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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 21, 1921)
N VOL. XL PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORXIXG, AUGUST 21, 1921 NO. 34 7 N It Sire amPlows D othBelowAnd Above Surf ac e I 1-1 I Lost Riyer-A I Siranqe BY DE WITT HARRY. RIDER HAGGARD wrote one of his greatest romances around a river that flowed underground. It is a thrilling tale of a boiling stream flowing first along the surface of the earth and then taking a sudden notion to occupy a subterranean channel Other noted writers of fic tion have used the same theme to great advantage, and in their quest for the strange and startling have not neglected to call Into being great lakes and caverns under the surface of the earth, hidden from the eye of man. All of these stories might have been written in Oregon, for In this state can be found every one of their inventions. It Is not likely that many of these authors had any particular place in mind when they created this figment of their imagination, but counterparts for most of their far fetched tales in the matter of geo graphical oddities readily can be lo cated in this state. Take the tale of the Lost River, the one that plunged to darkness under a mountain range, emerging many miles away in a land totally strange from that of its ori gin. In this story an inhabitant of the upper reaches of this stream em barked in a small boat and safely emerged, after harrowing experi ences, in. a foreign land. In Oregon the Lost River has its beginning far tip on the plateau east of the Cas cade mountain range and fully half of its time is spent wandering below the surface of the earth. Undprffrnund River Cartons. At its beginning it i3 not unusual, ft rivulet startlingly similar to many other mountain streams. But this fast-flowing traveler on its Journey to the ocean develops a character all Its own, for instead of staying In a normal bed like most well-behaved rivers do, it takes the bit in its own teeth and frequently goes under in stead' of over the great rocks that eeek to make its downward path dif ficult. Lost River flows through some of the most startling country in this state; it is a. tributary of the Mackenzie river and its waters there fore finally find their way to the ocean through the Willamette and Columbia. Men with, an intimate knowledge, of their state will usually admit that on the headwaters of the Mackenzie and its reaches is located one of the greatest game countries in their ex perience and this means in the world. Lost river has its source far up on the side of the Three Sisters, -coming down the middle divide of this great triumvirate of mountains through a series of fertile slush meadows that furnish pasture for good-sized herds 1 Of deer and elk. One of the largest elk herds known graze over this sec tion of Oregon and the magnificent animals present one of the sights of the country, as they are fully protect ed by law, and reports are that they are increasing in number. The hunt ing in the great timber of this sec tion is unparalleled and numberless bear are also to be found. Water Heard Below Surface. Though not many explorers have traced the entire route of Lost river to its junction with the Mackenzie the rangers on duty In that region have many tales to relate of the as tonishing habit that the stream has for going into retirement. Often for several miles there is not the faint est trace of any water and few indi cations that there has been a flow f any size at the bottom of the val ley. Then again within a few hun dre yards the river will again make its appearance, larger and with more water than when it took its last dive below. At some places it can be heard as it flows along under the surface. This occurs not once but several times in a few miles and In some places the rangers are certain of the existence of large subterran ean lakes. Large springs' fed from some underground source occur in many places and the geological for mation of the country must be great ly out of the ordinary. All through this longitudinal section of the state numberless caves have their location, the largest possible being those in Josephine county and underground streams and lakes can easily be noted. North of Lost river are some Btrange formations, caves being found In the serrations that occurred when this great range of mountains was formed. Some of .these caves are al most unbelievable in their extent and others have extremely odd contents. One of the most noted of these cav erns is found a short distance from Bend and contains ice. Now how this is kept there in all seasons of the year is a mystery, for as far as can be ascertained, there is no chemical refrigeration. The fact exists that these ice caves, and there are a num ber of them through the state as far south as the California boundary, sel dom show any depreciation of their contents even In the hottest of sum mer weather. Therefore several of them located near' tourist hotels are favored loafing places for the long summer days, the visitors entering when the" sun Is at Its best and get ting cooled off. Source Likely la Great Cavern. As the majority of the rivers in Oregon have their source" in the per petual snows of the high mountain regions it does not take too great a etretch of the imagination to figure Lost river In a similar role, only in stead of starting from the exposed fields of snow and ice it might have its inception in those located under ground. However this may be, the stream dives and emerges seemingly with abandon and some person who Is interested in searching out occur rences of this kind will doubtless one day trace it all out. It is a strange fact that while these great mountains tiat o to make up one of the grand- s yC.S ..J-.'.i;.vJ-:.;..;;.-l.-.-.' .' ,- -,-r.ia...-. ..-..-aa-s ., . rssSj&w&r'S-m . r . .,m-nuimm.ic.Mim,.'.v t"-- rrc. "v"--ir- " 1 ' 111 " 11 11 - i i j ..i i mmm-m - t m m " , " ' . ' ' , W S. V-,. V;-; Y - ' 'ff--i..v:.:,-r-ri!-.-:-i--Ji,-:.-:::-M--! - , : - pf?$- f i ,. j A- " f . S s A ! - " . ' - 1 " w Ar? -' . ' -' r t -i r ; i,'''Vf ' 1 N M ! 1 1 M It M H JI I M M II est ranges in the country eeemingly present a solid appearance, their sides ' are sometimes pockmarked with cav erns, most of them the result of vol canic action at the time the Creator was moulding the country. ' The country out from Eugene and east is little known, though here is .ocated one of the greatest of natural passes to the vast interior empire of the state. Following the Mackenzie from its junction with the Willamette the traveler finds magnificent vistas oiiened out as the road climbs through this great natural gap in the solid mountain wall. To the south lie the Three Sisters, magnificent mountains figuring greatly in Indian lore. These three peaks, starting out of the one sreat base, rise to over 10,000 feet each, the southern one being the high est 10,352 feet. Mackenzie pass road is open, but it is not rated as any tco desirable by men familiar with touring . conditions in the state. In any event it can be traveled, as sev eral parties have made the. journey - stirs-A t .;i-f " f s i . , MA.fc j", X . " , V - - .f i H i , ? ' " - r s Til r , . -y-: -ft, - - r within the last few months, among them being photographers and men searching for the beauties of Oregon i.nd their reports are of the most glowing nature. Great Mountains . Divided. On the eastern side of the divide the Mackenzie pass road reaches al most directly into Bend and Prine v.lle. one straight shoot being to Redmond. " It is one of the ehortest routes to the interior of the state and likely will, within a few years, be developed and made into one of the regulation hard-surface highways. The route passes almost between two of the greatest national forests the Santiam to the south and the Cascade to the north. It is laid out through a series of reservations and the nat ural beauties of the region will like ly, stand for some time, -as they are under the protection of the federal government." Of -recent months a number of the foremost writers of the country, have TisiUi - thJa - eoOoa - . aud have been lavish in their praise. It is a part of the state that is not known as well as it might be by Ore gonians. As a result of the visits of the au thors a number of stories are appear ing in national publications paying lavish tribute to the wonders of the country and this is resulting in the lest of the nation getting an excel lent Idea of what is to be expected In the west. It is more than likely that they have as good an idea of (.astern Oregon as do the people who live just a . few miles west in the same state, for comparitively few of the natives of this land, of wonders take , the trouble to venture . far of f their hard-surface roads. An expe rienced tourist a few months ago made a strange criticism; of hard surface highways. He said that they spoiled the drivers who had learned to expect too much, and aa -a. result stuck closely to the. easily, traversed sections of their state instead of em - ulatiiLS .the, ctoaeecBplrit-ancLseefcins .. i i . : - v I to explore the other parts of their own commonwealth.' Not only is it in the matter of scenery that the eastern section of the state' offers wonders, but in the matter of opportunity. It is a domain of which little is understood, sparsly settled and the ' mineral and other possibilities hardly scratched. Though it is not very well known at this time great enterprises are seeking for the ratural wealth of the land and some .startling surprises are promised within a few years in the matter of location of oil fields and other hid den mineral resources. The great forests of this country are being worked to the utmost and their prod uct being shipped in immense quanti ties. Thi3 is not far from the range of mountains that rears its forbidding height as a barrier, and of which the Mackenzie . pass is . a , portion. This pass rises to 5004 feet in its way over the range, but -in eastern Oregon the plateau on, which much of the coun- try; stands to pearly-a mile. Ilia h the. Photo by Weister. r.ltitude of Denver, but lacking mush of its blustery winds and frigid temperature-Donald Mackenzie Explores. Historical associations attach tnem telves to most of the spots in Oregon and with most of the names given mountains, rivers and other land marks there is some tale in connec tion. It is doubtful if Donald Mac kenzie ever saw Lost river at the time he made his journey up the Wil lamette, but it seems fitting that he should be given some recognition on account of his services to the state. Relief maps of the state give some idea of this country, how the Willam ette has its interior valley nestling in a fold between two great moun tain ranges with the ocean to the west and yet another great valley o .the east.. This eastern, portion of our state is so different in every way from the west,' climate, -altitude, for-t-sts and other characteristics, that It would aaeua. to-manx. another land. Mackenzie was one of those first men in this country who visited its inner most points. Early in the 19th century John Jacob Astor of New York sent two parties out to explore the Facific northwest, the Oregon country. At that time the Hudson's Bay company of gentlemen adventurers were op erating in this region and had one of their posts located at Fort Vancou ver. Asior was a trader and did most of his work on the frontiers of the country and was always in search of new fields. . His expeditions were dispatched only after careful preparation and study or the country and every man of them was hand picked, they were the cream of the great Americans who believed that in the west lay a great empire. His policy was to have the two bodies of his men meet at a given point, and after long and careful study the mouth of the Columbia was picked. The two parties got away about the same time, but the ocean party made the best time and reached the mouth of the Columbia in 1S11, es- tablishing the city of Astoria there. The overland party found nearly in surmountable dffculties in traversing the unmapped and nearly unknown region from the Mississippi west and only arrived . a year later, reaching Astoria in 1SJ2. Thej- found their other section established with a fort and ample protection already pro vided and they immediately began their barter with the Indians. One of their duties was to explore the in terior and several expeditions were sent out to do this. The overland party had been in charge of Wilson Price Hunt and Ramsey Crooks and Donald Mackenzie was one of their trusted lieutenants durinsr the long journey. He prved to be a daring and brave man of the highest type and it seemed no more than fitting that he be chosen one of the head men of the party to trace the Wil lamette river to its source. Astoriana Follow Willamette. This he did, though it is not known whether they finally reached the ex treme headwaters of the Willamette nut at me spot wnere tiugene now stands a fair-sized river emptied into the Willamette and the doughty men of the Astor command honored their companion who had proved himself such a reliable man. by naming this stream the Mackenzie, and so it is to this day. The Mackenzie river tra verses the high mountain pass that was later of great value to the new comers to Oregon in reaching the fertile interior of the Willamette, where the first towns were located, and this pass was later named after the river. It is into It that Lost river empties after it has spent much of its time on a unique journey first above and then underthe mountains. This is but one of the wonders of this great region that was first vis ited by the Astorians and they did not spend much of their time search ing for curiosities but in a thorough mapping of the country. Lost river and the strange ice and stalactite caverns near and below there havc been discoveries of late years and what manner of other nov elties are hidden in the mountains of v that region will likely be made pub lic soon. It has been a section of the state seldom visited until a very short time ago, but-as the population increases as the other Americans learn of the manifold wonders to be seen here, and a3 the roads 'of the state are developed there will be more travel and more will see and be astounded. Almost the last chance to be a first-hand pioneer In this region Is at hand and if some other daring Oregonian would like to have a cave or other strange discovery named after himself and go down to . posterity thus honored, now is the time to get action SCHOOL SYSTEM IMPROVED United States Educators Reorgan izing Methods in Peru. LIMA. Peru. Virtually the - entire ' educational system of Peru is how under the direction of American pro fessors who were called here recently to complete an educational reform movement begun ten years ago. The foreign educational experts are to develop the system, from the pri mary grades to the university, in ac cordance with the special needs of each section of the country. Doctor Harry Erwln Bard, for merly secretary of the Pan-American-Society of the United States and for- . merly connected with the Philippine educational mission, was chosen by President Leguia to direct the re organization. Doctor Bard has been appointed general of education and under him are more than 20 Ameri can professors. The country has been divided into three regions. The regional di rectors are John K. Breedin of South Carolina, William W. Andrews of Massachusetts and Glenn L. Caulkins of Washington. F. B. Spaulding of Vermont is director of libraries, L. M. Wilson of Illinois is director of examinations and studies and F. L. Crone, formerly director -of the Philippine school system, is director of school house construction. . A new university called the Uni versity of Technical Schools has been created. Its branches are engineer ing, agriculture, pedagogical sciences, industrial arts and commerce. The last three branches are respectively under the direction of H. G. Lull of Kansas, E. C. Phillips and Dr. William E. Dunn, formerly of the University of Texas. Fourteen other American professors have been distributed among the secondary colleges.
