The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-03-13
Many Tourists Think New Nation
al Park of 249 Square Miles
Rivals the Yellowstone.
MEDICINE MEMS
HOME.
Lake Itself, Which Fills Bowl OF
Extinct Volcano. Has Long
Been Regarded With Awe
by Indians.
SPECIAL.

REPUBLIC SPECIAL.
Grants Pass. Ore. March I2.-Congress
last year created Crater Lake National
Park. In this State. Within the 249 square
miles embraced by this park there are as
many natural wonders of mountains.
snow-clad peaks, forests. plains and
streams as are to be found in any similar
| area OF the West. Though, comparative
ly unknown, the new park possesses
many natural distinctions tina may make
1t a rival of the Yellowstone.
The lake and its surrounding wonders,
comprising the new park. are located on
the range of the Cascade Mountains.
Northwest klamath County. and eighty
miles from the railroad. A spun line is
being built from the Southern Pacific in
to that part of Oregon, and will ultimate
iy reach the park.
The present method of reaching Crater
Lake Is by team. Travelling up the Rogue
from the railroad, one finds the valley
narrowing and the farmhOuses lessening.
while the river grows swifter. the forests
grow denser and the mountains more rug
ged. At a distance of fifty miles from the
valley the Rogue narrows to n width of
10 feet and flows with a great rapidity
through n deep gorge. Here the river
has an average fall of 200 feet to the
mile.
Great columns or pyramids OF cement
rise from the bottom of the gorge. These
columns are 40 to 50 feet through the
base, and attain a height of a hundred
and more feet. These strange formations
were composed OF a harder substance than
that which surrounded them and did not
yield so readily to the action of the water
as 1t cuts its way deeper and deeper in
to the gorge.
When within twelve miles of the lake
evidences of volcanic action are seen
along Rogue. These are a silent reminder
or the time when Noun Mazama. then the
greatest mountain Of the Cascades. threw
forth volumes of fire, smoke and lava.
Then the day came when the great vol
cano had spent It's energy and its fires
died out. The crater cooled and filled with
water, forming a lake OF matChless
beauty.
This body of water is elliptical. having a
In the early days the Indians viewed
Crater Lake and its surroundings as holy
ground and approached II with reverence.
To them it is one of the spots made
sacred by the presence of the Great Spirit.
None but medicine men visited 1t. and
when one of 4 tribe felt called upon to
become a teacher and healer he spent
several weeks on the shore of the lake
fasting with the dead and in prayer to
the Shahullah Tyee.
The shores of Crater Lake are precipi-
tous and rugged. towering at many points
to a height of 1900 feet above the water.
| The waters edge can only be reached by
q few narrow. winding trails.
The eXpanse OF the lake Is ~unbroken
save by Wizard Island. a cone-shaped
mountain that rises 800 feet above the
surface near the western shore. Wizard
Island was the last smoking chimney of
the volcano.
The water OF the lake Is cold. clear and
pure as the melted ~snowdrops of the sur
rounding peaks can make 1t. There are no
| fish aa We some Dl9Ced there IN recent
years, and the scarcity of vegetation will
make 1t hard for these to survive. Over
the deep blue eXpanse and its surrounding
solitudes reigns a silence that borders on
the sublime. 1t Is but little wonde that
the savage red man believed the Great
| Spirit slept at the bosom of Crater Lake