The house bill also stated that the
reservation shall be open to all excursionists, pleasure-seekers, restaurant or hotel keepers for accommodation of visitors and those making scientific researches, who shall be privileged to fish in all lakes and streams of water, and to use the necessary timber for camping purposes on said grounds. . . . [7]
Both bills were assigned to the committees on public lands of their respective houses and quickly encountered considerable opposition because of strong lobbying efforts by private speculators and lumber, sheep, and ranching interests. Other forces that worked against passage of the bills included the prevailing belief in Congress that Oregon should protect its own lakes without federal help and questions as to whether there were significant funds to provide proper police protection for such a park.
While the bills were under consideration by the congressional committees, the Oregon state legislature, Portland and Albany city councils, and Portland Board of Trade submitted memorials and petitions to Congress in support of the proposed legislation. National periodicals endorsed the bills by printing articles on the scenic and scientific wonders of Crater Lake. One such article by Clarence E. Dutton appeared in the February 26, 1886, issue of Science under the title, “Crater Lake, Oregon, A Proposed National Reservation.” Among his observations Dutton noted:
In the heart of the Cascade Range there is a little sheet of water which is destined to take high rank among the wonders of the world. It is a unique phenomenon, taken as a whole, though some of its component features, taken singly, may not be unexampled. . . .
It is deeper and richer than the blue of the sky above on the clearest day. Just at the margin of the lake it shades into a turquoise, which is, if possible, more beautiful still. Ordinarily the water surface is mirror-like, and reflects an inverted image of the surrounding cliffs in detail. Very majestic, too, are the great environing walls. On the west side they reach their greatest altitude, rising almost vertically more than 2,000 feet above the water. It is difficult to compare this scene with any other in the world, for there is none that sufficiently resembles it; but, in a general way, it may be said that it is of the same order of impressiveness and beauty as the Yosemite valley. It was touching to see the worthy but untutored people, who had ridden a hundred miles in freight-wagons to behold it, vainly striving to keep back tears as they poured forth their exclamations of wonder and joy akin to pain. Nor was it less so to see so cultivated and learned a man as my companion hardly able to command himself to speak with his customary calmness.
To the geologist this remarkable feature is not less impressive than it is to the lover of the beautiful . . . . [8]
Despite these efforts, however, opposition to the bills was overwhelming and they were never reported. [9]
Meanwhile, Steel continued his efforts to involve the federal government in Crater Lake’s future. In July 1886 he persuaded John Wesley Powell, Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, to send a party headed by Dutton to the area to make a thorough examination by surveying and sounding the lake. Steel was appointed to prepare the boats and equipment to be used in the sounding process and to help in carrying out other scientific studies of the lake. [10]
