I love this photo of these women on Mount Rainier, likely in the late 1930s or the 1940s. A colleague's father, and Mount Rainier lover, pins the photo as taken near the Paradise Inn, which might explain why the women could be dressed for church and still in the wilderness. Maybe they only needed to walk from a parking lot, up a trail and smile for the camera.

The photo comes from the King Collection, so named by me, because I inherited boxes of old photos, memorabilia and letters from Iowa King Cowan, a surrogate grandmother who left behind no children of her own. Her family of origin, the Kings, were well-known in Spokane in the early 20th century.

I'm trying, over the next many years, to get as many of the cool photos, such as this one, into our Spokesman-Review archives so they can become part of the historical record.

Most of the photos aren't labeled well, unfortunately. They come without context, but it's fun to imagine how the women felt this day, long ago, dressed well and posing with a most glorious mountain behind them.

(Photo from the King Collection/Spokesman-Review archives)

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