The Ely miner., 1920-05-07

Il
very clearly shown in q
picture of an airplane flying over the
crater of the sleeping volcano Lassen,
In California, taken by another air.
plane photographing the one below"
said Senator George e. Chamberlain
of Oregon, the other day in a debate
in the senate over an appropriation
item in the sundry civil bill.
Well, the picture to which he re-
ferred is given herewith. And 1t is
lucky for the aviators from Mather
Field, California, that they were not
doing their peeking act week or so
later. Lassen Peak, which had been
sleeping. for months, suddenly walked,
sent up columns of smoke and steam
for thirty minutes and then settled
down for another nap.
Lassen Peak is the crowning touch
of Lassen Volcanic National park. 1t
rises 1O,437 feet and it's chief claim
to fame is that it is the only active
volcano in the United States proper.
Our national park system contains
five volcanic parks: Lassen Volcanic,
Crater Lake, Mount Rainier, Yellow
stone and Hawaii. Crater Lake National
park in Oregon contains the most won
the crater Of Mount Mazama, 10000
foot volcano that sank within itself
in the prehistoric past. Mount Rain
ier, 4,15O feet in altitude, is a dor
mant volcano, with steam jets issuing
from vents in. its icy crown. Yellow
its geysers, the finest in the world,
and its boiling springs, pools and paint
pots. Hawaii, in the Hawaiian is
lands, has three of the most impress
sive volcanoes in the wofld-Mauna
Loa, which erupts every ten years and
has just finished a spectacular per-
formance; Kilauea, with its everlast-
ing lake of molten lava, and Haleakala,
which has not erupted for 200 years
and has a crater eight miles across
and 5000 feet deep.
Lassen Peak until recently has been
quiet for 200 years. 1t is, however,
so interesting and important scien-
tifically and SO scenic that President
Taft made 1t national monument in
1906. Then, In the spring of 1914 it
walked up from it's long sleep and
broke out in a series of eruptions
that were practically continuous. In
August, 1916, congress created the
peak and 124 square miles of it's en-
vironment the Lassen Volcanic Ma
tional park. Four months later Las
sen ceasc3 activity with it's 212th
eruption. The crater gradually cool
ed off and scientists predicted that
it would not resume operations for a
long time.
The activity of Lassen aroused great
interest all over the nation it was
the first thing of the kind in our his
tory. The spectacle was magnificent
because of the heavy columns of
smoke. By March of 1915, lava had
filed the crater and had overflowed
the west slope for a thousand feet
May % was the climax of the many
eruptionS. A great mass of smoke,
mushroom-shaped, rose four miles in
to the air. At night, with this mass
of smoke and vapor lighted by the |
crater fires, the spectacle was impress |
sive.
An exceedingly interesting phe- |
nomenon was blast of superheated |
gas that swept down the valleys of |
Lost and Hot creeks. This blast de-
stroyed every living thing in its path,
to cinders. Snow fields were instant
Iy turned to water and the lower val
leys were flooded.
Lassen Peak, the scientists seem to |
think, is the last exhibit of activity |
In the volcanism Of the Cascade range. |