With increasing park appropriations the ranger force was expanded in 1936. Two permanent rangers, Wilfrid T. Frost of California and George W. Fry of Pennsylvania, joined the park staff, thus filling “a long felt need.” As a result of those appointments Superintendent Canfield observed that the ranger organization was “in a position to function more efficiently, particularly after the new men are entirely acclimated, accustomed and broken into their duties.” The temporary force, according to Canfield, continued “to be filled by outstandingly able men.” [12]
Several accidental deaths in the park during the mid-1930s led to increased emphasis by park rangers on visitor safety, protection, and rescue operations and more rigid enforcement of park regulations. The first recorded death by drowning in Crater Lake occurred on August 31, 1935. Arthur Silva, while fishing with Melvin Simon, both of Hayward, California, lost his life when their boat capsized, the result of both men standing up and turning in the boat thus throwing all the weight on one side. The drowning, which took place near Wizard Island, was witnessed by the lookout on Watchman Peak, but it took more than an hour to recover the body.
Two deaths as a result of falls over the crater rim in 1936 and 1937 focused attention on the need for visitor protection services by park rangers. In 1937 Superintendent Canfield devoted attention to this issue in his annual report:
Two deaths by falls over the crater rim were recorded during the year. July 20, 1936, Warren Bowden, 19, Portsmouth, Virginia, was killed while attempting to climb down the crater wall near the Sinnott Memorial in violation of park regulations. He had progressed several hundred feet downward when he slipped and plunged to his death. . . .
May 31, 1937, Erma Fraley, 17, Medford, Oregon, was killed in almost the same spot as the tragedy of the previous July. She was walking on snow inside the rim against the rules of better judgment and in violation of park regulations. In her spirit of daring, she suddenly slipped and rolled and plunged to within 80 feet of the lake shore. Her body was badly broken. Park rangers, accompanied by CCC enrollees, risked life and limb by climbing down a long slide over trecherous snow to reach the body. A rowboat was also lowered from the rim to enable the party to row a half-mile to the girl. The body was carried up a thousand feet of the slide and then attached to a cable and hoist to pull it up the remaining distance.
Dozens of warnings were given during the year to visitors venturing over the crater wall and several rescues were made. Venturesome visitors climbed down the wall or up from the water and became trapped so that they could not return or proceed. While there were more people at the beginning of the 1937 summer, there seemed to be less foolhardy disregard for park regulations than the year before. [13]
