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1944
February 11 1944 Assistant Superintendent, Thomas Parker, in a memorandum to Park Superintendent Leavitt, writes, “No national park can hope to come into its own if operated only on a short seasonal basis…. A safe and comfortable means of reaching the lake shore should be provided…I do believe that hiking, horseback riding, boating, fishing, campfires…are all compatible with each other. With this thought in mind, I see the urgent need for a tunnel, or elevator, to the lake shore, and the development of a fine winter sports area, and program…if a tunnel for vehicles was constructed from near headquarters, the entrance portal would be close to the (new) campground, with adequate space for parking of cars…When one reaches the park…and is given the choice of a bleak, cold windy camp ground, or a drafty room in a ramshackle lodge at prices that would put the blush of shame on the operator of a clip joint,…we cannot expect them to tarry long in our midst or praise us for our thoughtfulness towards our guests. “
1940 Director Newton Drury condemns the idea of building a tunnel or elevator to the Lake’s surface as “mutilation”.
Drury declined appointment as director in 1933 but accepted the job in 1940. He was the first director without prior national park responsibilities but came with strong conservationist credentials, having served as executive secretary of the Save-the-Redwoods League in California. During World War II he successfully resisted most demands for consumptive uses of park resources. Less eager than his predecessors to expand the park system, he opposed NPS involvement with areas he judged not to meet national park standards. Differences with Secretary of the Interior Oscar L. Chapman over Chapman’s support for dams in Dinosaur National Monument contributed to Drury’s resignation in 1951.
April or May 1944 Dan Jackman (899-8719) of Jacksonville) reports that he while was stationed in Klamath Falls when a Grumman Torpedo plane TBF-VC 88-9=89, was reported crashing into the Lake. Two planes were flying in formation near Mt. Scott, when one partner turned away and when he looked back, the other pilot was gone. The government kept the crash a secret because they did not want it to get out to the enemy. The pilot did not actually see the plane go into the Lake. Jackman reported that 2 or 3 planes crashed each week near the Army air base in Klamath Falls.
Another plane story says that a SNJ trainer went down late fall of 1944, while heading north and was never found. The pilot and turret gunner were lost. Another time a plane’s engine quite over the park and the plane was guided southeast until it crashed into either Agency or Klamath Lakes. (Dick McCullock, 826-7237 and Tony Gallo 779-4611)
In a letter dated: 1998
100 Tamrack Drive
East Greenwich, RI 02818
401-884-2085
September 25, 1998
To: Trask Russell, Portland, Oregon
Lane, Powell, Spears, Lubersky
I have attached some of the information I received during my search. The record of accidents of VF-7 which does not list the crash into Crater Lake. I am convinced a Navy aircraft crashed into Crater Lake in April of 1944, but I am not sure if it was from VF-7 which I conclude must be researched further to find out which squadron it was from. I know the pilot had combat experience so he must have been a LTJG or a LT. I was 21 at the time when I talked to the pilot who landed into Crater Lake he seem a lot older than myself.
The most important pilots who have remembered this incident are either deceased or never did answer my letters.
August 6 1944 The Lodge is called a “fire trap of the worst sort” and a recommendation is made that it should be replaced as soon as possible. The Rim Village development is further described as an unsightly conglomeration of buildings which should be demolished and the entire area except for the road and parking lot be allowed to revert to nature. (R.D. Waterhouse, Associate Engineer)
1940’s Several oral sources tell of a plane that buzzed low over Rim Village and then dove toward the Lake near Sinnott. The plan was supposedly in such a steep dive, the pilot was unable to pull out and the plan entered the water.
Season 1944 Visitation: 42,385 (Online says: 44,389)
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