The First Female

The First Female

It is not Eve of whom we speak, but of the first lady who made the ascent of, and gained the summit of Mt. Shasta. While this honor has been claimed by quite a number, it has become the pleasant privilege of a HERALD reporter to find and interview the first lady who ever climbed the rugged monster. Thirty-two years ago Mrs. Mary A. White, Mrs. Lowery, Mrs. Eddy, Mrs. McCloud and Mrs. Gage, with J. W. White, John M. Silcok, R. H. Reegart and Mr. Peck were sojourning in Berryvale or Strawberry valley. Conceiving the idea of ascending the mountain they accordingly set out on the 8th day of September A. D. 1856. Before starting a gentleman in the valley offered to bet several hundred dollars that Mrs. Mary A. White would never reach the summit. This bet was quickly taken by her husband, J. W. White, and they made a start in good spirits. Nothing occurred to mar their pleasure, and on the next morning they commenced the true ascent from Horse Camp. After toiling for several weary hours Mrs. Mary A. White, her husband and one other gentleman reached the summit at 11 o'clock, A.M., on September 9th, 1856. In a moment of rapture the gentlemen picked Mrs. White from her feet, and placed her in a sitting position on top of the highest rock on the summit of Mount Shasta's hoary peak and did homage to her as a living monument and the first female who had ever ascended to the summit of grand old Shasta. The other menbers of the party arrived on the summit at 4 o'clock P.M.