Browse Exhibits (1 total)

Prior to settlement by white Europeans, the region around Cougar Mountain (now the cities of Newcastle, Issaquah, and Renton) was inhabited by the Coast Salish peoples, predominantly the Duwamish tribe.

Once Europeans settled on the land, they discovered rich coal deposits underneath the mountain. The coal industry attracted many European settlers to the region, and the abundance of coal helped fuel the growth of Seattle as well as numerous other industries in Renton and Issaquah, including the rail industry.

The area's history is also closely tied to U.S. military history. During both world wars, industries fueled by Cougar Mountain coal deposits manufactured freight cars and tanks for the war effort. The mountain is also home to two Cold War-era anti-aircraft missile sites which were abandoned toward the end of the 20th Century and left to be consumed by the wildland around it.

Today, Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, established 1983, dominates the wild heart of the mountain. Its 3,115 acres and 38 miles of hiking trails are beloved by the citizens of the Renton-Newcastle area. The park was established after Washington hikers organized walks on the trails in an effort to get the city to recognize their desire for the preservation of the wildland.

Cougar Mountain has a dynamic history, from the native inhabitants to their industrial, militarized usurpers, and back to a protected, beloved wild space. The mountain's history can be viewed as a relative success story in the Anthropocene. It represents land stolen by the improvement/extraction-minded will of the Western usurper but which, thanks to conservation efforts of modern people, has been allowed to return to its natural state. Cougar Mountain's conservation brings natural abundance back into perspective as an essential contributor to human welfare, and indicates that a return to the view of the natural world as intrinsically valuable still exists and can be reinvigorated with community support.