VI. Steps Leading Toward
Establishment of Crater Lake National Park
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H. The Dutton Survey
In July 1886, in a further effort to
involve the federal government in Crater Lake's future, Will Steel
persuaded Director Powell to send another Geological Survey party under
Captain Dutton to the area to make a more thorough examination by
surveying and sounding the lake. Steel was appointed by the government
to prepare the boats and equipment to be used in the sounding process
and to have charge of the work. Three boats were built in Portland, the
largest measuring 26 feet long and christened Cleetwood (Golden Arrow).
This craft and two other skiffs were shipped to Ashland on flatcars and
hauled the next one hundred miles by wagon. The running gear of a wagon
was utilized for Cleetwood, with a framework constructed on it to hold
the boat in a strong canvas swing. Accompanying the expedition as a
labor force were soldiers from Vancouver Barracks in Washington. The
total party leaving Ashland on July 7 numbered thirty-five men and
sixty-five horses and mules. Upon their arrival at the lake a week
later, preparations were begun immediately to lower the boats into the
water. They were placed in a framework of heavy timbers, upside down,
and rigidly secured. The men then lowered them to the water by means of
a heavy cable passed around a tree on the rim and played out as needed.
By this laborious process, lasting for eight hours, sixteen men finally
got a boat lowered to the foot of the caldera wall. Much peril was
involved due to the steepness of the slope and the precarious footing
resulting from melting snow and unstable rock slides. A trail was then
laid out from the summit to make the daily descent and ascent of the rim
easier during the survey work.
Illustration 6. Cleetwood on Crater Lake.
Wizard Island and Llao Rock in background. Courtesy Oregon Historical
Society.
The first measurement of the lake
was attempted by Steel and other members of the party a few rods from shore.
Casting the lead wire with a weight attached overboard, the men watched intently
as the line passed over the pulley. Their expressions became incredulous as the
line passed over the six-hundred-foot mark, then down eight, nine, and one
thousand feet without stopping. After a quick check to make sure the machine was
working properly, the line was again played out, and did not touch bottom until
the weight had dropped, amidst great excitement, to 1,210 feet. In all, 168
soundings were made during uniform circlings of the lake, ranging in depth from
93 feet to 2,008 feet. Two parties of engineers on shore recorded the depths by
determining the position of the boat at each cast by means of two plane tables
planted on the rim walls. During the survey it was determined that the bottom of
the lake was nearly flat except for three steep protrusions:
The largest of these [Wizard Island) rises above
the surface of the water and discloses itself as a large cinder cone. . . .
The other two prominences are disclosed only by
the plummet for their tops are submerged, one at a depth of about 450 feet, the
other at a depth of about 825 feet. The depth of the floor upon which these
prominences stand varies from 1,600 to 2,000 feet. . . . So far as known to me
this is the deepest fresh water in the United States.
[16]
While the soundings progressed
from July 11 to August 5, Captain Dutton studied the various formations around
the lake; at the same time the topographic details were worked out on a map by
Mark B. Kerr and Eugene Ricksecker. The dimensions of the surface were figured
at 6-1/4 miles in length by 4-1/4 miles in width. Dutton, meanwhile, assessed
that the lake had no visible outlet, thus discounting theories that it was the
source of the Rogue River. The importance of the Dutton survey in the ultimate
preservation of Crater Lake cannot be overemphasized, for it was the first
expedition to scientifically determine the physical facts about the lake and
dispel or confirm what had heretofore been only conjecture. (The Geological
Survey large-scale map and description of Crater Lake was not released for
another ten years, however.) Another important accomplishment included the
official naming of several significant points of interest:
The Watchman: named for the party of engineers
stationed on the summit to receive signals and record the soundings taken.
Glacier Peak: named for its glacial striations;
first known as Maxwell Peak for Sir [Lord?] William Maxwell who had earlier
explored the lake; later renamed for John Wesley Hillman.
Llao Rock: named by Steel in 1885 for the Indian spirit considered to be Chief
of the Under-world; formerly known as Mount Jackson in honor of Major James
Jackson, U.S.A.
Palisades: name given to a section of the northeast rim because of its supposed
resemblance to the Palisades on the Hudson River.
Redcloud Cliff: section of rim named for red color
of the rocks.
Sentinel Rock: prominent rock further south of
Redcloud Cliff.
Kerr Notch: dip in rim at head of Sand Creek named
for Mark B. Kerr, chief engineer of Dutton Survey.
Dutton Cliff: named by Steel for Captain Dutton.
Vidae Cliff: named to honor a young woman of
Portland.
Eagle Crags: series of jagged rocks on south rim
where eagles have nested.
Cathedral Rock: later changed to Castle Crest;
named for resemblance to cathedral spires.
Prospect Rock: prominent rock on edge of rim
opposite old upper camping ground. Later called Victor Rock in Honor of Mrs.
Frances Fuller Victor.
Eagle Cove: small bay where trail from rim to
water would be located.
Steel Bay: just east of Llao Rock; named by J.S.
Diller for Will G. Steel.
Cleetwood Cove: named for boat used by Dutton
survey party and left behind on their departure.
Grotto Cove: named after some caves found at the
water level.
Phantom Ship: the prominent rock jutting out of
the water under Dutton Cliff.
[17]
