The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1920-06-26

country that contain miniature lakes; but there
is only really great caldera Of this kind IN the
world-only immense basin apparently toSnea
through the complete melting by intense neat ~
the entire core of great volcano. and the faiYis
in and utter disappearance through sunterraheaai
caverns of its massive bulk
The titanic convulsion that formed this k
able beauty-spOt no human eye witnessed. oto-
gsts have concluded that ages ago, in the great
chain of volcanic mountain peaks which today ex-
tends from Washington to CalifOrnia-among them
Mt Rainier. Mt Hood, Mt Adams, Mt Jefferson
Three Sisters, Mt Mclaughlin. Mt. Shasta and Las
sen Peak-there lowered one, which has been
called Mount Mazar'a that may have topped the
taest of its fellows. Judging from the ptch
of the remnants of its outer slopes, scientists con
clude with reasonable certainty that, if recon
Structed, its snow-clad peak would rise from
seven to eight thousand feet above It's broken
rim NaZama stands today uncrOwned king,
shorn of It's dadem of burning gold and glitterng
silver yet holding within its heart treasure the
rarest in the wOrld--a beautiful lake. the deepest
of all lakes, with waters the bluest of all blue
waters. And this is Crater lake.
Crater lake is almost circular varying from five
to six miles In diameter. Its known depth is 2,OU
feet and ii is believed to be the deepest body of
fresh water In the world. Its surface Is 6,l77
feet above the 1t has inlet or outlet, being
fed by springs and winter SHOWS: its water es
capes by underground channels reappearing as
springs in the Klamath region few miles away
1t is completely girded by PERCEPTIONS cliffs and
steep taluS slopes that fall sharply downward
from It's rim 1000 to GOO feet to the waters edge.
Closely encircling it rise many high peaks notably
LAO Rock The Waterman, and Cloud Cap: also
Glacier, Garfield and Vidae Peaks.
Surrounded by canyons ravines and pinnacied
rocks, and belted by wilderness of boulder
strewn forests, the region for years was inacces-
sble, and UNEMPLOYED except by the more ven
turesOme who attracted by stories of the
Indians Of this mystery lake In its fantastic set
ting. Yet its discovery acc .defftal It &C
Cured in 1853 while exploring party was
searching In the Cascade mountains for the fam
Lost Cabin mine.
A dispute arose over the choice Of a name. the
party dividing between Mysterious lake and Deep
Blue lake. The advocates of Deep Blue lake won
the vote but in 1869 a visiting party renamed It
Crater lake, and this by natural right became its
title
The first sight of Crater lake is weIl-ngh be-
wildering Unless looked into from the rim it Is
invisible. Wonderment at the height and steep
ness of its encircling cliffs succeeds the first as
constituent; admiration Of the loneliness of It's
coloring next enthralis the behOlder in the
quence of Impressions It's unique beauty lies In
small measure in its coloring. the brance
of which if reproduced in painting print would
seem exaggerated and impossible TO those who
have not seen the reality. Nowhere else iffthere
such azure. One feels that glass of Us
ter would show blue if stained with cobalt, bur
it is clear crystal and pure. The deeper
parts brilliant ultramarine. shading TO
turquoise in the shallOwer reaches and to light
jade green in the few indented coves around the
shore A hundred feet down the glaze of IL plate
Is plainly discernible. The surroundings help the
brilllance of the blue: the rocks are of metallic
hues the peaks Of the rim often covered;
~ tha rrpI wall Is
and spotched with bright yellOws and reds mark
ings left by volcanic action long ago. and always
there Is the dark green of the pines and frs and
shrubs that grow these declivities wherever
they find oothold The waters are usually plac-
id, cleaning though glazed by the sun, and i'm
this mirror of Nature the reflections stand out
with astounding dstinctness.