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MTR.2025.3 Bill Lahr Collection

MTR.2025.3 Bill Lahr Collection

Mountaineers catalog number: MTR.2025.3
Inventory notes by Lowell Skoog, October 6, 2025

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William J. (Bill) Lahr climbed his last mountain on January 12, 2008. In 1919, Bill was born in California. He served in the armed forces, worked at Boeing and was the lead art handler at the Seattle Art Museum from 1960 to 1984. Bill graduated from Queen Anne High School in 1937 and continued on to take classes at the University of Washington. Bill and his wife of 54 years, Dorothy, who passed away in 2000, were avid mountaineers and shared a mutual interest in trains and railways, volunteering for the West Coast Railway Association. Bill was a long time member of Seattle Mountain Rescue and the Mountaineers. Dorothy used to tell people that she "tied into Bill's rope and never let loose." This information is based on:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/seattletimes/name/william-lahr-obituary?id=28826931

This collection was donated to The Mountaineers by Don Goodman in 2009. Following processing, it has been stored in a single 18” x 14” x 12” box. [Note: It’s not clear what the relationship is between Dorothy Lahr and Clara M. Lahr, mentioned below.]

Summer Outing Newsletters

  • 1941 - “Scree Scribbles” (Lake O’Hara (BC)

  • 1942 - “Reflections at Reflection Lake Camp”

  • 1943 - “Daily Drip” (Selkirks, BC)

  • 1944 - “Paradise Sun” (Mt Rainier, WA)

  • 1945 - “Flit-Gun Review” (Garibaldi Park, BC)

  • 1946 - “The Unusual Times” (Mt Rainier, WA)

  • 1949 - “Pass Times” (Glacier Peak, WA)

  • 1951 - “Olympic Crystal Gazer” (Olympic Mtns, WA)

  • 1952 - “Single Shot News” (Glacier Natl Park, MT)

  • 1953 - “Opabin Ledge-r” (Lake O’Hara, BC)

  • 1954 - “The Ice Sheet” (Mt Rainier, WA)

  • 1955 - “The Teton Thunderer” (Jackson Hole, WY)

  • 1957 - “Outing Outcrops” (Buck Creek Pass, WA - three documents from this period)

  • 1960 - “The Olympic Sun” (Olympic Mtns, WA)

  • 1961 - “The Yoho Blow” (Little Yoho Valley, BC)

  • 1962 - “Spray-Echo” (Spray Park, Mt Rainier NP)

  • 1965 - “Yohohara (Lake O’Hara, Yoho NP)

Books

  • Mountaineers Climbing Course Notebook, 1938 (in a grey-brown, tattered, 3-ring binder, 70pp+)

  • Mountaineers Climber’s Notebook, 1940 (57 pp).

  • Melodies for Mountaineers 1 (book, 122 pages plus index)

  • Melodies for Mountaineers 2 (book, 80 pages including index)

  • “The Book” - Loose leaf master file of climbing course lecture outline, October 1953 (estimated 200 pp).

  • Trail Trips Committee Historian’s Report, 1942 (includes description of the committee and records of trips, mainly in the 1940s).

  • Moen, Lynn, Theatre in the Wild: A Pictorial History of The Mountaineers Forest Theatre, The Mountaineers, 1999, 100pp.

  • Spiral notebook (“National Association of Accredited Commercial Schools”) containing Bill and Dorothy Lahr’s record of climbing various peak lists. (Mainly interesting for the lists.)

    • Six major peaks

    • Snoqualmie Lodge First Ten

    • Snoqualmie Lodge Second Ten

    • Tacoma’s Irish Cabin First Twelve

    • Tacoma’s Irish Cabin Second Twelve

    • Everett’s Darrington Group (seven)

    • Everett’s Index Group (seven)

    • Everett’s Monte Cristo Group (seven)

    • Everett’s Lookout Peaks (fifteen)

Documents

(brief documents in a manila file folder)

  • Anderson, Mary, “History of Climbers' Group,” January, 25, 1938. (Two-page typescript of events from 1934-1937, two copies).

  • The Mountaineers' Ten Commandments - “Translated, condensed and supplemented from Louis Trenker’s books by Wolf Bauer” (2 pp).

  • Climbing Checklist (1 page).

  • “The Mountaineers, Inc.” - Club description, membership requirements, customs and regulations, lodges, and equipment (2 pp).

  • Instruction Outline for Field Trips (1 page).

  • 1944 Elementary Course Final Examination (3 pp).

  • “Beautiful Scenery Along New Mountain Path”, Seattle P-I, May 18, 1936, p. 16 [description of proposed Cascade Crest Trail with trail diagram and photo of “Miners' Lake,” (now known as Image Lake)]

Mountaineers Players and Banquets

  • Large envelope with programs, clippings, and ephemera from Mountaineer plays and banquets from 1930s thru 1960s+ (with gaps in collection)

  • Black 5”x8” leather-cover book with 16 B&W photos of Mountaineer Players performing. (Program found in the book suggests that the photos are of “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” probably in June 1940.

Framed Subjects

  • Woman inspecting a pair of boots fitted with crampons (9” x 11” photograph)

  • Climbers traverse a steep snowfield just above timberline (8” x 9” drawing)

  • Teepees (with an American flag) arrayed near timberline beneath tall mountains (9.5” x 11” painting)

More Stuff

  • Schurman, Clark drawings and poems (4 sheets in an envelope)

  • Large (10”x12”) envelope: Mountaineer Summer Outing, 1946 (Clara Lahr was a member of the outing)

    • 1:62500 Topo map of Mt Rainier including hand-drawn route line with campsites

    • Buswell, Elenor, “Around the Mountain,” The Mountaineer, Vol 39, No 1, Dec 1946, pp. 21-25.

  • Medium (5.5” x 9”) envelope: Mountaineer Summer Outing, 1946 (photos and notes)

  • “Alpina Americana Number 2”, (11” x 13”) published by American Alpine Club, 1911, 20pp+

  • Holiday Magazine, Sept 1947 [entire issue devoted to Washington State].

  • National Geographic Magazine, October 1963 (devoted to American Mt Everest expedition).

  • National Geographic Magazine, May 2003 (retrospective of 1953 Mt Everest expedition).

  • Seattle Times Pictorial, May 31, 1978 featuring Mountaineer Players “Wizard of Oz”

  • Bock, Paula, “Floyd Schmoe,” Seattle Times, Pacific Magazine, Sep 14, 1997, pp 16-28.

  • “Clarks Originals” Shoebox (6” x 12” x 4”) containing photos and ephemera, including:

    • Letter to William Lahr and Wayne Swift welcoming them as Mountaineer members in 1938

    • “Greetings from The Mountaineers,” 6.5” x 3.5” 12-page brochure describing the club [undated but probably 1950s-60s]

    • Mountaineers membership card for Clara M. Lahr dated Feb 1, 1955

    • Mountaineers membership card for William Lahr dated Apr 1, 1971

    • “The [Camp Parsons Scouts] Camper’s Manual(s),” 1935 and 1936 (3” x 4.5”)

    • “Ski Washington” brochure, c1970

    • White Pass ski area brochures (2), c1960s

    • B&W postcard-sized paintings by Harriet K. Walker

    • B&W and color postcards of Northwest scenes, c1960s

    • 35mm slide of Clara Lahr at Martin’s Park, Low Divide, Olympic Mtns

    • Two different Ome Daiber, Inc. catalogs (mountaineering/camping equipment, c1940s)

    • Two different Ome Daiber, Inc. brochures for dehydrated foods (c1940s)

    • Invitation to wedding reception for Ome and Matie Daiber in 1941

    • Gold Nugget Brand evaporated vegetables brochure (undated)

    • 1954 Christmas card to Clara Lahr, includes 1953 photo of four climbers below the Matterhorn

    • In small ziplock bag:

      • 2”x2” green and gold Mountaineers diamond-shaped ice axe patch (Qty 2)

      • 1 cm square green Mountaineers pin

    • Miniature postcard packs (each typically containing 10 or more postcards):

      • Sun Valley, Idaho No. 2

      • Craters of the Moon, Idaho

      • The Canadian Rockies

      • Museum of the Plains Indian (Montana)

      • Yellowstone National Park

      • Glacier National Park

      • Banff Chair Lift

      • Pikes Peak, Colorado

    • Post-card photo of William J. “Bill” Lahr (7/12/1919 - 1/12/2008) inscribed “Art, Mountains, Trains – Good Friend”

    • Mountaineers name tag: “William J. Lahr, Member since 1938”

    • 3” x 5” spiral notebook with notes of a road trip to Glacier Park, BC

  • Larger box (10” x 15”, no lid) with larger-format ephemera, including:

    • Newspaper clippings (sorted here by date, but not sorted in the box):

      • Seattle Times clipping celebrating Mrs. Harry (“Nashie”) Iverson, longtime Meany Lodge cook (undated)

      • “Anniversary Hike,” undated newspaper clipping about three women who took part in Mountaineers' first Seattle walk to West Point lighthouse 50 years earlier (Feb 17, 1907)

      • “200-foot fall on Mt Rainier fatal to Kirkland Teacher (Clare Combat), Seattle Times, Aug 12, 1954, p. 38.

      • “Mountaineers to present ‘Kismet’ in Forest Theater,” Seattle Times, May 20, 1956.

      • “'Annie' to shoot in real wild-west setting,” Seattle Times, Jun 1, 1958.

      • “Mountaineers go Irish for 'Donegal Fair,” Seattle Times, May 31, 1959.

      • “Mountaineers Volunteer for Peak Effort,” Seattle Times, Women’s Section, Jan 30, 1966, p. 1.

      • Duncan, Peg, “The Forest Theatre--Noting its 40th Year,” Seattle Times, May 15, 1966, p. 22.

      • Johnson, Dorothy, Hill, “100 Years on Mt Baker,” Seattle Times, Sep 1, 1968, pp. 5-7.

      • Duncan, Don, “With the first woman atop Mt Rainier,” Seattle Times Magazine, Jan 14, 1973, p. 4.

      • Swint, Tom, “Harriet’s cartoon collection,” Seattle Times, Mar 21, 1976 [Harriet Walker].

      • Poe, Mary, “Ome [Daiber] climbs every mountain, Seattle Times, July 30, 1977, page P5.

      • “Into the woods and out to the theatre,” Seattle Times (NW Weekend), June 7, 2001, p. 8.

      • Eskenazi, Stuart, “Mountaineers consider moving to new home base [Magnuson Park],” Seattle Times, May 5, 2005, p. B1.

      • Green, Sara Jean, “'Memories…also dreams' go up in flames,” Seattle Times, May 13, 2006, page A1 [Mountaineers Snoqualmie Lodge destroyed by fire],

      • “Mountain hikes, dances enjoyed by 94-year-old” (Charles M. Farrer).

    • 6” x 9” envelope (labelled “Mountaineers”) containing materials likely provided to new Mountaineer members:

      • 6.5” x 3.5” brochure describing the club and its activities (12pp)

      • One-page (2 sides) description of the club (“read and keep for future reference”)

      • The Mountaineer Song Book

      • Invitation to Summer Outing Reunion (1945)

      • Bill Lahr membership cards (1944-50)

    • Mountaineers Forest Theatre 50-year brochure with list of performances from 1923-1973

    • 1967 Washington Highways brochure with pre-eruption photo of Mt St Helens on back cover.

    • Six-page handout (from USGS?) with information about 1980 Mt St Helens eruption.

    • Mountaineers Players newsletters, Jan 1, 1973 and July 4, 1973 (“published when the mood striketh”).

    • “Historical and Legendary Information on the Mt St Helens Area” published by St Helens Ranger District, USFS (pre-1980-eruption).

    • Song lyrics:

      • Winter Wonderland

      • Two Boards Upon Cold Powder Snow

      • Gory Gory (skiers' song)

      • Let It Snow

      • Old Mountaineer’s Song

      • Hi Lili, Hi Lo

      • The Whiffenpoof Song

      • Tell Me Why

      • EA-LAY-LEE (a climbing song)

    • 1941 Elementary [Climbing] Course Final Examination (5pp, 40 questions)

    • Elementary and Intermediate Climbing Course Outline and Schedule (1 page, probably 1941)

    • Schedule for 1953 Memorial Day outing to Diablo and Ross Dams (Skagit River, trains)

    • 1955 Christmas letter from Helen Rudy to Mrs. Clara M. Lahr

    • 2004 invitation letter to Camp Schurman history celebration, photo of the shelter cabin

    • 8”x10” photos of Mt Adams (north side) and Mt Shuksan (from Picture Lake)

    • Three-page (unsigned or titled) eulogy of “Jack,” a boy scout in the 1930s in Troop 65, headed by Clark Schurman in Seattle’s Wedgwood neighborhood.