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.