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1903
May 5 1903 John Muir sends a “thank you” to Will Steel for his kind invitation to visit Crater Lake, but is unable to make the visit because of plans to travel to Russia.
May 8 1903 From the Portland Oregonian: Klamath Falls, OR
W.S. Arant, superintendent, reports that he will have the new road leading to the lake ready for use by August 1. It will be shorter and have fewer bumps and steep grades than the old one. It will enable a journey from Fort Klamath to the lake, 23 miles, in 2.5 hours.
Work will begin on the new road as soon as the snow disappears sufficiently to permit it. Deep snows linger longer in the mountains this year than usual, but may melt quickly under the influence of a warm spell, and not delay approach to the lake. Mr. Arant says preparations are being made to put an electric launch on the lake for the pleasure of tourists during the coming summer.
(Editor’s note: I do not wish to cast any doubt upon the veracity of the correspondent who sent the above to the Oregonian but…If a team in the whole country that can make that 25 miles from Ft. Klamath to the lake with a load such as camping parties usually have, in two hours and a half, and be worth thirty cents afterward, we would like to see them.)
The_Medford_Mail_Fri__May_8__1903_p6
July 13 1903 A general Park survey begins under the direction of Carl R. Caudle, U.S. Examines of Surveys of the General Land Office and concludes on September 25, 1903. A general Park survey begins under the direction of Carl R. Caudle, U.S. Examines of Surveys of the General Land Office. Deer and bear are found in small numbers during the summer months. Several cabins are found that were built by homesteaders along Sun Creek and one trapper’s cabin is found at the head waters of the Rogue River. A cabin was built at the 10.5 mile monument on the South Boundary.
July 16 1903 Park Headquarters located at Annie (Anna) Springs.
July 17 1903 Construction of the new Anna Springs to Rim road begins. The bridge over Anna Springs is 30 feet high, 104 feet long, and 14 feet wide with seven spans.
August 5 – 15 1903 Wm. Steel brings 27 people to Crater Lake from Medford. This is the first attempt to provide visitor services at the Lake. The group had begun at Union Station in Portland and traveled by train to Medford. A large crowd of locals welcomed the group as their wagon train set off for their camping rendezvous at Eagle Point. The group spends five days traveling to Crater Lake. The boat, the Start, a 16 foot skiff built in Klamath Falls and launched for the auspicious group’s exclusive use is used to ferry members of the group out to Wizard Island and over to Cloud Cap.. After spending ten days visiting points of interest in and around the Park, including photographing the Lake, and stopping off at old Fort Klamath, the group broke up at Ashland.
August 11 1903 Fred and Oscar Kiser and Will Steel lower a 16 foot boat over the rim wall in order to take photographs of the Lake. The Kisers paddle across the lake to Pumice Castle area and climb the East Rim, accompanied by Helen Akin and Gertrude Metcalf. They become the first women to climb Mt. Scott. The first Lake photographs of the Lake are taken from Mt. Scott. The whole Lake had never been captured on one photo plate before, which the Kisers felt was a remarkable accomplishment.
August 26 – Sep. 8 1903 A trip diary to Crater Lake – Our Trip – Southern Oregon Heritage Today – Vol 1, No. 4 April 1999
After living on the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains for three years…We decided we wanted to visit the new national park at Crater Lake…It did not take us three years to make up our minds, but it took two years of planning before all parties fell into line for the trip.
Thus, Katie Myers begins her tale of the 1903 trip her group took to Crater Lake National Park, established the previous year. Six adults and three children undertook this camping adventure: Kate and her husband, James Myers, accompanied by Thomas Williamson, his wife, Addie, and their two children, Louis, eight, and Lloyd, five, as well as Rosetta Kenney and her daughter, Frances, nine. Etta Taylor, visiting from Indiana, was also part of the group. Except for Taylor, all lived in Jacksonville.
Dressed for travel, the group left Wednesday, August 26, at 12:30 p.m. loading up gear and food for themselves and the horses pulling two wagons that were also used to haul hay.
One wagon had a fine canvas top for the passengers to ride under; the other was for freight…We had springs under the wagon beds, also spring seats…Mr. Williamson had put a lazy back to each seat so we were very comfortable.
The group camped just beyond Eagle Point, which was as far as any of them had ever been. They had traveled all of 22 miles the first day. The next day they traveled into more mountainous country, lunching at Big Butte Creek Bridge and camping at Higinbothams in a pine grove.
Here was made our first acquaintance with fleas, and they were so taken with our company that they never left us during the whole trip and never let us forget them.
On Friday, the group entered the Rogue River canyon. While the horses rested from their steep climbs, the party visited three natural sites, including Mill Creek Falls.
The going down is easy, but the coming back, OH! OH! It takes both muscle and breath, I tell you, and plenty of time.
That night they arrived at the Prospect Hotel, where they had dinner.
The Hotel was a large frame building, just the board partitions up and five or six rooms finished. We climbed an open stair. The upper floor was loose boards laid over beams…our room had a curtain for a door.
Sunday the party crossed Whiskey Creek, viewed Castle Creek Canyon in the afternoon, and came to the Crater Lake fork.
Here a sign met our gaze, it read – Two miles to Crater Lake Don’t get discouraged, it is there.
By this time it was sundown and both wagons stopped due to the steep ascent.
Addie, Etta, Kate, Louise and Lloyd said they would walk on, and see what kind of road it was and how far to the Lake.
So we pressed on and just as the sun was sinking behind some of the highest points about the Lake, we came to it. There is nothing to tell you that you are near it. You climb quite a steep hill and as you reach the top that beautiful body of water stretches out in full view. No one can describe the feeling that comes over you as you catch your first view. We stood speechless. We forgot we had gone to look out the road and report. We forgot everything and just stood there drinking in the wonderful beauty of the scene.
On the return trip the adventure continued via Fort Klamath and Pelican Bay. Returning along the Dead Indian route, they arrived in Jacksonville at 2:30 p.m. on September 8.
We had driven over 200 miles in 13 days. We were all tired out and glad to be home again. But we felt we would gladly go through rougher country to have the pleasure of seeing and knowing what a beautiful and wonderful country we live in.
Summer 1903 Fred Kiser of Portland (Scenic America Co.) produces the first hand colored photos of Crater Lake. The pictures are subjected to ridicule, for no water was believed to be so blue.
Brothers Fred and Oscar Kiser adopted photography as a hobby, but soon became professional by founding a business which catered to the national interest in pictures of the American West.
In 1902 the brothers began producing photographs of the Columbia River Gorge, followed shortly by commissions for promotional photos of the newly-created Crater Lake National Park (1903), official photography for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and photos of the 1905 Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition.
Oscar accidentally drowned in 1905, which led to the end of “Kiser Bros. Scenic Photography” — after which Fred Kiser established the “Kiser Photo Company”. In this capacity, he hired staff to carry his heavy equipment into the woods, and provided official mountain-climbing photographs for most of the Mazamas’ annual trips to northwest mountain peaks. The Oregon Historical Society has an extensive collection of photography attributed to Kiser.
Fred Kiser’s photography helped promote national interest in the Crater Lake and Glacier National Parks. His scenic photos, hand-colored in oils and called “Artographs”, were produced as postcards and albums, and were also displayed in shows from coast to coast. He was also commissioned to create promotional photos for the Southern Pacific and the Spokane, Portland, Seattle and Great Northern Railways.
Starting in 1922, Kiser dabbled briefly in the production of silent motion pictures
Kiser’s Artographs of Montana’s Glacier National Park area helped gain Congressional approval to establish that site as a National Park in 1910. Kiser also served as Photographic Director during World War I for the Emergency Fleet Corporation’s Oregon Division.
In 1911, photographer Clarence Winter joined the company and, four years later, Fred sold him the studio, in order to concentrate on photo documentation of the new scenic Columbia River Highway.
Following WW I, he organized the Scenic America Co., using the popular slogan, “See America First.”
In the 1920’s, ever moving southward, Kiser operated a studio and photo lab at Crater Lake. Here he sold scenic Artographs, and provided one-day film developing for tourists; but after eight years, he passed the business on to the National Park Service and moved to California
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There are practically no roads inside the Park, except for the old Fort Klamath-Medford road, constructed by the soldiers of the Fort. Travel to the Lake is entirely by trail. Between 1903 and 1912, a narrow, steep and tortuous road is constructed to the Rim of the Lake by the Interior Department.
Governor’s Bay is named by Will Steel for the Hon. T.T. Geer, the first governor of Oregon to see the lake.
Summer 1903 Joaquin Miller, Poet Laureate of Oregon, spends several days camping on the Rim. Miller writes the “Sea of Silence”…””The lake took such hold of my heart, unlike other parks…I love it almost like one of my family.”
Summer 1903 Prior access to the Lake was gained by using the old Fort Klamath Military Road (Hwy 62) which forked 1/2 mile west of the Cascade Divide (Pacific Crest Trail crossing) and following what is now known as the Dutton Creek Trail. The early trail was built in 1869 by the Jim Sutton Party of Jacksonville, when they brought the first wagons to the Rim.
Season 1903 4000 head of cattle are transported through the Park. Superintendent’s salary set at $1,000, with the Park’s total budget at $6,695.
Visitation for the year estimated at 1200 visitors.
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