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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Cat Peak

mountain in Washington, United States of America

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ49018649
Source-derived summary

Cat Peak is a 5,940-foot (1,811-metre) mountain summit within Olympic National Park in Clallam County of Washington state.

Description

Set within the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness, Cat Peak is the westernmost peak of the Bailey Range, which is a subrange of the Olympic Mountains. With clear weather, the mountain can be seen by hikers from High Divide or Hurricane Hill. The nearest higher neighbor is Mount Carrie 1.24 mi (2.00 km) to the east-southeast, and Mount Olympus rises 6.84 mi (11.01 km) to the south. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains north into Cat Creek which is a tributary of the Elwha River, and south into the Hoh River. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises over 4,400 feet (1,340 m) above the Hoh River in approximately one mile.

History

The mountain's name has been officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The peak is named in association with Cat Creek, which heads on the peak. The creek was christened "Wildcat Creek" by the 1889–90 Seattle Press Expedition because an expedition member killed a bobcat on February 28, 1890, where the creek joins the Elwha River.

Climate

Based on the Köppen climate classification, Cat Peak is located in the marine west coast climate zone of western North America.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cat Peak” is mountain in Washington, United States of America. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Peak, mountain and Washington, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1889, 1890—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Peak, mountain and Washington is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “mountain in Washington, United States of America” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q49018649. Authority coordinates are 47.900, -123.680. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1889 and 1890.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Cat Peak”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Cat Peak primary sources, Cat Peak archive and Peak research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cat Peak”?
  2. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Cat Peak” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.