The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1895-03-29
EBENSBURG, PA, FRIDAY. MARCH 90
DOWN IN A CRATER.
Wonders Witnessed by a Noun
tain Explorer.
Indian Legends of Famous Extinct Vol
cano the West strange Amt
mails Found in the Subter-
ranean Cayerns-

Crater mountain i one of the Una
tilla Indians great spooll depotS from
ancient; time. says the Baker City Dem
ocr;It. Bucks that are now white with
the hoary frosts of many winters rec
elect hanging in the trees tightly
strapped to their nursing boards. while
their mothers roamed the forests in
search of game for the lords of crea-
tion or wood for the tepcc. and from
infancy love to relate how the great
spirit spoke to them with the awful
voice of terrific thunder in the bowels
of the earth. Many are the stories and
legends of Indian lore told of Crater
mountain. One of the favOritc ones is
told of Il great war between the
ShoShoneS and Umatillas. When the
Umatillas had conquered their foes
they proceeded to slaughter old and
young, regardless of sex. One beauti-
full Shoshone maiden, seeing that
death was inevitable from her pur>u-
ing foes. plunged headlong into the
burning crater. and instantly the vol
canic eruption ceased. much to the
constcrnatiOn of her pursuerS. who on
the following day found. ON looking
down the chasm of inky darkness,
rcsplendent light with the form of the
Sho~honc maiden in the midst of the
apparition. They told it to their dusl1y
warrior>-and To this day Crater noun
tain i looked upon with reverence
from an Indian point of view.
The following is from the diary Of j.
\. Wright: Crater mountain i located
some eleven miles from the Camp of
tornucopia. on the south side of the
range whose caps are tipped with
Il ,.l.D
sures have in the misty past cleft the
mountains and left them in the most
fantastic shapes Vegetation ceases to
grow after a certain height is reached.
and close under the base Of one of the
,rccat peaks is the famous extinct vol
cauo. Ashes and lava are found in
Great profuSion and in such indcScrib-
able masses that it makes the ascent
one Of peril and great difficulty How
ever. once at the top. peek down into
the blank. fathomless abyss supplies the
most morbid minds with all the Scnsa-
tiOnalism necessary for Il lifetime. \
favoritc amusement was to throw rocks
down and listen To the sounds a. they
struck on the projecting sides of the
dark chimney until the sounds died
away. leaving nothing but for the
mystificd explorer To guess it had
reached the bottom"
Many have been the stories circu-
lated of the wonderful cavern that cx-
tended from the sides of the great
chimney. \ stout cable was provided
and basket swung from a pulley.
Hon. Joseph. with camera and note
book. was carefully lowered some
three hundred and ~cyenty-cight feet.
when he noticed an aperture in the
-
agreed upon. halt was called IN MS
downward career, and he crawled
through cleft in the great chimney,
and she work of exploration began.
The first sight that met his astonished
gaZe was a most StUpcndous chamber.
from whose mighty dome hung stalac-
titcs of great beauty, which were en-
hauced by the light of the candle. AMI
fairly struck terror To- his heart. as the
ilicllcring candle seemed to possess the
power of some unseen hand that made
millions of the brilliant stalactitcs
lance in rcsplcndcnt beauty. i great
snowy owl blinked at the astoniShed
.Io~cph.
The explorer CROPPED his way to the
far end of the chamber, where lac
thought ne heard the sounds of falling
yatcr-nor was hc mistaken. for
squeezing himself through an opcninT
he found himself in another chamber
of great beauty, with a stream of hot
sulphur water running into the earth.
The incrustatiOn from the sulphur
water had transformed the cavern into
Il coral-lillc substance and left it in
such fantastic shapes. He found in the
water some lively little lizards anI
some frogs that change color on the
slightest provocation and two large
ats. who eyed the explorer with a Gu
riOSity that seemed to bodc no good,
and he longed for his little gun