From: Ben Truwe
Date: March 14, 2018 at 7:05:30 PM PDT
To: Larry Smith
DISCOVERER OF CRATER LAKE FOUND HEAT ON SURFACE
Will G. Steel, superintendent of Crater Lake Park, has received the following from J. W. Hillman, the first white man to view the lake, concerning the discovery:
“Hope Villa, La., Sept. 14, 1914.
“Hon. Will G. Steel, Medford, Or.
“Dear Sir: Before I could thank you for the ‘History of Crater Lake,’ which you so kindly sent me, I have received your letter of September 7, requesting further items regarding its discovery. I don’t think I omitted any essential point that you have not published in your account, some [omission?] concerning the discovery of the lake in 1853:
“Some unimportant minor matters may have been unmentioned. For instance, I should like to be able to locate for your benefit the last stopping place we made before my companions and myself left for the last day’s ride, which resulted in the discovery of the lake. It could not be called a camp; it was just a waiting place for the party until we returned. It was the head of an arroyo, or steep mountain cleft in the hills, on the right of the trail we were following, and not very many miles from the lake itself.
Rolled Boulders Down
“Just a little while before riding up the mountain, previous to seeing the lake, we crossed a well-worn, wide Indian trail, which we supposed was the route traveled by the Oregon Indians between Oregon, Klamath Lake and California.
“Worst of all, I suppose, I helped destroy some of the scenic effects at our first point of contact. There were several very large boulders near the rim, four or five, I think, and by our united efforts we sent them crashing to the waters below. Our eyes could not follow them to the water, nor could we hear them when they struck, but we knew by the ripple in the lake when they landed, and I judged by the time the rocks were traveling that the water was 1000 to 1500 feet below the rim. I guess the rocks are still lying there, as I never moved them.
Felt the Heat
“While standing on the rim we saw snow reaching from the summit to the water in very many places, but in a few places there was none at all. We mounted our animals, turned to the left and rode past what is called Wizard Island, where there was no snow. I was riding in the lead, and when my mule left the turf for the rocks he flinched very visibly. Supposing his feet were tender, I jumped off to relieve him of my weight, and in doing so I stooped to the ground and really thought I could feel heat issuing from the surface. Anyway, I called to the men, saying we were near hell, for I could feel the heat. Everyone in the party thought the same thing, but until now I have never written it, although in talking of the lake I have mentioned it. I never wrote it, for it did not seem at all reasonable, as I knew that old Crater Lake had taken many years to accumulate the amount of water that was in sight.
Is 83 Years of Age
“Writing is a serious task to me. I am well in my 83rd year and am very weak.
“If in your work of writing about the lake you need any data about Rogue River Valley, you can find a whole fund of information in the person of Mrs. Martha Rapp of Ashland. When I first knew her, in 1852 or 1853, she was a young miss of 12 or 13 years of age, bright, intelligent and a universal favorite. She was often the guest of Mrs. Badger, whose husband kept the hotel in Jacksonville. She was acquisitive for information and remembers everything connected with early years of the valley. She happened to be one of the party of ladies to whom I related the incidents of my trip and the discovery of the lake. She seemed more interested than the older members of the party. Perhaps it was because they knew I was hunting for gold and the Lost Cabin Mine and only found a lake.
“Thanking you again for favors received, I am, yours sincerely,
‘J. W. HILLMAN.”
Medford Mail Tribune, September 21, 1914, page 6
***previous*** — ***next***
