Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/14

4 a third of the population of the state. The civic and economic importance of the lake cannot be stated in mere dollars. This lake is one of Oregon's very greatest assets and should be remembered as such. Veiled from the public both by law and by nature, Bull Run Lake sits surrounded by virgin forests and puts forth the best it has to give for the comfort and health of over a quarter of a million souls.

Crater Lake is one of nature's marvels. It is more in the nature of a scenic wonder than anything else the writer has ever seen. Oddly enough it is not a real crater lake at all, because it occupies a caldra far larger than the crater of the original mountains. Volcanic action produced the mountain and the crater, but the depression now occupied by the lake is the result of diastrophism.

In the historic days of the first week in August in 1914 the writer camped on the rim of Crater Lake and gazed at every changing hue of sky and water and measured light and shadow from the cliffs above. Early in the morning the slanting rays of the sun fell through the forest smoke that clouded the atmosphere, and turned the waters of the lake a copper red and cast a rosy glow on the surrounding walls. The sight more than anything else resembled a giant pot of molten copper. In a few seconds it was over and the water quickly turned to infathomable blue.

Crater Lake has been the subject of so much writing and is so well known to the public that the writer does not feel it necessary to elaborate. There are, however, two illusions about the lake that should be dispelled. The lake does freeze over, contrary to popular belief. Also many people discuss the possibility of underground outlets from Crater Lake. It is doubtful if there are any. The lake receives its entire water supply direct from precipitation, as the drainage area is but a little larger than the lake. It is fairly certain that evaporation accounts for all of the outgo from the lake, without any allowance for underground flow.