 William Gladstone Steel |
The enthusiastic spirit of the people contacted by Mr. Steel soon made Crater Lake the most visited scenic wonder in Oregon. One needs little imagination to realize that William Steel’s next problem was to bridge the gap between Washington, D. C. and Crater Lake. National parks are established by a Congress in Washington, and Will Steel attacked the problem with great vigor, writing a petition to President Cleveland explaining the natural wonders of the region. On August 21, 1886, ten townships including Crater Lake were withdrawn from public sale. This same year, Captain C. E. Dutton and party, coupled with the work of Professor J. S. Diller in 1883, did a great deal to familiarize Washington Congressmen with the geologic wonder of Crater Lake. Officially establishing Crater Lake’s depth at 1,996 feet, the deepest lake then known in North America, was news of national importance.
Writing thousands of letters, organizing petitions, seeking prominent citizens’ support and carrying on the battle of the Cascade Forest Range and its closely aligned fight with ranchers and lumbermen who could only look at the forest with “board feet” eyes were some of the unpaid tasks carried on by Will Steel.
Since the first discovery of the lake, men had wondered if there were fish in Crater Lake. In 1888, Will Steel was enroute to the lake on one of his many visits to explain some of the numerous outstanding features to guests, when trouble caused the group to stop at the Gordon Ranch The Gordon boys collected 600 fingerling trout, which Steel purchased. Steel began the forty-nine mile trip to the lake, stopping at each fresh stream to change water. As he neared the rim, several fish began to die and at the time of the planting only thirty-seven remained alive – – but the first fish had been stocked in Crater Lake.
On May 22, 1902, Crater Lake was established as our fifth national park and Steel’s efforts were rewarded. On October 13, 1902, W. F. Arant became the first Superintendent of Crater Lake National Park, appointed by Secretary of the Interior Ethan A. Hitchcock. Arant’s first and most important contribution was the improvement of roads. This was the beginning of an ever-improving highway system in the park. This was not the end of work for William Steel, for he threw his weight behind the effort of developing roads and lodging for visitors. In 1913, he became the second Superintendent of Crater Lake National Park. Much personal time and money were sacrificed by him in the improvement of the park.
The advent of the horseless carriage was of critical importance at Crater Lake and a suggestion was made to build two roads to the rim, one for horses and the other for the noisy automobile. In 1907 the first cabinet member visited the park, James R. Garfield, Secretary of the Interior. Several years later, in honor of his visit, Garfield Peak was named. 1907 was a year of firsts, the first public boat, the Wocus, having been launched on Crater Lake at that time also.
In 1912, the lodge was erected and one unit of it is the oldest structure now existing in the rim area. 5,235 visitors were recorded in that year. Seven years later, the rim road around Crater Lake was completed and visitors had increased to 16,645. The plaque in honor of John Wesley Hillman was dedicated in 1925, and three years later the Crater Wall Trail was completed. By 1931, the new standard grade road was in operation, Sinnott Memorial was dedicated and visitors totaled 170,284 during that year. In 1953, 332,835 persons came to the park.
In Crater Lake National Park we have commemorated within one year of each other, a centennial and a semi-centennial – – last year the fiftieth birthday of the National Park and this year the one hundredth anniversary of its discovery. The history of the park does not end with these, but rather will continue to reflect the broad-minded concept of administration initiated with Will Steel’s dream – – to conserve the scenery, the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as to leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.
Selected References
Arant, W. F. 1904. Report of the Superintendent of Crater Lake National Park to the Secretary of the Interior.
Carey, Charles Henry. 1922. History of Oregon.
Fremont, John Charles. 1887. Memoirs of my life.
Gorman, M. W. 1897. Discovery and early history of Crater Lake. In Mazama.
Gray, W. H. 1870. History of Oregon.
Steel, William Gladstone. 1914. Report of the Superintendent of Crater Lake National Park to the Secretary of the Interior.
______, 1885 – 1934. Eleven volumes of scrapbooks containing numerous clippings, telegrams, and correspondence concerning Crater Lake. Also his correspondence file concerning Crater Lake National Park. In the files of the Park Naturalist, Crater Lake National Park.
New Bird Record
Last spring, a species of bird was recorded that not only was new to the park list, but it was found under most unlikely circumstances. During a light snow storm, while skiing at the upper headquarters residence area, April 6, 1953, at 6:13 p.m. the writer observed an American coot, Fulica a. americana Gmelin, often known as “mud hen”, denizen of marshes, ponds and lakes.
The locality was where the driveway of the residence of then Park Engineer Robert Hursh connects with the main residential road. The bird flew slowly past me, about four feet above the surface of the road, so that the white frontal plate was clearly visible. It came from the east, landed outside the Hursh garage door, then walked inside. Mrs. Hursh, who is also familiar with the species, saw the bird there and agrees with my identification.
The next morning, the bird had gone and there was no evidence that it had eaten any of the water-soaked oatmeal provided for it by Mrs. Hursh the night before.
Lost Creek Ski Patrol
Each year a crew of rangers makes a patrol to the Lost Creek Cabin (East Entrance). This patrol is made primarily to remove the snow from the roof of the cabin, which would otherwise be crushed. The total depth of snow to be removed has varied from a record of eleven feet, in the spring of 1952, to a low of four or five feet. This year the depth was approximately seven feet.
The morning of February 11, 1953, was clear and cold – – ideal weather for a ski patrol. I say ski patrol; actually we used a Tucker Sno-Cat as much as possible. On the trip to Lost Creek it is possible to use the Sno- Cat for four miles, thus leaving three miles to be skied.
