The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1913-10-02

where first heard OF them. was that
Il was a small area, perhaps covering
a few square miles. covered with PIN
nacles and crags. devoid OF ,eseta-
ton, with high towering palisades, In
/ which we're holes. caves and passage
ways.
OF course | had heard stories OF
how the Modoc indians had defended
this area against all the soldiers sent
10 rout them out and how they had
surprised one command In n cul-de-
sac and annihilated them and this.
added to the first impression. or. per-
| haps. aided and strengthened the i'm
preston. that 1t must be an area OF
eany ons, hillsides. caves and gullies.
When We arrived at the point where
we left the automobiles and Mr.. Mer-
| rill pointed off In the distance and
with wide sweep Of the arm pointed
out the lava beds. I looked In vain to
discover the expected locality. but in
stead | saw u large sweep Of country
with but few prominent hills or land
marks. covered with fine bunch grass
and apparently no different than
many other places In this vicinity.
After n hasty lunch we started on
foot for tho point where we were to
camp for the night. We leisurely
followed a well defined wagon track
for a few miles when We we're d.
yerted by Mr.. Merrill. who led us off
to the left to look at some craters.
Upon reaching these eraters the mind
then commenced to. In small way.
comprehend what nature. In It's fury
and wrath. Is capable OF performing.
Climbing the first mound Of lava. we
gazed. awe-struck. down into an i'm
mense crater from which and through
which the upheavai had come. There
we're all forms Of fantastic shapes
and sizes Of lava boulders. with ali
the shades OF browns. blues. srays
and greens. Here could be seen what
a mighty force had been behind the
upheavai and what terrific heat must
have been present to melt the lava
rock for the flowing streams Of mol
ten lava. with Its currents. eddies
and bubbles were plainly visible. Just
as II had cooled and hardened. On,
small hole or crater which was moi
larger than n sugar barrel was called
to our attention and we spent few
: minutes In dropping rocks down ints
the blackness. but no thud could b.
heard OF the rock ever having reached
bottom. Just to what depth thi,
crater goes no one alive seems tt
know. We here commenced to ap
preciate that perhaps the country did
contain wonders that we had nevei
seen. After climbing all over the two
immense piles OF lava rock. we con
, tinued our journey toward our camp
on the way Mr.. Merrill and Mr.
iApplegate. as well as Captain Ruteni'
pointed out to various members o
the crowd the different points Of his
torical interest connected with tn,
|. Modoc campaign. The location o.
! Signal Butte. Canby's Cross. Captain
!, Jacks Stronghold and the battle
. ground were all pointed out. but the,
were SO far In the distance tina
nothing could be seen except to mari
: the locations. Arriving at the poin
designated as our camp ground abou
D. m. the wagons were unloadet
and We were then escorted TO wha
Ia called "Bearfoot Cave" standini
. one hundred feet away. one can dis
. cover no cave anywhere In the vi
cinity. but on approaching closer al
immense hole in the floor OF th'
!. earth is discovered and the firs
glimpse OF the celebrated caves Is SO
: cured. Climbing down and dow
. over the rocks and along the sid,
walls for about 100 or $50 feet on,
comes TO a pool which contains gal
Ions and gallons Of clear water 81
cold that Ice water seemed warm II
comparison. After our afternoon
tramp all were eager to partake Of tn
;, cooling liquid. but few sips was SUI
ficient, and as one remarked, TAX,
some out and warm II so we can &c
drink" Seated on the boulder
that cover the floor OF the cave an,
glancing upward toward the dom
and backward into the dark recesses
one begins to appreciate the size ant
extent of the mighty cavern gouge,
out OF the bowels Of the earth. as 4
were. As ! sat and pondered ovel
the wonder Of Il the thought that en-
tered my mind was that II was no
the work Of God. for somehow one
associates with His work that which
is beautiful and sublime and 4
seemed that this was the work ol
some fiend incarnate who was benz
on mischief and destruction. In at
II