heterophylla'', the western hemlock or western hemlock-spruce, is a species of hemlock native to the northwest coast of North America, with its northwestern limit on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and its southeastern limit in northern ...
. The meadow contains several outcroppings of
gabbro Gabbro ( ) is a phaneritic (coarse-grained and magnesium- and iron-rich), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is ch ...
rock, which are often referred to as rock gardens. The most noted of these outcroppings covers four to five acres on a southern slope near the summit. The rock gardens support many wildflowers that grow well on thin, dry soils. These species include Cascade desertparsley, harsh paintbrush, Olympic onion, and spreading phlox. In 1989, the Forest Service designated a 924-acre area on the upper slopes of Marys Peak as a Scenic Botanical Special Interest Area. This area includes the meadow at the summit, riparian zones, and tracts of noble fir forest. Beginning in the 1950s or earlier, noble firs have spread into areas of Marys Peak that were once meadow. To preserve the meadow ecosystem, the Forest Service had 3,000 trees removed from 25 acres of land. The trees were harvested by Miller Timber Services, a subcontractor of pulp and paper company
Georgia-Pacific Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of Tissue paper, tissue, Pulp (paper), pulp, paper, toilet and paper towe ...
. The removal began in the fall of 2015. In 2015, scientists from
Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...
identified a type of
ice crawler Grylloblattidae, commonly known as the icebugs or ice crawlers, is a family of extremophile (psychrophile) and wingless insects that live in the cold on top of mountains and the edges of glaciers. It is the only member of Grylloblattodea, which ...
found on Marys Peak as a unique species. It was named '' Grylloblatta chintimini''.


References


External links

* * {{Oregon Coast Range , state=collapsed Mountains of the Oregon Coast Range Landmarks in Oregon Landforms of Benton County, Oregon Siuslaw National Forest