The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-11-13
THE GREAT LAVA BEDS.
sTRzxGE THISGs or the MoD0o
REGION or NORTH CALIFORNIA.
Niles of Underground Passages Lined With
Ice-Mountains Of Class - ifvers that
Gu.h from tho Ground Like Springs,


kiyou and Modoc counties. and crossin
the oregon line. This is lava bed cour
try, a region Astounding in wonders. sur
prises and natural contradictions. such a
caverns in which is found perpetual ice
formed ages before man inhabited on
planet and beside them wells and gey
sers OF boiling water. Here Nature ha
eliminated her efforts for the grotesqu
and marvellous. Lakes disappear anC
20 no one knows whittier; rivers burs
from the ground and none can tell thei
source. Here is vast stretch OF sole
lava, the surface OF which swels and un
dulates like the waves Of the ocean. Anc
this Il IS n rolling. seething. molten
ocean. soidifed and left in billowy form
forever Here and there mountain OF
lava has been thrown up. its straifica-
ton, II &c can be so called, serpentine,
twisted and gnarled. IS though in semi
fluid state II bad fallen fold upon fold,
the whole mass honeycombed and filled
with cavernous recesses, where the folds
remain suspended. Here are mountains
Of volcanic glass, black. glittering. re-
necting the suns rays, and looming up
like vast gems. their faces smooth and
sharp. as though fresh from the hand OF
q giant lapidaTy.
Under the whole OF this surface are
iabyrinthine caverns extending for scores
OF miles. perfect wilderness Of pass
ages. where one unacquainted with them
might wander for years and never reach
the surface. CreyiCes Of all widths, from
few inches to hundreds OF feet, and Of
all depths, some OF which have never
been fathomed. tear the face Of the coun-
try in all directions Woe to the man
who leaves the beaten road and becomes
lost IN this ineXtricable maze Of yawning
prccipices. Without Il guide he would be-
come lost amid the crevices on the sur
face as readily as in the cavernous depths
below.
II was here that Captain Jack with
mere handful OF Modoc Indians so long
withstood the United States troops.
Thoroughly acquainted with the under
ground passages. IT was impossible TO
surround them, for when cornered IN one
place they would suddenly issue TO the
surface In another part of the country
and 1t was impossible to handle an enemy
who could escape under the very feet Of
the troops.
The country abounds in game for few
hunters have had the hardihood to follow
their sport in this region, and deer bear
and wild fowl Of all kinds exist in great
numbers unmolested in their possession
Of the lava beds.
1t is country as interesting as the
Yosemite or the Yellowstone. and that II
Is 50 little known or frequented is due to
the lack Of easy transportation. 1t is not
reached by any line Of railroad. requires
some hardships to be undergone to visit
1t, and has, therefore. remained in COM
parative obscurity.
In August Of the present year a small
party OF adventurous spirits. including
the writer, made visit to this terra in
cognita. Leaving the railroad at Sisson
We proceeded to Dana in Shasta county.
and from there pushed out at once
towards the lava bed country our OBJ
Jective point being Cornell, or Rhett, or
rule Lake, ninety-three miles distant. We
were provided with a good team and sad
die mules. and at Lookout tWenty-seven
miles from Dana, we had the good for
tune TO secure for a guide half-breed |
Indian thoroughly acquainted with the |
lava bed region.
Although the whole country is volcanic.
the section known as the lava beds does |
not commence for several miles north of |
Dana. Within two miles Of that place we |
came 10 the head waters Of Fall River. |
the chief tributary Of the Sacramento. |
which rises here in one vast body out Of |
the solid lava a huge spring, acres I'm ex-
tent. Ii winds a tOrtuOus course for some
twenty miles or more, and at last. after
dashing over a 100-foOt fail at Fan River
City. joins Pitt River. an insignificant and
sluggish stream above the point of juno
ton.
Whence this vast body Of water origi-
mates Is not known, but the most plausi-
bic theory is that it has its source in
Tule Lake into which several large
streams are continually pouring. and
which has no surface outlet. This lake
is situated in the heart of the lava beds;
fits watet. in all probability. permeate the
lava rocks and flow until they reach an
impervious formation, where they are
forced 10 the surface Theories aside.
here is vast river Of water clear, cold.
pure, bursting forth I'm one vast body from
the bowels of the EARTH an underground
river from the lava beds.
Near the point where this river comes
TO the surface we found our first ice cave.
whlch, remarkable as IL appeared at first.
iost us prestige beside the greater Won
ders further on. Following our guide. we
entered a small opening in the lava, and.
after progressing with difficulty for
some distance. we suddenly EMERGED
into chamber about forty feet
In extent and as near as we
could judge of about the same height
Here In the middle Of August. with the
thermometer uncomfortaby near 100 de-
grees on the surface, walls and roof were
|
frozen pool. The sudden transition from
the summer heat of the outer world TO
the intense cold OF the cave soon drove
our party out. and. breaking some icicles
from the walls, we made for the warmer
surface.
AS though 70 prepare us for the start
ling contradictions with which this whole
region abounds, we found near this ice
cave, and apparently originating in its
depths. large boiling spring, the water
from which finds its way into Fall River.
Leaving Lookout, we were soon in the
midst of the lava beds, a region OF indie
'cribable wonders. Here were hillocls OF
ava or all colors rolling away on every
land. Striped and strealIed and spotted
With red and green and blue, and all
Known colors and shades Of colors; the
andscape was fantastic on so large a I
scale that it was grand Carefully fol- I
owing our guide, we picked our way
among the crevces, with which the whole I
country is scanned and SCARED. Some 5
lines we descended a narrow, almost per-
'endicular trail 10 the bottom of one, or 6
doubled our course TO avoid another. Of s
enumes we were compelled 10 dismount I
ma lead our animals. Sometimes we I
you'd drop block Of lava down some {
4 these crevices. so deep we could not l
ee the bottom, and listen to its rebound 7
rom side to side. until the /
ound died away in the distant q
epths with no evidence of bot Y
ON being reached. At other times a
y listening carefully we could plainly v
ear the rush Of waters in the depths he