Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1905-01-09

rising from the water, were steep and
precipitous, with abrupt lodges Of
rock, of evidently volcanic origin, jut-
ting out and with huge cliffs running
sheer down from crest to water line,
defying the bravest climber.
Signs Of glacial action were re-
vealed, indicating great wintry past;
the explorers came upon evidences OF
volcanic eruption, and, up at the crest
of the rocky rim, they found powders,
polished and rounded, scattered about,
indicating that there must have been
at one time something above from
which these rocks slid down. 1t was
easy from these indications to recon
struct the vanished mountain to which
was given the name of Mount Mazuma.
| Then there was other important evi-
dence to help bear out the lost, noun
tain theory. South of the. lake Mount
Shasta, 14,2225 feet in height, rises out
of this same Cascade range. Now, the
present diameter of Crater lake at the
| top of its basin is five and one-han
miles, and this is also about the diam
eter of Mount Shasta at 5000 feet,
while the same type of lava bears out
the hypothesis that Crater lake once
had cone that rose up to a great
height, as does the present cone OF
ncighboring Shasta; perhaps, however,
not quite equaling the height Of Shas-
ia, for the outer slope of Crater lake
is not nearly so steep as it's neigh
boris.
Elsewhere in the world there are
parallels to Mount MaZl1ma's case. For
instance, in the Hawaiian islands
there are volcanic craters which geol
ogists believe are due to processes of
substance Of the earth's crust and Cap
tain DuttOn, an authority on these vol
canoes, who went fresh from their
examination to Crater lake, singles
Que Kilauea, which has pit of seven
and half miles in circumference and
pool Of molten lava within, instead
of water and shows that a'relation-
ship of phenomena exists between 1t
and Mount Mazuma.
Mr.. Diller is emphatic III a like
opinion. He calls up in fancy state
of things in the interior of Mazuma,
when there Was rise and fall Of mol
/ ten lava, with overflows and escapes
of erupted material at points of low
level, until so much of the mountain
had gone that a general collapse took
place AMI it sank.
Wizard Island Is Volcanic.
! To the unframed observer the Wiz
ard would appear to be mere cast
away of the mainland or remnant Of
the sacrifice of Mount Mazuma. MOI
so, however. In short, Wizard island
was built up by forces of fire and
steam, which had caused the disap
pearance of Mount Mazuma, and 2
small extinct volcano, with cinder
cone, crater and surrounding Laws
field, and to be where it is must have
come up from the bottom of the pit,
arupted, however, long after the dis
appearance of the great mountain.
The lake is of the most beautiful
color imaginable, and further charm
| is given to the surface of the trans
lucent nature of its waters. which
cause the most vivid reflections of the
adjacent rocks to appear. At the foot
of a bold cliff there is an outlying
rock islet 100 feet high, known as the
Phantom Ship" and here the mirror
like reflections in the water are strik-
ing. 1t only requires slight stretch
of the imagination to take the rock to
be fine ship anchored off the coast.
There are no fish in Crater lake,
and, indeed, all forms of life are ex-
ceedingly rare along it, and along the
borders of the water. The absence of
fish is not, however, matter Of sur
prise, as they have no means of trans
porting themselves to isolated inland
bodies of water. If, too, such natural
lagencies of dispersal as the wind or
birds happen to carry the seeds of
aquatic Towering plants to the lake,
they do not appear to flourish and
even the lowlier types of vegetation,
such as algae and MOSES, are almost
entirely absent. The extremes of tenn
perature occurring in the district
doubtless account to great extent for
the scarcity of animal and plant life.