Evening star., 1923-03-23
CALIFORNIA PEAK
WAS REAL VOLCANO
Mount Lassen Draws Hun.
dreds of Tourists From All
Parts of Country.

Amerlcans are accustomed o think :
ing of Uncle Sam as an owner OF
volcanoes because of the array OF
them on the Alaskan peninsula. head
ed by huge katmai. and their occur
renee in the Hawaiian Islands and the
Philippines" says bulletin from the
Washington headquarters Of the Ma
tional Geographic Society
''Nolcanism, however, is not a far
away thing. after all The renewal
of activity al Mount L.assen. in north
ern California. early in March empha =
sizes the fact that we actually have a
live volcano within the boundaries of
one of our most populous states This
example Of one of natures most pow
eTful forces is only about 200 miles
north of san Francisco and 600 miles
south Of Portland.
Eruption OF 1914.
When Mount Lassen became active
in 1914 it was an epoch making event.
for ii was the first volcanic eruption
within the borders of the United
states proper known to have taken
place within historic times Stones
and mud We're thrown for half mile
from the crater. while ashes drifted
for fifteen to twenty miles. Previ-
ously the region had been sort of
Yellowstone. with boiling mud
springs emitting sulphurous gases
and = few asitated springs that ap-
proach geysers in activity.
Mount LaSsen does not present a
case or volcano appearing mex
piicatly in peaceful countryside 1t
Is on the edge of out of the greatest
anc1ent lava flows in the worId-a
flow which covers large areas in
northern California. Oregon. wash
lnston and Idaho. Upon another edge
OF the same lava flow is situated Vel
l"wstone National Park. with its near
volcanic phenomena.
On this same flow. farther north
are the huge volcanic cones. now ex-
tlnct. of Mount Rainier Mount Hood
and Mount Shasta. The activity re-
sponsible for these large peaks and
FOR the extensive flow took place hun
dreds of thousands or even milIions
or years ago, before the last ice age.
me region Immediately around Las
sen alone apparently has preserved A
chahnei with the deep fires
Volcanic National Park.
"A few miles north of Iassen is q
cind,r cone from which proba blv tooL
place the latest eruption in the Unit
eu states before 1914. Traditions
among the Indians of the neighbor-
hood tell of a time. believed to have
been 200 or 900 years ago. when
smoke and cinders belched forth from
this peak. darkening the sky for days
and scattering ashes over Il large
area. The age of trees growing in
the crater of this cone indicate. by
one Interpretation. that there also
was slight eruption about 500 years
ago. but the America of that day.
without telegraph wires and news
services. was ignorant of an eruption
If one actually took place Material
! from one of the eruptions of this vent
damned small valley. creating a
lake in which the standing stumps OF
drowned trees still are to be found.
In 1907. when all volcanic vents
were believed to be extinct. Lassen
! and Cinder Cone were set apart as
small national monuments to serve
as examples of recent volcanic activ-
ity. Since 1914 when it became
known that there was present activ-
ity in the region, an area of 125
square miles around the craters has
been made into the Lassen Volcanic
National Park. Automobile roads
have been constructed from the near
est railroad station, about forty miles
away. and hundreds of tourists have
visited the region