Later Sprague philosophized “I do not know who first saw this lake, nor do I think it should be named after the discoverer.” [9] It seems odd that, although Sprague mentioned in his August 25 account that “the whole surroundings prove this lake to be the crater of an extinct volcano,” [10] the appropriateness of such a name evidently did not occur to him.
Sprague estimated that the rim rose perpendicularly between 700 and 800 feet above the water and that the lake was roughly circular and between seven and eight miles in diameter. The group also noted the cone-shaped and densely wooded Wizard Island near the western shore. A slightly different account of this event was given by Judge William M. Colvig of Medford, Oregon, in 1931. He stated that twenty-five soldiers on a trip from Fort Klamath camped near the present park headquarters area and that from there some of the men wandered up to the rim and saw the lake. A vote among the members of the party resulted in the name of Lake Majesty. [11] One of the members of the detachment, R.J. Clark, later recalled that the lake was found during an expedition to locate a pass for the wagon road through the Cascades when it suddenly came into full view of Captain Sprague and Sergeant Stearns who were walking a little apart from the rest of the company. [12]
Whatever the precise details of the third discovery of Crater Lake, this was the first party known to have actually reached the water’s edge. An account of the trip and of the christening of the lake, written by Sprague on August 25–the second printed story of its existence–appeared in the Oregon Sentinel (Jacksonville) on September 9, 1865. Several aspects of Sprague’s visit to the lake are notable: his perceptions of it as being of volcanic origin, his description of Wizard Island as a remnant of volcanic activity, and his observations that the lake “will be visited by thousands hereafter, and some person would do well to build upon its banks a house where the visitor could be entertained, and to keep a boat, or boats upon its waters, that its beauties might be seen to a better advantage.” [13]
***previous*** — ***next***
