Nature Notes From Crater Lake
Volume 1, No. 1, July 1928
The Collapse of Mt. Mazama
By Earl U. Homuth
While illustrating for the benefit of a
small group on a field trip, the collapse of Mt. Mazama occurred to the
satisfaction of all concerned, including the naturalist. The peak had
been reconstructed with a pile of loose earth beside the trail. A stick
was pushed into the summit of the pile, to produce a crater. This stick
passed without resistance into a gopher hole below the intended crater,
whereupon the ancient mountain promptly fell in upon itself, leaving a
caldera of the proper proportion to serve as the setting for Crater
Lake.
