Born in Stafford, Ohio in 1854, William Steel is regarded as the "Father of Crater Lake National Park." Steel spent years lobbying and fighting for National Park status of Crater Lake.

He served as the park's second superintendent, pushed for development of Crater Lake, co-founded the Mazama's mountaineering club, and did much to conserve the natural resources of Crater Lake National Park.

• Controversy Involving the Replacement of William F. Arant With William G. Steel as Superintendent of Crater Lake National Park: 1912-1913 - Administrative History of Crater Lake National Park, Chapter 7

• Administration of Crater Lake National Park Under Superintendent William G. Steel: 1913-1916 - Administrative History of Crater Lake National Park, Chapter 8

• Biographical Sketch: Early Career of William Gladstone Steel: 1854-1893 - Administrative History of Crater Lake National Park, Appendix A2

• Early Efforts to Establish Crater Lake National Park: 1885-1893 - Administrative History of Crater Lake National Park, Chapter 2

• Seventeen Years to Success: John Muir, William Gladstone Steel, and the Creation of Yosemite and Crater Lake National Parks by Stephen R. Mark

• William Steel - Smith Brothers Chronological History of Crater Lake National Park

• OPB's Oregon Experience Profiles William Steel - February 13, 2007 - Crater Lake News -  William Gladstone Steel was one of Oregon's most active mountaineers and advocates for national parks and forest conservation in the Pacific Northwest. He is best known as the father of Crater Lake National Park and the founder of the Mazamas, the West Coast's oldest continual mountaineering club. The next episode of Oregon Experience examines the life of this complex and sometimes controversial man. Tune in to the stations of Oregon Public Broadcasting on Monday, February 19 at 9pm.

• Crater Lake: preserved in all its glory - February 13, 2007 - Crater Lake News

• Lake retains beauty after 100 years - May 22, 2002 - Crater Lake News - For 17 years William Gladstone Steel generally made a pest of himself, doggedly stumping around Oregon and the halls of the nation's capitol advocating national park status for Crater Lake.

• Old stories about W. F. Arant and Steel come back again and again for family - May 13, 2002 - Crater Lake News - Whenever Arant family members get together, even 100 years later, the subject of W.F. Arant, also known as William Franklin, and his tumultuous final months as Crater Lake National Park's first superintendent come up.

• Steel Points (PDF file). Steel, William Gladstone. Vol. 1, No. 2. January, 1907

• The Mountains of Oregon (PDF file) By William Gladstone Steel, 1890.

William Gladstone Steel Standing in front of the superintendent's office at Crater Lake National Park, 1915. Courtesy of Klamath County Museum