The mysterious and majestic Lake 273 
waters ; but the one which above all is romantically interesting 
and surprisingly wonderful is that known as Crater lake. It is 
located in the Cascade range, in southeastern Oregon, at an eleva- 
tion of over 8,000 feet. Its rim or shore is 1,800 feet higher than 
mount Washington, in New Hampshire; 4,000 feet higher than 
Vesuvius, in Naples, and on the same elevation above the sea as 
mount Sinai, in Arabia. It was discovered in 1853 by gold pros- 
pectors from southern Oregon, who in their wonder occasioned 
by its strange location and startling beauty named it ‘ Lake 
Mystery.” Later another party from fort Klamath in Visiting it 
were so awestricken with its peculiar character and its weird sur- 
roundings that they gave it a new name, “ Lake Majesty.” Sub- 
sequently, in 1886, scientific exploration developed the fact that 
the waters of this strange lake occupy the crater of an extinct 
volcano; that it is a gigantic bowl carved out of the mountain, 
whose rock-ribbed rim rises more than 8,000 feet above the level 
of the sea; that it is elliptical or oval in form, its surface cover- 
ing an area of some 28 square miles, being about 6} miles in 
length by about 42 in breadth. These discoveries led to a second 
change of name, and it is now and has been for several years 
past known as Crater lake. A few years since, mainly through 
the efforts of Representative Herman, of Oregon, this lake, in- 
cluding some twenty surrounding townships, was withdrawn 
from the public surveys and reserved as a national park. 
It is one of the most remarkable lakes on the face of the globe, 
It is the deepest fresh-water lake in the United States, if not in 
the world. By reason of its phenomenal location and awe-inspir- 
ing surroundings it is unsurpassed in scenic grandeur and marvel- 
ous beauty by any other known to man. The day is not far dis- 
tant when travelers, sight-seers, seekers after knowledge, students 
of nature, and lovers of the beautiful and the sublime of every 
tongue will come from all countries and every clime for the pur- 
pose of standing in the presence of its bewildering wonders, gaz- 
ing on its entrancing mysteries, and feasting on the inspiration of 
its majestic beauty. 
What is the explanation of scientists of this seemingly abnor- 
mal creation, which inspires awe and evokes mingled admiration 
and wonder in the minds of all who behold it? It is this: that 
there, in the departed centuries, once stood a giant voleanic moun- 
tain whose summit towered into the heavens to a height probably 
far above any other in the United States, if not in North Amer- 
