U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas served on the Court for 36 years. He wrote more opinions and more dissents than any other Justice. Douglas was described as an invigorating presence on the Court and possessed unusual stamina, an unyielding will, and enormous courage.Douglas's achievements on and off the Court were astonishing. He was an adventurer, jurist, and environmentalist, whose writings and actions impacted the country for many years. He was also a hiker and climber. He organized hikes and other actions to protect the C&O Canal near Washington, D.C., Olympic Beach and Glacier Peak in Washington State, the Buffalo River in Arkansas, and areas along the Appalachian Trail. He was a prophet, visionary, pioneer, scout, and pathfinder. In reading The Footpaths of Justice William O. Douglas: A Legacy of Place, one accepts Douglas's invitation to hike with him, to visit a place with him and to "join him in a process of discovery and affirmation that is available to a free people in a spacious land."

The Footpaths of Justice William O. Douglas

A Legacy of PlaceBy Tom R. Hulst

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2006 Tom R. Hulst
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-595-33040-9

Contents

Preface............................................................................viiAuthor's Notes.....................................................................xiiiForeword...........................................................................xviiChapter 1 The Early Years..........................................................1Chapter 2 Postsecondary Education and Early Career.................................7Chapter 3 Appointment to the US Supreme Court......................................14Chapter 4 Freedom of Speech........................................................21Chapter 5 Freedom of Religion......................................................29Chapter 6 Right of Privacy.........................................................35Chapter 7 Wilderness Leader........................................................49Chapter 8 Hiking as Political Action...............................................67Chapter 9 Hike along the C&O Canal.................................................74Chapter 10 The Mountains and Beaches of Olympic National Park......................91Chapter 11 Mount Adams.............................................................116Chapter 12 Mount St Helens.........................................................149Chapter 13 Mount Rainier...........................................................170Chapter 14 Salmon: River of No Return..............................................193Chapter 15 North Cascades..........................................................210Chapter 16 White Pass Corridor.....................................................232Chapter 17 William O Douglas Wilderness............................................239Chapter 18 Goat Rocks..............................................................251Chapter 19 World Citizen...........................................................272Afterword..........................................................................281References.........................................................................287Table of Hikes & Climbs in the Footpaths of William O. Douglas.....................297

Chapter One

The Early Years

Reverend William Douglas, father of Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, grew up in Nova Scotia where his Scottish grandfather and father tended family farms. Pastor Douglas did not follow his forefathers into farming, however. He was interested in pursuing theological studies and a ministerial career in the Presbyterian Church. Douglas took his seminary training at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago then moved to Maine, Minnesota, to complete an "internship" at the Maine Presbyterian Church in 1895. Over six feet tall with penetrating blue eyes and distinguished beard, Douglas carried himself in a dignified manner. In Maine Douglas soon met Julia Fisk, a talented organist and devout member of the congregation.

Born in 1872, Julia was a child of a farmer too, but her father died at the age of 46 and left the farm to Julia's mother, Salome—and eight children. Salome was a plucky wiry woman who milked the cows, plowed the fields and harvested the crops. Full of courage and determination she also raised eight children, two from a previous marriage. Julia, a twin, had a difficult early childhood weighing just two pounds at birth and did not walk until she was three. She grew strong and confident, however, as she worked around the farm and cared for her brothers and sisters. She possessed piercing blue eyes and reddish hair and, like her mother, was gritty, resolute, and purposeful.

William Douglas and Julia Fisk hit it off immediately, began a six-month courtship, and married in 1896. It was not long before Julia bore the first of three children, a daughter in 1897, who was given the name Martha. William Orville Douglas followed soon after in October 1898. When he was just 22 months old "Orville," as his mother called him, contracted a serious case of intestinal colic. Julia Douglas carefully cared for her son during this illness, massaging his limbs, and watching over him around the clock. She did not get a full night's sleep for six weeks. While Douglas gradually improved, he continued in a weak condition and under Julia's solicitous care for many months. When Orville was three years old the family moved to Estrella, California, where Arthur Douglas, the second son, joined the young family, and the elder William Douglas assumed a local pastorate. William Douglas suffered from intestinal problems and doctors thought that a warmer climate would be better for him.

When William O. Douglas was six years old the family moved again—this time to Washington State. While Minnesota was too cold and Estrella, California, was too hot, south central Washington was "just right"! The elder Douglas responded to the call to serve churches in three communities southeast of Yakima—Bickleton, Dot, and Cleveland. Young William was devoted to his father who was a strong initial presence in his life and was always there to give his son a lift or let him search his pockets for nuggets of maple sugar. But in 1904 tragedy struck the Douglas family! Reverend Douglas was scheduled for surgery to repair his stomach ulcers, the common treatment at the time. The family was shocked and dismayed to learn that William Douglas died from complications of the surgery. After his father's death, Douglas and his mother, Julia Douglas, and the other two children moved to Yakima, Washington. (Simon, 1980, 17–25).

The early fragility of her first born son heightened Julia's maternal instincts toward him. She called him "treasure," waited on him unceasingly, and became over-protective. She described him to others as weaker than other boys his age. It was clear, moreover, as the children recalled their childhood years later that Orville was Julia's favorite. In time Douglas realized that her preoccupation with his health and perception of his frailty was becoming a self-fulfilling-prophesy. "Gradually, there grew in me a great rebellion. I protested against Mother's descriptions of me." (Douglas, Go East Young Man, 1974, 33).

Whether or not his serious illness as a baby or slow development caused his skinny physique is not clear. But Douglas became self-conscious about his physical condition and worried that his peers thought him a "puny person" who could not compete physically. On one occasion on the way to school a boy he did not know mocked him saying, "look at that kid's skinny legs. Aren't they something? Did you ever see anything as funny?" Douglas described those words as a "lash across my face." (Douglas, Go East Young Man, 1974, 32.) He undertook a weightlifting regimen to strengthen his legs and upper body but that made him nauseous.

A friend suggested that he begin hiking as a way to build his strength and vigor so Douglas began walking around the city of Yakima. Then he noticed the hills and mountains in the west. "[T]he high mountains in the distance were extending an invitation to me to get acquainted with them, to tramp their trails and sleep in their high basins." He started slowly walking the hills closest to Yakima and eventually ventured further into the lower Cascade foothills. One time he walked east two miles to Selah Gap to the top of a ridge without slowing his pace. He wrote that, "I felt an increasing flow of health in my legs, and a growing sense of contentment in...