color. At Crater Lake visitors observe beauty in its truest sense and experience a profound inspirational appeal. Pervaded by an air of mystery, tranquillity now prevails where once unfathomable volcanic power was displayed.

The lake rests in the very heart of a mighty mountain whose destruction resulted in the formation of a vast crater in which the waters accumulated. It is 6 miles wide, 2,000 feet deep, covers an area of 20 square miles, and has a circular shore line of 26 miles, with multicolored lava cliffs rising 500 to 2,000 feet above the lake.

Mountain trails lead to the summits of high points about the rim and down a thousand feet to the shores of a sea of silence. At the water’s edge motorboats and rowboats are available for those who wish to see more of the lake or try their hand at trout fishing. Daily boat trips are scheduled around the lake shore line and to Wizard Island, a perfect little crater jutting out of blue depths to a height of 763 feet. A motor drive extends around the crater edge for a distance of 35 miles, presenting scores of enthralling views of the scenic wonder. The constantly changing color and the contrast of lava cliffs and blue water are beautiful beyond description.

Crater Lake National Park embraces an area of 250.52 square miles and was established by act of Congress on May 22, 1902.

DISCOVERY AND HISTORY

Legend says that the Klamath Indians believed Crater Lake was once a weird, ghostly amphitheater where the gods were forever embroiled in conflict, sporting in its blue waters and dwelling on its rocky heights and in its mystic depths.

Pioneers came slowly to southern Oregon, its sparse population in the early fifties living in constant dread of Indian wars. Miles of mountain region had never been explored when a party of California prospectors came to the mining village of Jacksonville. This was the only settlement in the region and owed its existence to the discovery of gold nearby. The Californians while preparing a journey into the mountains remained secretive regarding their mission. The purpose of their trip, however, was betrayed by a member of the party to a group of Oregon miners who learned that the strangers were searching for a “Lost Cabin Mine,” believed to be near the head of the Rogue River. Without delay, the Oregon miners followed the Californians into the wilds, despite persistent efforts of the latter to evade them. Later, when the food supplies of both parties were running low, John Wesley Hillman, leader of the Oregon party, succeeded in uniting the two forces, and the search for the mine was postponed to hunt for game.

Thus it was on June 12, 1853, that Hillman, who had gone on some distance ahead of the hunting group, happened to ride up a deep canyon which, judging from its depth and width, he thought would lead to a higher slope. Letting his mule pick its way upward, he kept peering through the woods for game. Then suddenly the animal stopped, halting at the very rim of a deep blue lake. As the rider looked down he beheld a scene of unsurpassed beauty. Other members of the party soon joined their leader, and they agreed to call the body of water Deep Blue Lake.

In the excitement of gold discoveries and Indian wars, Crater Lake was forgotten for several years. There were no more visits by white men until 1862 when a party of six unsuspecting miners, led by Chauncey Nye, happened upon the place while on a prospecting trip and believed they had made a new discovery, only to learn afterward of Hillman’s visit. A third “discovery” was made in 1865 by a party of soldiers from Fort Klamath. They called the body of water Lake Majesty. This name was changed to Crater Lake in 1869 by visitors from Jacksonville.

Some years later, in 1872, William Gladstone Steel came to Oregon. The story is told that when Steel was a schoolboy in Kansas he had heard of the discovery of Crater Lake and had made a resolution that he would sometime see the western wonder. He spent 7 years in Oregon before he could find anyone who had heard of Crater Lake; two more passed before he found a person who had actually seen it. It was not until 1885 that he was able to visit the place which he found to be even more beautiful than he had anticipated. The result was that Judge Steel conceived the idea of setting aside the lake and the region thereabout as a national park. He began an immediate agitation for this. Though the task was not an easy one and there was much opposition from certain quarters, Steel was undaunted by the rebuffs and continued his efforts unselfishly and with personal sacrifice over a period of 17 years. Success crowned his work when the park was established by an act of Congress, approved May 22, 1902. Judge Steel thereafter devoted his life to the development of the park and became one of its first superintendents. Later he became park commissioner, holding this office until his death in 1934.

Soon after Steel’s first visit, soundings were taken on the lake under the direction of Capt. C. E. Dutton of the United States Geological Survey. Over a month was spent in the work, with the deepest sounding recorded at 1,996 feet.

The first survey for a road system within the park was made in 1910 and 1911; 2 years later the entrance roads from Medford and Klamath Falls were built. Though these roads were very primitive when compared with those now developed, they served the needs of that time when travel was yet dependent principally on horses and wagons.

THE GEOLOGIC STORY OF CRATER LAKE

Origin of the Mountain.—Visitors to Crater Lake find they must ascend extensive slopes of volcanic ash or pumice to view the lake resting in a crater approximately 5 miles in diameter, with walls from 500 to 2,000 feet high. Geologists tell us this rim is the remnant of an ancient mountain which stood more than 14,000 feet high.

In 1896 the Mazama Club, a mountain-climbing group of Portland, Oreg., visited the lake and with fitting ceremonies gave to the ancient mountain, never viewed by man, the name Mount Mazama.

In comparatively recent geologic time enormous flows of molten rock poured out over an area of more than 100,000 square miles, extending into Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and California. These masses of lava came to the surface largely through great cracks or fissures in the earth’s surface. A typical example of such extensive flows may be seen in the lava beds forming the Columbia River Gorge.

Numerous volcanoes were formed in this lava region during the relatively late outpourings of molten rock through small openings. The mass of these volcanoes represents only an extremely small volume in proportion to the total mass of lava. Mount Mazama at Crater Lake is one of these volcanoes, likewise are the volcanic cones of the Cascade Range. The more noted of these are Mount Rainier (14,408 feet), Mount Shasta (14,161 feet), Mount Adams (12,326 feet), Mount Hood (11,225 feet), Mount Baker (10,750 feet), Mount Lassen (10,453 feet), and Mount St. Helena (9,697 feet).

The mountain in which Crater Lake rests was built principally by lava flows, poured out layer upon layer, and to a lesser degree by the piling up of volcanic ash, soil, and the deposits of streams and glaciers as they flowed down the mountain. At Dutton Cliff we see an example of successive layers of lava and volcanic ash. Near Discovery Point, in addition to layers of lava and volcanic ash, one may also see examples of glacial deposits and glacial striae or scratches.

One can understand Crater Lake in its relation to the volcano only when the mountain is considered as the result of a building process extending over long periods in which many changes took place. The following is an explanation of some of the processes.

Lava outpourings through splitting of the