In his letter to Fisher he noted:
I am not the only one here who objects to the present administration of affairs, for there are many others, several of whom have come to me with a request that I permit them to use my name for the place and they would at once start a move for a change of Superintendent. To this I will not agree, unless you think it is the proper thing.
Steel concluded the letter to Fisher by suggesting that he be favorably mentioned for the position of park superintendent.
On the same day that Steel wrote to Fisher, he sent a more lengthy letter to Assistant Secretary of the Interior Carmi A. Thompson, providing more details as to his involvement in the move to replace Arant. Steel observed:
Crater Lake conditions and prospects have given me a great deal of concern lately, and I have tried to think out a course of action that would produce the very best results, eliminating my own interests as far as possible. With that end in view I wrote to Senator Bourne on the 2nd instant . . . hoping that he would be able to work out a solution that would bring quick results. His reply has just been received, and I am sorry he feels that the Administration is so pronounced against him that a request from him would not receive serious consideration. While I disagree with him in this matter, still “it is a condition and not a theory that confronts us,” so I am doing what I probably ought to have done in the first place, writing to you. However, my special object in writing to him was to get the two of you together in consultation, which I had hoped would result in the formation of some plan, which I certainly would have approved.
I am not the only one here who objects to the present administration of affairs, for there are many others, several of whom have come to me with a request that I permit them to use my name for the place and they would at once start a move for a change of Superintendent. To this I will not agree, unless you think it is the proper thing. I dislike very much to participate in what would seem like a selfish scramble for official position. In the first place, I have never worked the Crater Lake matter for selfish reasons and it is too late now to begin. Just the same, I am intensely interested in the matter, and want to see the very best results obtained, in which case it is necessary to start the work of development right, under the appropriation we are after, which I think will be available this season.
If a change of administration is brought to pass, and the Department thinks favorably of me for the place, I believe if you will consult with Mr. Hawley, intimating to him that you would like to have me recommended, that he would cheerfully agree to it, although if left free to recommend whom he wishes, I do not believe he would select me. Both our Senators would recommend my appointment if the opportunity were offered.
I am trying to put this matter up to you exactly as conditions exist, and wholly regardless of myself, except as a factor in the premises. I want to do what is best, and believe if the opportunity is offered that I can make good with all concerned. Frankly, I believe I can give an administration that will please both the government and the public, and because I am so deeply interested in the matter, I am willing to make any sort of sacrifice that is necessary to bring it to pass. If, in your opinion, it is necessary to start a move here for a change of administration, I am willing that my friends shall start it.
In response to these complaints, Interior Secretary Fisher dispatched Inspector Edward W. Dixon to Crater Lake for an inspection on October 8-10 to report on the administration of the park. Dixon toured the park, examined park records and policies, and held interviews with the principals in the case. He described his interview with Steel and Parkhurst:
. . . they stated very positively that they knew Mr. Arant to be a man of sound integrity and good intentions; that he was well and favorably known in Klamath County, Oregon, where he had for many years been engaged in farming and stockraising; and that their personal relations with him always had been friendly and pleasant, but that his previous training and environment had made him unfitted to superintend the Crater Lake National Park, though so far, there having been little for him to do, he had gotten along very well and had given general satisfaction. However, they contended that, under development conditions, he would not measure up to requirements. I was unable to learn from other sources of any dissatisfaction with Superintendent Arant’s administration of the park.
