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Crater Lake National Park

Other destinations within a
mile radius.

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Availability:	Open to the Public
Filed Under:	Infamous Crimes Mysterious Creatures > Bigfoot Mysterious Creatures > Lake/River Monsters Mysterious Events > Unidentified Flying Objects Mythology/Folklore Paranormal Hot Spots > Haunted Parks
Added By:	TheCabinet
Added On:	August 12, 2007 - 07:22 PM UTC
Last Modified:	April 01, 2008 - 01:39 AM UTC
Your Rating:	Sign in to add your rating
Average Rating:	4.5 (2 ratings)
Visited By:	3 Users

Address
Crater Lake National Park, Uninc Douglas County, OR, USA (Crater Lake, Oregon)

Information
Mount Mazama and Crater Lake At a depth of 1,943 feet in one area, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States of America and the seventh deepest in the world. It was formed out of the eruption of Mount Mazama approximately 7,700 years ago, which is estimated to have been 42 times greater than the 1980 eruption of its cousin to the north, Mount Saint Helens. The eruption of Mount Mazama is believed to be the most explosive eruption of the Cascade Range in the past one million years. It expelled so much magma during the event that the summit of the mountain collapsed and formed a giant crater. The mountain continued to erupt over the time as the crater began to fill from rain and water from melting snow. In essence, the caldera's bottom sealed itself off and allowed the water to fill, while a series of porous deposits on its northeast wall acted as an overflow drain. It is world-renowned for the dark blue color of its water, which is interestingly not fed by the typical streams or rivers, but rather only by precipitation and melting snow. Wizard Island The latter eruptions of Mount Mazama caused the formation of volcanic cinder cones on the crater's floor. One of these cinder cones managed to breach the water's surface and rise to a point of 2,700 feet above the lake's deepest point. At its summit is a crater that stretches 100 feet deep and 500 feet wide. In 1885, a man by the name of Will G. Steele dubbed the cinder cone formation "Wizard Island," reportedly because it resembled a wizard's hat. He also dubbed the crater at the top the "Witches Cauldron." The First Discovery Though known to the Native Americans that inhabited the area even before the eruption of Mount Mazama, it remained undiscovered to the pioneers of the area until 1853. It was then that a group of miners led by John Wesley Hillman stumbled across it while searching for gold in the area. They quickly dubbed the crater as "Deep Blue Lake," but were forced to return to their post when they ran low on supplies. They reported their finding, but it would be another decade before the white man would return to the area. Name Changes It was not until 1862 that another group of settlers would stumble upon the lake. Chauncy Nye led the expedition and published an article about their findings in the nearby Jacksonville newspaper. In the article, he dubbed the lake "Blue Lake." In 1865, hostilities broke out between the Native American tribes of the area with the settlers who had ventured west. The U.S. Army moved in and established Fort Klamath and more people moved into the area. Two hunters attached to the unit stumbled across the lake on August 1 and word got out about its natural beauty. Soldiers and settlers all came to gaze upon its waters and it soon adopted the name "Lake Majesty." However, in an article published in a Jacksonville newspaper in 1869, it would receive the name that would finally stick. A group of explorers hiked down to the water's edge and took a boat out on the water, steering out to the then-unnamed Wizard Island. Among them was a journalist that would write the fateful article. Rather than using the name "Lake Majesty," Jim Sutton would dub the lake "Crater Lake" for the crater on the top of Wizard Island. Native American Folklore For years, Crater Lake was considered a sacred place to the Native Americans and reportedly some believed that anyone that gazed upon the lake's water would die instantaneously. In fact, the reason that Crater Lake went undiscovered for so long by the early pioneers is that their Indian guides would intentionally guide them around the area. Even after its discovery by Hillman's party, a tribe in the area refused to acknowledge its existence when questioned about it. Not surprisingly, local tribes had various legends about the former Mount Mazama and the formation of Crater Lake. There are far too many to recall them all here, but the most popular version came from the tribes of the Klamath and Modoc Indians. The legend recounts of a great battle that took place between the god of the underworld, Llao (or L-ao), and the god of the sky, Skell. In some versions of the myth, the battle is the result of a young Indian maiden from the Klamath tribe. In one version, Llao becomes infatuated with the young woman and asks for the girl's hand in marriage, but is rebuffed by both her and her father, who just happens to be the Chief of the tribe. As result, Llao is greatly angered and rises to the surface of his fortress (Mount Mazama) and begins to hurl flaming rocks down upon the tribe, which causes Skell to come to their defense from his own nearby Mount Shasta. In still other versions, both gods fall for the same girl and the battle erupts (literally) over their jealousy. At either rate, the war is on. Both gods have their own followers who they have absolute control over. Skell has the animals of the land at his command, while Llao has the creatures (or demons) of the underworld at his. As the battle raged, the two gods hurled fiery rocks the size of hills at one another, causing mass destruction that turned the sky black. Under the shade of darkness, Llao's minions snuck over to where Skell was and caught him by surprise and ripped him to pieces. They returned with his heart and a great celebration ensued. Skell's own followers were invited to the revelry and Skell's heart was tossed back and forth by those that attended. What Llao and his followers did not know was that as long as Skell's heart lived, so did he. When his heart landed in the hands of his followers, they immediately raced off with it (passing it from fox to antelope to eagle) and rushed it back to his homeland. An angry Llao went in pursuit, but would get there too late. Skell was restored and more powerful than before and he quickly cut off the head of Llao. He returned to Llao's lair (Crater Lake) and told Llao's demons that it was Skell who had been killed and ordered them to feast on his remains. He then began tossing the limbs of Llao into the water below, which were quickly consumed by the monsters of the underworld. It was only when the last piece, Llao's head, was tossed into the water that the demons finally recognized their master and realized that they had been tricked. They scurried away in shame and left the head to sit in the now enormous crater. The head is known today as Wizard Island. It is said that Llao's demons still dwell in the lake and remember their former master. It is believed that those monsters that dwell beneath will sometimes rise to the surface and snatch those that veer too close to its waters and drag them into the deep blue lake, never to be seen again. Native Americans also believed that the other rock formation, known as The Phantom Ship, that sits in Crater Lake is one of those ferocious monsters. There are reportedly some Native Americans who still believe the ground is sacred and will not look upon Crater Lake's waters to this day. The Dragon of Crater Lake Although the stories of creatures residing in the deep waters of Crater Lake have existed for some time, a new story would surface in May 2002 that would bring the subject back to the forefront. Oddly enough, the story came via the Fort Meyers News-Star and a woman that resided in Albany, Georgia named Mattie Hatcher. Hatcher recalled visiting Crater Lake when she was a child and getting a glimpse of something strange. According to her, she was out on a rowboat with some of her friends when something "a block long" swam underneath the boat and gave them all a good fright. She recounted, "I have never been so scared in my life. What we saw that day was a monster. To me, it looked like a dragon. I know why the Indians call that place Lost Lake. They say monsters live in it. I believe them. I know, because I saw one there." Hollywood had a go with a similar subject with the 1977 film, The Crater Lake Monster. The fun begins when a meteor crashes into the lake and unearths a dinosaur egg that subsequently hatches. The plesiosaur-like beast then goes around and starts snacking on unsuspecting campers. Despite naming the film after Crater Lake, a different lake was used in the filming that doesn't resemble Crater Lake... or a crater for that matter. As for further reports of the dragon, there have been no reported sightings since the 2002 article. Deaths and Ghosts at Crater Lake Despite the idyllic setting of Crater Lake, the area has had more than a few deaths associated with it. From 1926 to 1997, at least thirteen people have fallen to their deaths from the steep slopes of the crater. While one case was suicide, most of the others involved someone getting close to the edge to take a photograph. The area around the lake has also been the setting for various plane crashes, car wrecks, and recreational accidents. There have also been a few murders over time, including the sensational case on July 19, 1952 when two executives for United Motors Service, a subsidiary of General Motors, were found shot execution style. News of the grisly discovery quickly spread and people flocked to the scene, destroying evidence in the process. The crime remains unsolved. There have been a spattering of other suicides over the years as well, but none so dramatic as the death of Amdris Merzejuskis on August 29, 1982. Merzejuskis, a German national, was driving on the south entrance road when a patrol ranger attempted to pull him over for speeding. He sped up the vehicle instead and when the ranger closed in, his car suddenly exploded and plunged off the road. It was later determined that the explosion had been caused by a hand grenade that Merzejuskis had been holding that blew off his left hand and face. The vehicle had been stolen and Merzejuskis had been wanted for drug smuggling. Officials discovered a pistol, knife and rifle also in the car and are not entirely sure if Merzejuskis meant to use the grenade on himself or the ranger. The deaths may date back even further in time as well and some of the spirits may still reside there. Rangers have reported seeing campfires burning on Wizard Island that mysteriously disappear by the time they arrive to look into them. Similarly, a ranger by the name of Jan Kirwan was on patrol of the lower rim when she saw a large fire outside the designated campgrounds with ten people surrounding it. After she had stopped to confront the group, all traces of the them and the fire had vanished. Kirwan was later told that the site had been used by the Klamath Indians as a temporary camp many years ago. Ghosts and other paranormal activity are rare in the area, but not unheard of. Other Mysterious Events On June 8th or 9th, 1976, the Chief Park Naturalist, George Morrison, observed a Sasquatch-like (or Bigfoot) creature crossing the South Road at dusk and headed into Annie Creek Canyon. In the summer of 1978, rangers Marion Jack and Vic Affolter report encountering something large in the forest that gave off a pungent odor and threw a pinecone at them. On July 14, 1979, various people report seeing a very large and very bright light streak over Crater Lake. The Mail Tribune reports that on February 4, 1997, a pilot saw "three strange lights" over Crater Lake, with military jets in pursuit. That same evening, a loud sonic boom echoed across Western Oregon. Crater Lake National Park Along with the cryptic names of Wizard Island, Witches Cauldron and The Phantom Ship, the crater also has The Devil's Backbone (a large jagged ridge rock that formed from lava seeping through cracks on the crater's slopes that extends up the western slope of the crater), Llao Rock (where Skell reportedly threw Llao's remains to his own followers below) that overlooks Llao Bay, and Skell Head. In Kansas in 1870, a man by the name of William Gladstone Steel would read about the lake in a newspaper that his lunch came wrapped in. He was so fascinated with the article that he moved his family to Portland, Oregon to the north, but took another thirteen years to make it down south to Crater Lake. When he did, he was so overwhelmed by its beauty that he began a quest to get the lake its National Park status. His dream came true on May 22, 1902 with the official declaration being signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. Today Crater Lake National Park is open year-round, though many of the roads and facilities close down in the winter. Visitors can drive along the crater's rim and even hike down to the lake itself. During the summer, boat tours are available that take visitors out to Wizard Island, where they can stop to fish, swim or explore. For more information, please visit the site below.

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Related Sites
Crater Lake National Park The official Web site of Crater Lake National Park, the source of many old Native American myths and legends.
The Smith Brothers Chronological History of Crater Lake National Park A fascinating site that documents various chronological events in the history of Crater Lake, including some of the more bizarre and mysterious.
Indian Perceptions of Crater Lake A site that recounts the many myths and legends associated with Crater Lake in Oregon by the local Native American tribes.
OregonBigfoot.com A collection of sightings and reports of the mysterious cryptid known as either Bigfoot or Sasquatch completely focused on the state of Oregon.

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See Also on TheCabinet.com
Blog: The Crater Lake Monster (05/02/08)
Blog: Strange Goings-On at Crater Lake (02/04/09)

Available from Amazon.com
Haunted Hikes: Spine-Tingling Tales and Trails from North America's National Parks
Ghost Stories of Oregon
Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest
The enchanted lake;: Mount Mazama and Crater Lake in story, history and legend,
The Crater Lake Monster
Crater Lake: Relic of a Vanished Mountain

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Images

The dark blue water of Crater Lake located in Southern Oregon in July 2007.
From: TheCabinet

A July 2007 photo of Wizard Island with the Witches Cauldron on top in Crater Lake National Park.
From: TheCabinet

Looking down the Devil's Backbone feature of Crater Lake in Southern Oregon in July 2007.
From: TheCabinet

Full Moon at Dusk Over Crater Lake in Oregon

Peering at the full moon through the trees overlooking Crater Lake at dusk in July 2007.
From: TheCabinet

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The above content is for informational purposes only. Before making any travel arrangements, it is highly recommended that you contact those in charge of the property to check for updated availability and hours of operation. While we do our best to keep this information updated, we cannot guarantee that it is completely valid and up to date. Any destination marked "Closed to the Public" is marked that for a reason and we discourage any visits or attempts to gain access to that facility. Similarly, take note of any "Travel Advisory" that may be associated with a destination. Finally, treat any location and its local residents with respect. Any vandalism and/or unruly behavior is completely despicable and only ruins the experience for future visitors.

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alisha66

Dec 03 2010, 08:30 AM UTC

Crater Lake National Park is located in southern Oregon in the United States. The Crater Lake National Park is such a beautiful park. It has been known to inspire lots of people over the years. Lake is pure and very deep. The waters are crystal clear blue which makes it awesome. The beauty at the Crater Lake National Park is immeasurable.
http://www.wildlifeworld360.com/crater-lake-national-park.html

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