Mount Saint Helens & Spirit Lake

Here’s Mount Saint Helens from Spirit Lake as viewed by Asahel Curtis a century or so ago. Unusual for these photo menus, the back of the card (which I photographed at the Minnesota History Center) is stamped, “In reproducing this picture, the following credit must be given: copyright Asahel Curtis for Northern Pacific Railway.” Something must have made Curtis defensive about his photos.

Click image to download a 382-KB PDF of this menu card.

The area looks very different today thanks to the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens. The general outline of the ridge behind the lake can still be traced, but the lake and mountain are both very different, as shown in the 2013 photo below.


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