Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-03-19
OREGON'S CRATER LAKE
Remarkable Feature of New
National Park Region.
ABoUNDs IN NATURAL WONDERS.

Territory Comprised by the Park
Thought by Some to Rival the yell
IOwstOne's Grandeurs-Lal<e ITSELF
which Fills Bowl OF Extinct yOIca-
no, Has Long Been Regarded with
Awe by indians.
Congress last year created Crater.
Lake National park in Oregon. Within
the 249 square miles embraced by this
park there are as many natural WON
ders Of mountains, snow clad peaks,
forests, plains and streams as are to
be found in any similar area Of the
west. Though comparatively unknown,
the new park possesses many natural
distinctions that may make it a rival OF
the Yellowstone, says dispatch froml
Grants Pass, Ore.
The lake and its surrounding Won
ders, comprising the new park, are To-
Gated on the range of the Cascade noun
tains, northwest klamath county, and
eighty miles from the railroad. y spur
line is being built from the Southern
Pacific into that part of Oregon and
will ultimately reach the park.
The present method of reaching Graz
ter lake is by team. Travelling up the
Rogue from the railroad, one finds the
valley narrowing and the farnhhouses
lessening, while the river grows swifter,
the forests grow denser and the noun
tainS more rugged. At a distance OF
fifty miles from the valley the Rogue
narrows to a width of seventy-five feet
and flows with great rapidity through
a 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 forty to fifty feet
through at the base and attain 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
it cuts its way deeper and deeper into
the gorge.
When within twelve miles of the lake
evidences of volcanic action are seen.
along the Rogue. These are a silent re-
hinder of the time when Mount Maza-
ma, then the greatest mountain of the
Cascades, threw forth volumes of fire,
smoke and lava. Then the day came
when the great volcano had spent its
energy, and it's fires died out. The
crater cooled and filed with water,
forming lake of matchless beauty.
This body of water is ellipdcaI, hav-
ing a length of six miles and width
of four. In the early days the Indians
viewed Crater lake and it's surround
ings as holy ground and approached ID
with reverence. To them it is one OF
the spots made sacred by the presence
of the Great Spirit. None but medi-
cine men visited it, and when one Of a
tribe felt called upon to become q
teacher and tealer 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 precip-
itous and rugged, towering at many
points to height of 1900 feet above
the water. The waters edge can only
be reached by few narrow, winding
trails. The expanse of the lake is I'M
broken save by Wizard island, 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 surrounding peaks can make it.
There are no fish save some placed
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 wonder that
the savage red man believed the Great
Spirit slept in the bosom of Crater lake,