El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-06-03

T UNIQUE among the natural won
ders of America is Crater lake
in southern Oregon. Unsur-
passed in the gOrgeousness and grand
eur of its scenery, unrivaled in its
location on the summit of a mountain
1000 feet above sea level, and unparal-
leled in its geologic history. this daz-
zling gem Of the Cascade range de-
serves the attention OF every tourist
and lover OF nature. The traveller who.
from the rock rim OF the lake looks
across its limpid waters to the cliffs
beyond. stands where once the molten
lava of Mount Mazama boiled and
seethed in its efforts to find an outlet.
for Crater lake is all that remains OF
a great volcano that ages ago reared
its lofty summit high above the crest
Of the Cascade range
Before the Cascade range existed the
region now included in the state Of
Oregon was a. great lava plateau that
extended from the Rocky mountains to
the present Coast range. Gradually
mountain making forces became opera
tive; the surface of the plateau was
arched and there rose the great noun
tain system which is now known as
the Cascade range. With the harden
ing Of the crust the centers OF erup-
tions became fewer until they were
confined to few high mountains that
were built up by the flows Of molten
lava. In this way were created Hood,
Rainier and Mazama, from whose sides
and lofty SUBMITS streams of lava
poured across a desolate land Hood
and Rainier still lift their snowy caps
to the clouds and fling a defiant chal-
lenge to the mountaineeF to scale their
steep, ice-eovered slopes. Mazama
alone is gcne-engulfed in the earth
from which it came. In what = left
Of its ealdera lies Crater lake.
a Mo2nfain Destroyed.
pIft-Aazama in its prime rose to
a height of over $4,000 feet above the
Sea. Mount Scott. which towers above
Crater lake on the east, was only
minor cone on the slope of Mount Ma
zama. The portion Of the mountain
that has been destroyed was equal in
size to Mount Washington in New
Hampshire and had a volume of II
cubic miles. How came this great
mass TO be removed? Was it blown
upward and scattered over the sur
rounding country? The phenomena
give no evidence to such theory, be-
cause if this had happened there would
be a weIl-defined rim of fragmental
material on the slope. No other con-
clusion can be reached than that Mount
Mszama collapsed, one part after an
other, from the center outward as the
support was removed
Many centuries passed: the elements
gradually wore away the surface so
that the land was covered with soil;
the incessant work of the rivers carved
valleys in the great flows Of lava;
slowly vegetation covered the fire
SCARED land and great forests of fir
and pine stretched in cathedral-like
vistas over the lower slopes. AT last
the indians appeared. AS they rOamed
over the mountains in search of game
they occasionally saw this remarkable
lake. These denizens Of the forest,
we'll versed in all the ordinary features
of topography Of mountain and valley,
here saw something that was beyond
their ken. They gazed with awe upon
the blue lake surrounded by its walls
Of brilliant hue and their vivid i'm
aginations soon peopled it with spir-
its. One OF these spirits. known as
Lao. had his abode at the great cliff
on the northern side Of the lake, now
known as Lao rock. He was said to
be a great monster who seized men
and even animals who attempted to
pry too closely into the secrets of the
lake Only the medicine
man dared brave the fury Of the spir-
its and gaze upon the face of this
wonderful body of water.
First White Man Comes.
On June II. 1858. the white man first