(Photos courtesy of Washington State Archives)

Dan Evans is a double-rarity in Evergreen State politics. He’s one of only two Washington governors to serve three terms (the other, Seattle Republican Arthur Langlie, occupied the Governor’s Office in 1941-45 and 1949-57). Evans also is one of only two people who was both Washington Governor and a U.S. Senator from our state (Mon Wallgren, an Everett Democrat, was the other, having served in the U.S. Senate from 1940 until 1945, when he resigned after defeating Langlie in the 1944 gubernatorial election.)

But Evans has yet another distinction. He’s one of the few governors to stand atop Washington’s highest and most iconic peak, Mount Rainier.  These photos were taken on July 21, 1965, when Evans and three members of his staff others (appearing in top photo, from left: Bill Bell,  Evans, George Senner and Frank Pritchard) climbed the 14,410-foot mountain. When they reached the summit, they unfurled the Washington state flag. (Evans is second from left in the photo above and is shown ascending Rainier in the photo below.)

These photos, which comprise the first of three Archives treasures for October, come from the State Archives’ State Governors’ Negative Collection, 1949-1975. The collection consists of 808 publicity shots taken by the State Patrol photographer for the Office of the Governor during the terms of Govs. Langlie, Albert Rosellini, and Evans.