While the bills were under consideration by the congressional committees, the Oregon state legislature, Portland and Albany city councils, and Portland Board of Trade submitted memorials and petitions to Congress in support of the proposed legislation. National periodicals endorsed the bills by printing articles on the scenic and scientific wonders of Crater Lake. One such article by Clarence E. Dutton appeared in the February 26, 1886, issue of Science under the title, “Crater Lake, Oregon, A Proposed National Reservation.” Among his observations Dutton noted:
In the heart of the Cascade Range there is a little sheet of water which is destined to take high rank among the wonders of the world. It is a unique phenomenon, taken as a whole, though some of its component features, taken singly, may not be unexampled. . . .
It is deeper and richer than the blue of the sky above on the clearest day. Just at the margin of the lake it shades into a turquoise, which is, if possible, more beautiful still. Ordinarily the water surface is mirror-like, and reflects an inverted image of the surrounding cliffs in detail. Very majestic, too, are the great environing walls. On the west side they reach their greatest altitude, rising almost vertically more than 2,000 feet above the water. It is difficult to compare this scene with any other in the world, for there is none that sufficiently resembles it; but, in a general way, it may be said that it is of the same order of impressiveness and beauty as the Yosemite valley. It was touching to see the worthy but untutored people, who had ridden a hundred miles in freight-wagons to behold it, vainly striving to keep back tears as they poured forth their exclamations of wonder and joy akin to pain. Nor was it less so to see so cultivated and learned a man as my companion hardly able to command himself to speak with his customary calmness.
To the geologist this remarkable feature is not less impressive than it is to the lover of the beautiful . . . . [8]
Despite these efforts, however, opposition to the bills was overwhelming and they were never reported. [9]
Meanwhile, Steel continued his efforts to involve the federal government in Crater Lake’s future. In July 1886 he persuaded John Wesley Powell, Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, to send a party headed by Dutton to the area to make a thorough examination by surveying and sounding the lake. Steel was appointed to prepare the boats and equipment to be used in the sounding process and to help in carrying out other scientific studies of the lake. [10]
On December 12, 1887, Senator Dolph introduced a bill (S. 16) similar to the one he had submitted the previous year. Senator Preston B. Plumb of Kansas, chairman of the Committee on Public Lands to which the bill was referred, accordingly solicited the views of various conservationists on the merits of the bill. One of those contacted was Powell. In his lengthy analytical response Powell provided observations on the unique scenic qualities of the proposed park and made a series of boundary extension proposals:
