Hazard Stevens and Philemon Beecher Von Trump were the first to summit Rainier in 1870. Stevens returned to the summit in 1905 and had this to say: "I made the ascent again in 1905 and then, as likewise on my recent trip, I observed that the snow and gaciers had receded to a considerable degree since I first visited them. At the time Stevens Glacier came close up to Sluiskin Faslls. Now it is several hundred feet farther from them. The smal crater on the summit in which we slept in 1870 was filled with solid ice but in 1905 it had nearly all melted out. It may be that a succession of wet seasons will restore these glaciers to their former limits."
Sure this little tasty tidbit of info may not really mean much in the big picture but still like to point it out. I know they summited in August of 1870 but not sure what month it was when he returned in 1905? The book BTW which was written in the 70's is an awesome source of the mountains history.