Before 1885 Crater Lake had few visitors and was not widely known. On August 15 of that year William Gladstone Steel, after 15 years of effort to get to the lake, stood for the first time on its rim. Inspired by its beauty, Steel conceived the idea of preserving it as a National Park. For 17 years, with much personal sacrifice, he devoted time and energy to this end. Success was realized when the park was established on May 22, 1902, with W. F. Arant as its first superintendent. Steel continued to devote his life to development of the park, serving as its second superintendent and later as park commissioner, which office he held until his death in 1934.
The Geological Story of Crater Lake
Origin of the Mountain.
The slope, which you ascend to view the lake, and the caldera wall rising 500 to 2,000 feet above the water, are remnants of Mount Mazama.
In comparatively recent geologic time, numerous volcanic peaks were formed near the western edge of a vast lava plateau covering parts of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and California. These are the Cascade Range, of which Mount Mazama was one of the commanding peaks. It was built by successive lava flows with some accumulation of volcanic ash. The cone thus formed was modified by streams and glaciers which carved valleys in its sides and deposited rock debris on its flanks. The layered character and different formations of the mountain are now clearly exposed in numerous places within the caldera wall.
Forming of Dikes.
In addition to broad surface flows, it is common for molten lava to be squeezed into cracks, or fissures, that develop in a volcano. Such filling results in dikes, or walls, frequently harder than the enclosing rock. At Crater Lake the destruction of the mountain and subsequent erosion have exposed numerous dikes in the wall, of which the Devil’s Backbone on the west wall is an outstanding example.
Action of Streams and Glaciers.
In the layers forming the crater wall there is evidence of the action of water. In some places this is shown by the cutting of valleys; in others, by the accumulation of water-carried gravel and boulders.
Glacial ice, carrying sand, pebbles, and boulders, scratches and polishes rock surfaces over which it moves. Glacial polish and thick beds of glacial debris are common around the mountain. They occur on the surface rock and between earlier layers, showing that glaciers existed at various stages in the history of the mountain.