CRATER LAKE AND THE MINERAL SPRINGS. 19 



MINING. 



While much prospecting for copper and gold has been done in the 

 Cascade portion of the Forest, the grade of ore so far discovered has 

 usually been too low to justify the installation of expensive machin- 

 ery. The only operations now in progress are at what is known as 

 the Elk Creek mines (T. 31 S., R. 1 E.), where some $15,000 has been 

 expended in development and a small stamp mill erected. Quartz 

 mining on this portion of the Forest, however, remains practically 

 undeveloped, awaiting capital. With better railroad facilities the 

 necessary money will undoubtedly become available, and in the aid 

 of future development of quartz mining here the timber on the Forest 

 will be a most important factor. 



The Siskiyou portion, on the other hand, is a typical mining coun- 

 try. In the sixties and seventies much placer mining was done, and 

 even to-day there is good placer mining along Sterling Creek and 

 Little Applegate River, but as a rule it has given way to quartz 

 mining. Just south of this portion of the Forest, in California, are 

 the famous Blue Ledge copper mines, which, though yielding only a 

 moderate amount of ore at present, promise to become among the 

 richest copper mines in the West. 



SETTLEMENT. 



The region within the Forest is not one to attract settlement, since 

 the climate precludes the possibility of raising any crop but hay. On 

 the east slope the winters are long, snow is deep, and Klamath Lake 

 always freezes over, while on that portion of the west slope within the 

 Forest conditions are but little different. Everywhere on the Forest 

 late and early frosts are frequent and severe. Thirty-five home- 

 stead claims, aggregating 3,325 acres, have been entered under the 

 act of June 11, 1906, chiefly in the lower valleys of the Siskiyou 

 Mountains, where the climate is milder than elsewhere. The few 

 actual settlers on the Forest are engaged mainly in raising stock, and 

 maintain road houses along the different routes of travel over the 

 mountains, where travelers are accommodated and pasture and hay 

 furnished their horses. 



CRATER LAKE AND THE MINERAL SPRINGS. 



An ever-increasing number of tourists are attracted each year to 

 Crater Lake, the deepest body of fresh water in North America, and, 

 because of its deep blue color and the grandeur of the encircling 

 cliffs, one of the most beautiful spots on the continent. While not 

 within the Forest boundaries, it is surrounded by them on three sides, 

 and is best reached by a picturesque mountain road which passes 

 much of its distance through the Forest, and on which is the Natural 

 Bridge of Rogue River. 



