Oregon’s Great Curiosity
Seattle Weekly Gazette
Seattle, Washington
September 2, 1865
The visiting party fired a rifle several times into the water, at an angle of forty-five degrees, and were able to note several seconds of time from the report of the gun until the ball struck the water. Such seems incredible, but is vouched for by some of our most reliable citizens. The lake is certainly a most remarkable curiosity. — Jacksonville Sentinel.Several of our citizens returned last week from the Great Sunken Lake, situated in the Cascade Mountains, about seventy-five miles northeast from Jacksonville. This lake rivals the famous valley of Sinbad the Sailor. It is thought to average 2,000 feet down to the water all round. The walls are almost perpendicular, running down into the water and leaving no beach. The depth of the water is unknown, and its surface is smooth and unruffled, as it lies so far below the surface that air currents do not affect it. Its length is estimated at twelve miles, and its width at ten. There is an island in its centre, having trees upon it. No living man has, and perhaps never will, be able to reach the water’s edge. It lies silent, still and mysterious in the bosom of the “everlasting hills,” like a huge well scooped out by the hands of the gentle genii of the mountains, in the unknown ages gone by, and around it the primeval forests watch and ward are keeping.
