Smith Brothers 1939

May 11
Suspects detained following an armed robbery in Klamath Falls.

June 1
Mabel Hedgepeth appointed as the Park’s sixth postmaster.

July 27
Forty spot fires set in northwest corner of the Park.

Summer
Al Smith, Lodge house boy, claims to be the first recorded person to walk around Crater Lake after a day’s work. Smith, accompanied by a house girl also named Smith, leave the Lodge area at 7:00 p.m. and return to the Lodge at approximately 5:45 a.m. in time to go to work at 7 a.m. They traveled by trail, no trail and by road around the Lake.

September 26
Search for missing person, but never found.

Private in holding, The “Yawkey Tract” purchased.

Crater Lake National Park Extension study completed and sent to the director. The study embraced 400 square miles (256,000 acres) of the U.S.F.S., including Diamond Lake, Mt. Thielsen, Mt. Bailey, the Upper Rogue Valley and the Union Creek area. Strong opposition from those opposing the Diamond Lake addition. “The possibilities as a public pleasuring ground seem almost unlimited.”

Summer
Allan Smith, lodge employee, tells of dancing with Carol Lombard at the Rim Community Center. (It may have been 1938 or 1940.) Miss Lombard and Clark Gable were visiting the Park for a day or two. Gable cussed a lot when Miss Lombard wanted to dance with the employees and she swore back. Lombard wouldn’t leave with Gable when he left for bed.

Season Visitation: 225,101

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