The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1876-02-11
From the Salem Statesman
In Memory of Mrs, A. O. Sohwatka.

AS I stood yesterday by the open
grave of Mrs. Annie C.. Schwatka, form
erly Miss Annie Gaines, the circum-
stances connected with my first ac
quaintance with her at Fort klamath,
in 1865, recurred vividly to my mind.
Major w. V. Rinehart was then in
command of Fort Klamath, and Miss
Gaines, being a sister to Mrs. Rine-
hart, constituted one of the Majors fam
lily. In that then wild land she was a
great favorits, having commended her
self to every one by her intelligence
and vivacity, and by her kind and gen.
erous spirit. She had a very high ap-
probation of the beautiful in nature,
and was consequently an enthusiastic
admirer of klamath landscapes. She
was an expert on horseback, and was
seen almost daily riding over the grassy
plains and among the evergreen groves
of klamath land, and no obstacle
seemed too great for her to overcome
when seeking to indulge her passion for
adventure.
During the summer of 1855, she was
one of party which visited our greatest
mountain wonder, Crater Lake, and
climbed down a thousand feet of almost
vertical wall to the lake shore, being
one of the first ladies who ever accom-
plished this arduous undertaking. One
of the tributaries of Upper klamath
Lake, rising within a half mile of the
summit of the rim of Crater Lake,
flows gently, for a few miles, across
grassy glades and among green trees,
and then plunges into a narrow canon
with almost vertical walls of columnar
basalt. Standing upon the brink of the
yawning chasm, and looking down at
the frothing cascades and the beautiful
stream, seeming like a silver thread,
five hundred feet below, with the
mighty pillars on either side covered
with the rust of ages, the scene is one of
peculiar grandeur; and yet, a descent
among these lofty columns amid the
hemlock trees which grow in the fis-
sures of the rock, to the ripping cas-
cades and pools of clear, cold water be-
low, and wondrOus work of the Master
Architect, will ever bear the name OF
"Annie's Creek" in remembrance OF
the adventurous explorer.
Among the pleasant "reminiscences OF
the long ago, l also recall local excur-
sion on klamath Lake with Major
Rinehart and some others, in which
Miss Gaines was, as usual, the most en-
~ .
While on the lake we spent some time
drifting among the green islands, to one
of.which, lying away out in the center
of the lake, covered with gigantic cane
grass and bordered with green willows,
we gave her name.
After year or so spent at Fort Klam-
ath, Annie came with Major Rinehart's 8
family to Salem, where che entered the
Academy of the Sacred Heart, and re-
manned there until she completed her
education, after which she became the
wife of our friend, Mr.. A. G. Schwatka,
and the mother of two children, the
youngest of which is only few days
old. Her home was always one of the
most pleasant in Salem, and ever gave
proof of her love of the true and the
beautiful in its adornments.
But Annie has gone from among US.
The bright and pleasant friend, the en-
thusiastic lover of art and nature, the
gentle wife and loving mother, sleeps
the sleep that knows no waking this
side of the pearly gates of better land.
o. G. A.
Salem, February Z, 1875.