THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
H. E. WADSWORTH, Superintendent
VOLUME 17
FEBRUARY, 1915
NUMBER 5
CRATER LAKE
IT IS R E A L L Y U S E OF T H E W ORLD’S W ONDERS
the m any natu ral w onders of O regon there are none
th a t surpass C rater Lake. As the years roll by it is
certain to attract th e atten tio n of to u rists and scien t
ists in greater and g reater num bers
In the last
num ber of the Ladd & Bush Q uarterly, a splendid
publication issued at Salem , O regon, we find the
follow ing m ost attractiv e article:
A fter spending a day on th e lake a traveler of extended E uropean e x
perience rem arked, “ T h ere is n o th in g like this any o th er place in th e
w orld. W ere it in E urope it would be visited by thousands and be
know n all over the w o rld .”
C rater L ake is located on the sum m it of the Cascade R ange of m oun
tains about sixty-five miles no rth of th e C aliforina line and eighty miles
northeast of M edford. T h e road leading to it w inds m uch of the way
up the R ogue river canon. In 1853 it was first discovered by the w hite
m an when a prospector, J. W . H illm an , in his w anderings came upon
it, but it was long previously know n to th e Indians, who regarded it
w ith awe as an abode of a G reat S pirit and did not dare to look on its
w aters. F ounded on th e deductions of geologists it is claimed th at once
above the lake stood as lofty a m ountain as M ount S hasta. T h e rim of
the lake at an altitu d e of 8,000 feet and M ount S hasta at equal height
have the same diam eter. A subsidence occurred and the upper 6 ,0 0 0
feet of th e m ountain was engulfed into the bowels of th e earth , leaving
a hole 4 ,0 0 0 feet deep, w ith a diam eter of nearly six miles and a circu m
ference of thirty-five m iles. As th e ages passed th is cavity filled w ith
w ater to th e dep th of 2 ,0 0 0 feet. T h e rim is precipitous, not a co n tin u
ous cliff, but m ade up of m any cliffs whose horizontal ex ten t is generally
greater th an the vertical. T h e h eig h t of th is rim above the w ater varies
from 5 0 0 feet at one point on the south side to over 2 ,0 0 0 feet at other
points. A t a few places it is possible to approach the lake, but not with