Editing Stevens Pass (section)

==History==
Stevens Pass is named after [[John Frank Stevens]], the first non-indigenous person to discover it.<ref name="PBS">{{cite web
| url= https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/streamliners/peopleevents/p_stevens.html
| title= People & Events: John Stevens, 1853–1943
| accessdate= 2007-05-18
| year= 1999–2000
| work= American Experience &#124; Streamliners &#124; People & Events
| publisher= [[Public Broadcasting Service|Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)]]
| archive-date= 2009-12-27
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091227161303/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/streamliners/peopleevents/p_stevens.html
| url-status= dead
}}</ref> [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] familiar with the area knew of the pass, although very little is known about Native American routes through the mountains. Hubert C. Ward, exploring the area for the [[Northern Pacific Railway]] in 1872, heard from some Native Americans that there was a low pass at the head of Nason Creek, a tributary of the Wenatchee River, which led to one of the sources of the Skykomish River. Albert Bowman Rogers of the [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]], learned from Native Americans in 1887 that the Skykomish River and Nason Creek had sources close to one another but that neither natives nor whites visited the Nason Creek area. Neither Ward nor Rogers had time to fully explore the&nbsp;area.

In 1890, Stevens conducted a thorough survey for the Great Northern, located the pass, and determined it to be the best suited for a railway crossing of the [[North Cascades]]. He wrote that there was no indication that the pass was used&nbsp;— there was no sign of any trails, [[Trail blazing|blazes]], campsites, or old campfires, for at least {{convert|10|mi|spell=in}} in either direction and that the area was thickly forested and covered with almost impenetrable brush. Stevens wrote, "the region promised nothing to the prospector, while Indians and Whites crossing the mountains used either [[Snoqualmie Pass|Snoqualmie]] on the south or the [[Indian Pass]] on the north."<ref name="Beckey2003">{{cite book|last=Beckey|first=Fred W.|authorlink=Fred Beckey|title=Range of glaciers: the exploration and survey of the Northern Cascade range|year=2003|publisher=Oregon Historical Society Press|isbn=978-0-87595-243-7|pages=5, 21–23, 64, 231, 263–264, 267}}</ref>

Stevens had also charted [[Marias Pass]] in northwestern [[Montana]], on the [[Continental Divide of the Americas|Continental Divide]] near [[Glacier National Park (U.S.)|Glacier National Park]].<ref name=statu>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3vknAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2eEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6723%2C4502249 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |title=G.N. to erect Stevens statue |date=June 30, 1925 |page=5}}</ref>

[[File:Wellington Avalanche Debris.jpg|right|thumb|Debris&nbsp;— including wrecked train cars&nbsp;— resulting from the Wellington Avalanche.]]