<<
1951
1952
1953
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Dick Brown of San Diego, California begins his long career at
Crater Lake. Dick holds the record for holding the most seasonal
and permanent positions in the Park. (1952 - 1957) Seasonal
Naturalist, (1957 - 1960) Assistant Chief of
Interpretation, (1960 - 1963) Interp Chief at Muir Woods, (March
1963 - 1966) Chief of Interp at C.L., (1966 - 1970) Chief of
Park Research, (1970 until retirement) Chief of Research at
Point Reyes.
March 15
Ernest P. Leavitt, Park Superintendent since 1937 retires to
Central Point, Oregon. At the time of his retirement, Mr.
Leavitt had served the longest of any employee within the
National Park Service; 46 years. In a letter dated August 11,
1978 Mrs. Katherine Leavitt writes, “I have lots of interesting
memories - some about the bears. They were in our home twice -
resulting in the death of the second one. Also one wrecked the
upholstery in Mr. Leavitt’s car the day before he was to meet
the director. Mr. Levitt formed a children’s bottle brigade to
pick up bottles and debris in the Park after gasoline rationing
was over and visitors came in droves scattering bottles along
the roadsides and leaving Kleenex blossoms on the shrubbery.”
March 20
Record snow depth of 218 inches on ground at headquarters. The
average seasonal maximum snow depth at Headquarters usually is
155 inches.
April 1
John B. Wosky enters on duty as Superintendent. Wosky had been
appointed to the position on March 3.
April 27
Dr. and Mrs. Arnold Toynbee visit the Park.
May 31
Two cars collide, 0.7 miles above Headquarters. Six people are
injured, with two ambulances being called out from Klamath
Falls. A coyote is killed by a car on the South Road.
July
Heavy rains and rock slides wash out completely the lower
sections of the Lake Trail, three days before opening date. So
much permanent reconstruction was required on the Trail, that it
remained closed the entire summer.
July 19
Albert Marston Jones, 56, of Concord, Calf. and Charles Patrick
Culhane, 52, of Detroit, Mich., are found murdered on the South
Road, 3.5 miles north of the south boundary. Both men were
executives with United Motors Service, a subsidiary of General
Motors. The case has never been solved. The two men, taking a
shortcut through the Park, had driven on ahead of their wives,
agreeing to meet at a summer cabin at Union Creek. The men’s
wives found the car the men had been driving, a green 1951
Pontiac, parked along a turnout overlooking Annie Creek
Canyon. The doors to the car were standing open. When the
missing husbands could not be found, the rangers were
alerted. The two bodies were found a short time later, about a
quarter of a mile off the road, in an open stand of Ponderosa
Pine. Both men were found with their hands bound with rope,
their shoes removed and powder burns to their heads, indicating
an execution style of murder. The two men had been gagged but
not tied up. Their stockings were clean which indicated they had
not walked after removing their shoes. While Jones’ shoes were
lying nearby, Culhane’s shoes were never found. In the
excitement of the discovery, dozens of people trampled the
murder site, destroying much of the evidence. Since the entrance
rangers during these years recorded the license number of every
car entering the park, the FBI began a massive investigation,
taking years to trace each tag number. Some people were even
tracked to Europe. Several local suspects were identified, but
lacking hard evidence, no arrests were ever made.
Virginia Jones Cota, A.M. Jones’ daughter, always felt that the
killing of the two men was actually a murder, made to look like
a robbery. Even though over $300 was taken from their wallets
and their watches taken, the men’s luggage was left in the
car. In a letter to his daughter one month before he was
murdered, Jones wrote, “Things are worse than they have ever
been.” In a letter dated, Sept. 29, 1990 to the Mail Tribune,
but never mailed, Ms. Cota writes, “I know who was responsible
for my father’s murder. I don’t know the murder’s name, but I
know the organization that arranged for my father’s
death. I
just don’t believe the story that it was a simple robbery. I
have a feeling there was so much more to this, that the people
who killed them knew them.”
August
Flocks of California Tortoise Shell butterflies are seen
migrating through the Park.
August 11
The 7th arrowhead ever found in Crater Lake is found by a Park
visitor near Discovery Point.
August 19
An inspection repot notes that the dining room ceiling in the
Lodge is seriously deteriorated. The Lodge’s septic tank is
reported to be inadequate and effluent discharges in seepage
trenches allow effluent to run in considerable volume down the
mountain to Munson Valley. Sewage disposal at the Lodge is
totally inadequate and its correction calls for emergency action
before reopening next season.
Summer
The Crater Lake (Mazama) Newt is extensively studied. Hundreds
has been observed massing under debris. Since the newt is not
found anywhere else in the world and since they were not in the
Lake prior it its formation, this has become one of the most
clearly dated cases of sub speciation available anyplace in the
world.
42 Clark’s Nutcrackers banded by the Farmers.
The Lake level is now 6 feet below the 1873 level. The
government boat house, constructed in 1942, 18 inches above Lake
level, is now so nearly submerged, the gunwales of a row boat
will just slip under its eaves.
September
The South Entrance Kiosk sustains $300 in damages after being
struck by a car.
September 26
New Mt. Scott Lookout completed at a cost of $12,682, replacing
the old 1924 building.
Season Visitation: 323,410
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1951
1952
1953
>>
