Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-01-05
DOWN IN A CRATER.
Wonders Witnessed by Q Moun-
 tain Explorer.
Indian Legends of Famous Extinct Vol cano in the West - Strange Ant maIs Found in the subter-
 ranean Caverns.

ranean Caverns.
 Crater mountain is one of the Uma- tilla Indians great speolz depets from ancient time, says the Baker City Dem- ocrat. Bucks that are now white with the hoary 3rosts of many winters rec oIleet 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 tepee, 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 fayorite ones is told of q 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- ful Shoshone maiden, seeing that death was inevitable from her pursu- ing foes, plunged headlong into the burning crater, and instantly tho vol canic eruption ceased, much to the eonsternation of her pursuers, who on the following day found, on looking down the chasm of inl1y darkness, a resplendent light with the form of the Shoshone maiden in the midst of the apparition. They told it to their duslsy warriers-and to this day Crater noun tain is looked upon with reverence from an Indian point of view.
 f,II sr, . A. Wright: Crater mountain is located some eleven miles from the Camp of Gornucopia, on the south side of the range whose caps are tipped with eternal snow Many chasms and As- sures have in lthe misty past cleft tho mountains and left them in the most fantastic shapes. Vegetation ceases to grow after certain height is reached, and close under the base of one of the great peaks is the famous extinct vol- eano. Ashes and lava are found in great profusion and in such indescrib- able masses that it makes the ascent one of peril and great difficulty. How ever, once at the top, a peck down into the blank, fathomless abyss supplies the most morbid minds with all the sensa- tionalism necessary for lifetime. A favorite amusementwas to throw rocks down and listen to the sounds as they struck on the projecting sides of the dark chimney until the sounds died away, leaving nothing but for the mystifed explorer to guess it had reached the bottom. ;"
 Many have been the stories circu- lated of the wonderful cavern that ex- tended from the sides of the great chimney. 4 stout cable was provided and basket swung from pulley, Hon. Joseph, with camera and note- book, was carefully lowered some three hundred and seventy-eight feet, when he noticed an aperture in the side of the chimney, and, by signals agreed upon, halt was called in his downward career. and he crawled through cleft in the great chimney, and the work of exploration began. The first sight that met his astonished gaze was a most stupendous chamber, from whose mighty dome hung stalac- tites of great beauty, which were en- .haDced by the light of the candle, and fairly struck terror to his heart, as the lickering candle seemed to possess the power of some unseen hand that made millions of the brilliant stalaetites dance in resplendent beauty. "A great snowy owl blinlzed at the astonished Joseph.
 The explorer groped his way to the far end of the chamber, where he thought he heard the sounds of falling water-nor was he mistaken, for squeezing himself through an opening he found himself in another chamber of great beauty, with Q stream of hot sulphur water running into the earth. The incrustation from the sulphur water had transformed the cavern into a coral-like substance and left. it in such fantastic shapes. He found in the water some lively little lizards and some frogs that change color on the slightest provocation and two large rats, who eyed the explorer with cu- riosity that seemed to bode no good, and he longed for his little gun.