Editor's note: This article appeared
in the Tacoma Ledger
on September 6, 1896. Excerpts are reprinted here to show how the
Mazamas' special relationship with Crater Lake began. Their excursion to
the lake occurred almost six years before establishment of the national
park but this outing inspired the first formal talks aimed at
interpreting Crater Lake and its surroundings. Reports from the three
scientists mentioned appeared in the 1897 edition of Mazama,
the
club's yearbook.The Mazamas have just returned from
their annual outing. They climbed Mt. Pitt [McLoughlin], christened
Mount Mazama, and illuminated Crater Lake and Rogue River falls. It was
the most successful expedition yet chronicled by the society's historian
and to be long remembered by hundreds who met from several states to
explore the summit of the Cascades in the heart of Oregon. In point of
numbers it was an important occasion, and it is estimated by one of the
government scientists, who was established three weeks at the lake, that
nearly 1000 men and women were encamped upon its banks. Of these perhaps
seventy-five were Mazamas, members of the northwestern organization of
alpine climbers, all of whom have ascended at least one mountain over
10,000 feet high. None others need apply, for this club purposes to have
only genuine mountain enthusiasts identified with its accomplishments.
Portion of the Mazamas' leaflet promoting their trip
to Crater Lake.
Courtesy of the Klamath County Museum.
To me Crater Lake is the most
impressively beautiful body of water in all the world that I have found.
It lies on the very ridge of the Cascades, in Klamath County, southern
Oregon. [The lake is] five or six miles in diameter, nearly circular,
the vast crater of an extinct volcano...
Wagons may be driven to the very edge
of the mountain that contains the lake, where it breaks suddenly off
into abrupt spurs and rough precipices that plunge directly 2000 feet
below into almost unknown depths. This volcano-hewn rim, unpolished and
severe, extends for twenty-five miles around and above the lake, marking
the contour of the huge pit wherein the water serenely lies...
In the western portion of Crater Lake
rises Wizard Island, a perfect cinder cone...Its steep, sliding walls of
pumice, sparsely covered with evergreen timber, make tedious climbing.
The top breaks off suddenly into a depression, one hundred feet deep and
about four hundred feet in diameter, known as the Witch's Cauldron. Here
the Mazamas held their business meeting, electing a number of new
members, many of whom had only qualified a few days before, on the
summit of Mt. Pitt. The same evening witnessed the most important
ceremony of the expedition.
Several hundred people gathered around
a huge camp fire to celebrate the christening of a once majestic
mountain, unnamed throughout time's changes, and remarkable for the deep
blue cup it has for centuries protected. Appropriate toasts were
offered, introducing interesting facts on the geology and nomenclature
of the lake, its fish and fish foods, forest preservation, trees and
plants and the wonderful features of the adjacent mountains. The
culminating event was the christening of "Mount Mazama" over those
rugged slopes. I had the honor to break a bottle filled with melted snow
brought from its last crater. The name Mazama will be entered upon the
government maps and remain in use. This is right inasmuch as no original
name has been sacrificed to commemorate our society...
One of the most interesting features of
the expedition, enhancing materially the Mazamas' pleasure, was the
presence of several of the government's most eminent scientists, who
pursued their various studies and observations during our stay. Their
interest in the society and participation in its plans was fully
appreciated by the members. Every evening instructive talks were held
around camp fires, and in the day time these gentlemen accompanied
several investigating expeditions around the lake.
A South American mountain goat is the
Mazama's namesake. The group's logo highlights this connection
and features the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey symbol for
mountain peaks.
|
Frederick Coville, chief government
botanist, exhibited a collection of plants growing in this vicinity, and
gave a number of interesting talks on their distribution and growth.
Several unusual species are found, and among the trees are noticed the
noble fir, Alpine hemlock, and Tamarack pine.
Dr. C. Hart Merriam, assisted by Prof.
Bailey and other scientists, made a collection of twenty-five different
species of mammals, forwarding all the specimens to the Smithsonian
Institution. Mr. J.S. Diller is known as the volcano sharp of the
government geological survey. One of his favorite retreats is Crater
Lake, which he considers more wonderful than any body of water known. He
is now engaged in a geological map of the same and has been spending
several weeks making observations for this particular work. He is an
interesting, and at the same time economical speaker, with the faculty
of weaving facts into a charming drapery of language. In fact, contact
with these men of exact knowledge is most instructive and on this
occasion made doubly fascinating the freedom, the enjoyment and the
witchery of the mountains.
