On December 12, 1887, Senator Dolph introduced a bill (S. 16) similar to the one he had submitted the previous year. Senator Preston B. Plumb of Kansas, chairman of the Committee on Public Lands to which the bill was referred, accordingly solicited the views of various conservationists on the merits of the bill. One of those contacted was Powell. In his lengthy analytical response Powell provided observations on the unique scenic qualities of the proposed park and made a series of boundary extension proposals:
I would submit that the proposed measure is one which I believe to be eminently wise and proper. Crater Lake and Diamond Lake and their surroundings constitute a group of natural objects which will, in my belief, acquire increasing celebrity with the lapse of time. In respect to beauty and impressiveness this scenery is of the same order as that of the Yosemite Valley or the finest parts of the Yellowstone park. The lake itself is a unique object, as much so as Niagara, and the effect which it produces upon the mind of the beholder is at once powerful and enduring. There are probably not many natural objects in the world which impress the average spectator with so deep a sense of the beauty and majesty of nature. This will be better understood when the origin of the lake is considered. The lake lies in the basin of a huge volcanic mountain, and the basin itself owes its origin to a vast system of explosions by which the heart of the mountain has been thrown into the air as ashes and cinders. It is the deepest body of fresh water on the continent, and its clear, cold, waters reflect the crags and peaks of the volcanic rim by which it is surrounded. Although Crater Lake is the dominant object of interest in the proposed reservation the whole tract is eminently fit to be “set apart forever as a public park and pleasure ground and forest reserve for the benefit of the people of the United States;” and I might venture to add for the benefit of the people of the world. There is not a square mile within the proposed tract which does not contain something which would add to the attractiveness of such a park either in the way of varied beauty or of instruction and entertainment of visitors .
In the event of this region becoming a national park or reservation for public pleasure, I respectfully submit that great care and caution should be used at the outset to specify with accuracy the boundaries of the tract reserved. They should in my opinion also be surveyed and marked upon the ground at once, in order that settlers who desire to occupy adjoining lands not so reserved, may not be embarrassed as to lands upon which they may have acquired the right to enter or may desire to acquire such rights are within the proposed reservation. Such indications on the ground are also needed that the action of the land office may likewise be conducted with a full knowledge of what land is subject to entry and what land is not so subject. . . . I have caused a careful examination to be made of the land office surveys in the vicinity of Crater Lake, and have compared them with the trigonometric and topographic surveys made by this office in the same region, in order to ascertain as nearly as practicable where the boundaries indicated in the bill would lie with reference to natural objects within the proposed reservation . I find that only a few lines have as yet been run by the land office surveys across any portion of the reservation. . . . It will be seen that the eastern boundary will come very close to the eastern margin of Crater Lake; and as there is always more or less uncertainty about the geographic position of the Land Office lines in such a country, it is possible that the real position of the boundary, when it comes to be surveyed and marked, would run into the lake. In any event, there is no doubt that the eastern boundary as defined in the bill, would exclude portions of the flat summit of the Cascade Range, which ought, by reason of continuity, unity and similarity of features, to be included within the reservation. The country to the north, and somewhat to the northeast of Crater Lake, is moderately diversified with a few hills and with considerable patches of fir forest and large, open, grassy space which are very picturesque and pleasing. It is what is frequently termed a park country, where large grassy meadows alternate with forest, and the fine summits of Union Peak, Mt. Scott, Mt. Thielson, Mt. Gobbon and the great crags around the edge of Crater Lake are always in view. It seems to me that it would be well to leave the eastern boundary several miles further eastward, in order to include the whole of this very beautiful and pleasing tract instead of cutting it in two by an arbitrary line drawn without reference to the topographic or scenic features. The most eligible site for a hotel on the northern or northeastern side of Crater Lake is situated so near the boundary proposed in the bill that it is possible that it would be excluded altogether. . . . It has been a question with me, whether it would not be advisable to make the eastern boundary of the park conterminous with the Indian Reservation, thus closing all this tract against ingress by herders. There are two reasons for this. In the first place, the belt of yellow pine which occurs here is a very fine one and it seems advisable to protect it from the destruction which must inevitably befall it as soon as a railroad is built along the eastern base of the Cascades- -an event which will not probably be delayed by many years. In the second place, it is the natural and only good winter range and breeding ground of the deer and antelope which frequent the summit of the Cascade Range in the summer; and unless these animals can be protected from pot hunters in their breeding grounds, they will be rapidly exterminated.
If, however, it is deemed desirable by your committee to restrict to a minimum the proper eastward extension of the proposed reservation, then I would suggest that the eastern boundary be a due north and south line running through the summit of Mt. Scott, which stands three or four miles to the east of Crater Lake.
The northern and southern boundaries of the proposed park as set forth in the bill, seem to me to be well selected. They include every feature from north to south which is germane to the park and do not appear to include too much. With regard to the western boundary, it seems to me that there are cogent reasons for extending it considerably to the westward of the line suggested by the bill.
The line of approach to the park from the west is by a county road leading from the lower Rogue River Valley across the Cascade range to Fort Klamath. This road follows the Rogue River upwards and about fifteen miles from Crater Lake leaves that river and passes south of the lake and about three miles from it. Here there is a wagon track leaving the county road which ascending by a rough trail brings the visitor at length to the brink of the lake. But he can proceed no farther. To reach the other portions of the park from this point is a feat of mountaineerings, unless he returns to the Rogue River and thence makes his approach by another route. At the point where the county road leaves the river there are still to be seen remnants of an old road built about 30 years ago for wagoning supplies from the Rogue River valley across the mountains to the placer mines which were then worked along the John Day River. This is still remembered as the John Day road. It has long ceased to be used; it is completely obstructed by fallen timber and for many miles can be followed only by the old blazes on the trees. At critical points, however, when it crosses gorges and ravines the old dugways remain. It winds its way by easy grades through magnificent scenery and through forests of trees which were of colossal size when Columbus discovered America. At length it emerges upon the upper platform of the Cascades in the midst of the park with Diamond Lake between two great mountains on the north and Crater Lake on the south. This is the natural line of approach to the park from the west. Unless the boundaries are made to include this road some private party will be sure to re-open it as he may easily do, and levy an extortionate toll upon any visitors who may enter the park. Along this route are numerous open parks which would be quickly seized for the grass they would yield and extortionate rates would be charged for hay. It is believed that the old John Day road should be included within the limits of the park. North of the John Day road are the sources of the south Umpqua River in the most picturesque surroundings and these also should be included in the park.
The region embraced in the limits designated by the bill does not include any of the really grand forest of the Cascades. It is too high. The species within it are firs and pines which never attain great dimensions, nor any marked beauty of form, though they grow in forests whose beauty and impressiveness is derived from the density and masses of foliage. The great trees, such as the Douglass spruce, the sugar pine (here larger than in California), the white pine and the tall, beautiful species of fir flourish at a lower altitude. But if the boundary were carried to the westward some eight or ten miles, it would take in a section of the finest part of the great forest of the Cascades, and a grander and nobler forest cannot be found in the world. There are many thousands of trees of which would yield more than 40,000 feet of lumber. The beautiful open parks in this timber are the breeding grounds and summer pasturage of the deer and the streams still preserve numerous beaver dams. It seems desirable on many accounts that the western boundary should include a large section of this forest belt. The scenery which it contains is of the most beautiful and impressive order. I believe that the addition of a considerable tract west of the limit proposed in the bill would greatly improve the park and avoid the danger of burdensome private control over the natural line of approach to the park. This would all be accomplished by drawing the boundary seven or eight miles farther west than the bill proposed. No settlement has been made and no possessory rights have been established so far as I can ascertain in the addition here suggested and up to the last autumn the entire tract was wholly unoccupied. [11]
