bigboys post has me seeking more information on Mount St. Helen’s itself.
I recently read through a day by day journal found somewhere here: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/framework.html.
This journal mentions BNSF owning parts of Mount St. Helen’s. I haven’t found much more about it since reading it. Did they run trains near there? With the line next to the Columbia River, I don’t know why they would, unless it was a north - south route. And why would you run a line straight up the middle of the Cascades when you have the I-5 corridor? But the journal specifically mentions in 1980 that they had rights to the top of the mountain. Have I misunderstood this?
Of course my understanding of this is influenced by the eruption of 1980 when Mt. St. Helen’s proved she was more of a volcano than a piece of real estate.