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1918
January 28 1918 Assistant Superintendent H.E. Mouryer of Crater Lake National Park, left for the camp at headquarters there this morning, where he expects to remain for the rest of the season. Mr. Mouryer will have a lonesome job, as he is the only person within the radius of about 15 miles. He will keep a record for the government of the weather conditions and look after things generally. It is declared that there is a great deal less snow in the park this year than usual, which will probably mean that the season for tourists will commence much earlier next summer than usual.
February 25 1918 Alexander Sparrow, supervisor of Crater Lake national park, arrived home Sunday night from his visit at the lake. He was gone eleven days and had a rather rough trip reaching and leaving the lake. Mr. Sparrow reports that the snow is nine feet deep at the lake, seven feet deep at park headquarters, eight feet deep at the engineer’s camp, and has attained a depth of 5 feet at the south entrance. Charles Barns and James Kirkpatrick of Fort Klamath accompanied him.
The depth is only about one-half that usually found in that region at this time of the year.Mr. Sparrow reports that he found H.F. Momyer, the park ranger, and its sole guardian and custodian in the winter season, in good health and spirits. Momyer’s only relaxation from his lonely life is to play checkers with himself and dream of the good old summer time.
April 6 1918 Senator McNary of Oregon introduces bill in Congress attempting to add 92,800 acres to Crater Lake National Park, around Diamond Lake, Mt. Thielsen and Mt. Bailey.
May 22 1918 In a letter to Horace Albright, Assistant Director, George Goodwin, Civil Engineer, reports on Alfred Parkhurst’s Lodge operation. Parkhurst was told that the food and service supplied in the Hotel would have to be more satisfactory; and that if he did not or could not do this, the Service would have to take active measures to see that it was done.
Burros or saddle horses which are advertised as being available for tourist use-These have never been furnished. Not only was Mr. Parkhurst without gasoline for supplying the demand for tourists, but was without gasoline for his own use. Mr. Parkhurst agreed to have a drum of gasoline available at the two Park boundaries to enable tourists to reach the hotel at Annie Creek. The tenting area in connection with the hotel has not been satisfactory, and sometimes last summer tourists went there and Mr. Parkhurst seemed to discourage them and tried to have them take rooms in the hotel instead. Mr. Parkhurst agreed to move several tens from off the edge of the Rim so not to interfere with hotel guests and hikers. Mr. Sparrow is going to have to locate a definite parking area away from the rim, but close to the hotel. People are parking everywhere creating a dusty situation.
The sanitation conditions at the hotel have not been satisfactory, sometimes owing to the failure of the water system and not having enough water to flush the toilets. The sewage from the hotel is discharged into an already overflowing cesspool that has welled up and runs over the ground, making an odor and unpleasant sight. A suitable fire has not been kept in the fireplaces. With the abundance of wood and the large fine fireplaces they should maintain a large cheery fire at all times.
The grocery supply was so low that it was impossible for tourists to get many of the necessities which they might expect. Mr. Parkhurst agreed to keep a few bales of hay on hand for the horses. Many times Mr. Parkhurst’s touring and stage autos break down repeatedly subjecting the passengers to very annoying delays. At times Parkhurst would load tourists in the bus in Medford and run errands to the meat market and grocery. There is considerable complaint that there being no one properly qualified to make temporary repairs to cars in the vicinity of the hotel. Repair work would be billed at $1.00 per hour.
The rowboats on the Lake are not in suitable repair and not enough to meet the demand. Parkhurst also agreed to make vegetables and fruits available and supply a better quality of meat and butter. At times Mr. Parkhurst becomes overwhelmed by the details and thus fails to fulfill his promises.
June 12 1918 ROAD TO CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK NOW OPEN All reports received from Crater Lake the past few days indicate that within the next 10 days the snow will be practically gone from the immediate approach to Crater Lake, and that the tourist season at this great wonder will open much earlier than usual.
The Medford bankers, William G. Tait, John S. Orth and Vernon Vawter, attended the state bankers’ convention at Bend and made the round trip by auto, and with Leslie Rodgers, the Klamath Falls banker, visited Crater Lake last Sunday on the return trip.
About 10 miles from the lake they took the Pinnacles road branching off from the Bend-Klamath Falls road and drove to within half a mile of the lake from the Sand Creek side where they were stopped by a large snow drift. Behind them came a party in a Ford car who shoveled away the drift and drove their car straight up to the rim of the lake. This point is the lowest part of the lake rim and is about opposite the phantom ship. The bankers’ party, however, left their Hudson auto and walked the half mile to the rim of the lake, where they took their time enjoying the wonderful sight.
James T. Grieve, the Prospect landlord and storekeeper, who was in the city today, reports that the Crater Lake road is now open all the way between Medford and Klamath Falls. Tourists have been going in on the Klamath side since last Saturday. Alfred Parkhurst, of the Crater Lake Company, leaves Portland Saturday to open the hotel at the lake. (Medford Mail Tribune)
June 17 1918 EXPECT RECORD TOURIST YEAR AT CRATER LAKE
“We look for an unusual amount of automobile traffic at Crater Lake this season,” said Alfred Parkhurst, the president and general manager of the Crater Lake company today. “As to train travel patronage we have no means of knowing or even guessing yet as to what it will amount to, but are confident that it will equal that of last season, which was not very heavy.” However, the unusually early spring will greatly increase the attendance.
Mr. Parkhurst, with his daughter and several guests and a number of employees for the Crater Lake hotel concessions arrived in the city Sunday evening from Portland. They came on a big auto truck and two passenger cars, having left Portland Saturday morning at 4 o’clock. The party will leave for the lake Tuesday morning and will at once open the Anna Springs camp hotel at headquarter and lodge hotel at the rim of the lake.
Mr. Parkhurst announces that two new 16-passenger White auto buses of the national park type will be operated between Medford and Crater lake this year during the season. The 16-passenger car which operated on this run last year will run between Kirk on the Klamath side and the lake.
Mrs. Parkhurst and son will arrive from Portland in about a week to spend the summer at the lake.
July 31 1918 From figures furnished by Will Steel, 893 autos have passed through the gates of Crater Lake carrying 4,568 visitors. (MT)
Summer 1918 6,000-acre fire burns in and around the Park. 18 miles of well-constructed dirt roads are now found inside the park. Union Peak Trail constructed. Major addition to the Lodge begun.
July 9 1918 Bill to enlarge Crater Lake Park held up in committee. Sheep men object to its grazing exclusion.
August 28 1918 In a letter to Cornelia Marvin, State Librarian, Will Steel describes his place name work: For many years I have been collecting newspaper clippings and other matter on the significance of place names…I have a number of large, well bound scrap books and a great amount of clippings in envelopes, which are not classified…Federal officials…have placed at my disposal, free of cost, a commodious office and large steel vault in the Federal building of Medford, Oregon, for use in classification and for safety.
My official duties as National Park Commissioner are such as to require my presence in the Crater Lake National Park during the Summer season, but for the rest of the year I am free to go and come as I please.
My salary is not sufficient to permit me to devote my time to the work during the Winter, which I would like to do, but, I am compelled to seek employment such as will bring an additional income. I regret this exceedingly; as I am 64 years of age and cannot expect many more years of activity, hence fear that my long years of plodding will not result for which I have so earnestly hoped. Signed: Will Steel.
September 3 1918 Medford Mail Tribune reports: CRATER TRAVEL BREAKS RECORDS
Travel to Crater Lake this season up to Sept. 1 has exceeded in attendance of visitors to the great world wonder over that to the same date last year by 2,139 persons, and so far 443 more autos have entered the park than last year. Will G. Steel, commissioner of Crater National park, who is spending today in the city, gave out the above information.
Travel to the lake this week is unusually heavy and a number of motor touring parties and tourists arrived in the city Monday and today en route to the lake. Following are the figures relating to attendance last year and the present season up to Sept.1: Visitors in 1918, 10,161 as against 8,022 for 1917. Number of autos for 1918, 2,421, as against 1,978 on 1917.
September 3 1918 The “Rim Boulevard” completes its connection and the first continuous trip around the Lake is made by Alex Sparrow in a Park truck. A water system is installed at the Rim for public use.
October 1918 The grading of the new Rim Road is completed. The first car to make the complete circle is a Ford, from Klamath Falls.
October 3 1918 Report from the Medford Mail Tribune:
RIM BOULEVARD AT CRATER LAKE NOW COMPLETED
The road around the rim of Crater Lake has been connected and the first continuous trip around the lake was made by Alex Sparrow, supervisor of Crater Lake National Park last Sunday in a one-ton government motor truck. There yet remains a lot of improvement work to be done.
A good trail was also built last summer and this fall from a point on the Medford road and a half mile west of the park headquarters at Annie Spring to the base of Union Peak. This trail should be popular with the public as it is an easy climb to the top of Union Peak, which affords a magnificent view of the Klamath lakes region.
A water system has been installed at the Rim of the Lake for public use, but owing to delays in obtaining machinery the pump will not be installed until next spring. This is of special interest to the people who wish to camp at the rim, but heretofore could not get water nearer than one mile.
The travel record to the lake the season just closed exceeds all previous records to the park. Up to last Saturday there had been 12,241 visitors at the lake this season, and 2,947 autos. The attendance figures of last Saturday, Sunday and Monday will undoubtedly swell these figures considerably. The Crater Lake season was closed officially on Tuesday, October 1st.
October 5 1918 12,378 VISITORS The official season closed at the Crater Lake national park on Oct. 1, 1918, but there is still more or less sporadic travel. The season has seen the heaviest travel on record, the official figures to Oct. 1 being as follows: 1917 — Total visitors, 11,211; total autos, 2,659 1918 — Total visitors, 12,378; total autos, 2,986 Gain for 1918 — Visitors, 1,167; autos, 327 There was comparatively little stage and railroad traffic, the bulk being auto tourists.
October 25 1918 All improvement work for the year at Crater Lake has been discontinued because of the winter season having set in. Alex Sparrow, superintendent of Crater Lake park, arrived in Medford Wednesday to go into winter quarters. The government engineers left October 6th and now the only person there is H. E. Momyer, the veteran park ranger who annually for years has spent the winter at the park headquarters. During the severe part of the coming winter, however, Mr. Momyer will be replaced at headquarters by a younger man.
Superintendent Sparrow reports that despite the fact that 10 inches of snow fell at the lake rim on October 16th, and much snow in the lake region, the roads are in perfect condition all the way to the lake the recent heavy rains and the snow having made them splendid. He declares that despite the cold and snow this is an ideal time at Crater Lake, the atmosphere being so clear one can “see a million miles away,” giving almost unbelievable charming scenic views.
On October 17th, the temperature was 13 degrees above zero, and Wednesday morning when he left the lake it was 17 degrees above. Mr. Sparrow made the trip down in the one-ton government auto truck, which has proved worth its weight in gold at the park last summer and this fall. (MMT)
Season 1918 Season: 13,231 visitors
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