Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 26/The Lakes of Oregon
THE QUARTERLY
of the
Oregon Historical Society
Copyright, 1923, by the Oregon Historical Society
The Quarterly disavows responsibility for the positions taken by contributors to its pages.
THE LAKES OF OREGON
By Lewis A. McArthur
Preliminary investigations indicate that there are about 500 lakes in Oregon that our people have seen fit to identify by names. These lakes vary in size and importance from fine bodies of water, clear and amid delightful surroundings, to shallow desert ponds of highly mineralized solution that literally dry up and blow away with summer winds.
Oregon has excellent examples of every form of lake enumerated by the physical geographer. Her lakes are important economically as well as from a scenic and recreational point of view. They furnish abundant supplies of water for human consumption, for power development, irrigation and mining, and it is difficult to conceive of more beautiful spots for camping and fishing than on the shores of some of the lakes of the mountain ranges of the state. They provide an attractive field for study.
In general a lake is an inland body of standing water somewhat larger than a pool or pond. In the west the words pool and pond are seldom used, and the word lake is generally employed to include even very small bodies of water. The term is also applied to the widened parts of river and sometimes to bodies of water which lie along the coast, even when they are at sea level and are directly connected with the sea.
The conditions necessary for the existence of lakes are (1) Depressions without outlets, and (2) a sufficient supply of water. By depressions without outlets it must not be understood that lakes have no outlets. It means that below the level of the lake outlet there is in each case a depression which has no outlet. It is this depression without an outlet that makes the lake, and when the water reaches the elevation of the outlet it overflows.
Lake basins originate in many ways, but most of them are the result of vulcanism and diastrophism. Diastrophism includes movements of the earth's crust up or down. Vulcanism produces crater lakes, and in Oregon particularly, streams of lava have caused a considerable number of our water bodies. Other common causes are landslides which dam up streams, glacial deposits, and frequently glacial action, gouging out depressions in soft rocks. Lakes are also produced by dams built of windblown sand.
Lakes are considered to be the most short lived of all important geographic features. Every lake's fate is certain and its ultimate destruction has led to the famous epigram, "Rivers are the mortal enemies of lakes." The main causes of lake destruction are the lowering of outlets by stream cutting which results in ultimate drainage of lakes, and by sedimentation from streams entering lakes which results in the depressions being filled up. Lake basins are being filled constantly with sediment from inflowing water, and also by wave action along the shores and particularly by organic matter deposited by shell-bearing animals, plants and other growths. In some cases wind-blown dust accomplishes the end.
Oregon has four well defined lake regions. While there are lakes in most of the counties of the state, nature has concentrated her efforts as far as lakes are concerned in definite areas. The first area is along the main axis of the Cascade Range. This part of the state is well supplied with lakes, some of which are large and impressive, such as Crater, Odell, Crescent, Davis and Waldo. In no part of the state are lakes more beautiful or better suited to recreational purposes. The setting and surroundings of most of the Cascade Range lakes leave little to be desired.
South central Oregon, particularly Lake county, has a number of large lakes, the most important of which, Abert[1] and Summer, are the results of shifts in the earth's crust. The lakes of south central Oregon include some of the largest in the state and for the most part they are alkaline or otherwise chemically impregnated. The value of the soluble minerals will have to be determined in the future. Waterfowl abound in the tules on the edge of many of these lakes, but generally the surroundings do not provide attractive camping grounds.
The area between the Coast Range and the Pacific Ocean, from the mouth of the Siuslaw River south to Coos Bay furnishes most of the coastal lakes of the state, and some of them are very fine. Siltcoos, Tahkenitch, Cleawox, Tenmile, and others will in time come to be very important to our citizens. It is interesting to note that the Coast Range itself, and for that matter large areas of the Blue Mountains too, bear but few lakes, even of small size.
The fourth well-defined lake region of Oregon is in the Wallowa Mountains. Wallowa Lake has a setting that is suggestive of Switzerland, and while other of the Wallowa Mountain lakes are fairly small, they are well worth visiting.
It is not the purpose of this article to enumerate all the lakes of the state, but to call attention to interesting facts about the situation or history of some of the more notable ones.
Two lakes stand out above all others in importance to Oregonians. The first is Bull Run Lake which furnishes necessary domestic and industrial water supply to nearly 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.
North of Mount Jefferson, wedged in between living glaciers on the south and a rough precipitous mountain wall a thousand feet high on the north, lies Jefferson Park, a natural playground, invitingly level, directly athwart the Cascade Range. I have seen much snow in this park even as late as the first of September, but generally during August the park is a mass of flowers. There are several lakes in the park, and the largest is but a few hundred feet in diameter, but looking down into it from the north, one gets a fine reflection of Mount Jefferson. This lake was named in honor of Dr. Israel C. Russell, one of the early geologists of the United States Geological Survey, who was an enthusiastic investigator of Oregon in the early eighties. The lake forms the south fork of the Breitenbush River until late in the season, when evaporation reduces its level to a point below the outlet. The elevation of the lake above the sea is about 5900 feet.
The three so-called Deschutes lakes are the best known of the lakes of the Cascade Range, with the exception of course of Crater Lake. These are Odell, Crescent and Davis lakes, and for natural beauty and surroundings they are hard to duplicate. Odell is fed from melting snows on Diamond Peak and Maiden Peak, and is about six miles long. Its western end is but a few moments walk from the summit of the Cascade Range at the proposed crossing of the Eugene-Klamath Falls line of the Southern Pacific Company. This lake occupies a depression cut by a glacier and the terminal moraine makes the dam that impounds the water. A stream connects this lake with Davis Lake to the northeast, and while not so attractive Davis Lake is well worth visiting. Davis Lake is unusual in that it has a subterranean outlet under a lava flow, so that it always discharges about the same amount of water. Odell and Davis lakes have an important influence in keeping the flow of the Deschutes River constant. Davis Creek flows directly into the main Deschutes.
The third of this trio is Crescent Lake, one of the loveliest in the state. It has an elevation of 4837 feet and bears a descriptive name. The surrounding woods are magnificent, and with the reconstruction of the Willamette Highway between Eugene and Klamath Falls, Crescent Lake is becoming easy of access. Hundreds of visitors linger on the shores of these three lakes during summer months, hunting and fishing in the midst of the most refreshing natural surroundings.
Little known, but growing in importance, are the Olallie Lakes clustered about the foot of Olallie Butte midway between Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood. These lakes lie in surroundings popular with the Indians who gave to the Butte the name Olallie, meaning berry. From the summit of this great rocky knob more than 30 lakes may be counted without a glass. The proposed Cascade Range road will pierce the very heart of this region and bring these lakes within a day's drive from Portland. The largest are Olallie, Monon, and Trout, covering many acres, and even the smallest are well stocked with eastern brook trout.
Clatsop county furnishes two lakes of interesting history. Cullaby Lake, named for a local Indian celebrity, is on the northern part of Clatsop plains and formerly made its outlet through Necoxie Creek, first north and then south to the estuary of the Necanicum River. Cattle grazing along the lower Necoxie cut the nearby sands which were shifted by winds, thus damming the creek and forming Necoxie Lake. A short section of Necoxie Creek still flows into the estuary, but the lake drains to the north back toward Cullaby Lake, which now outlets through Skipanon River. Here is a curious example of, a complete change of direction of stream flow and lake outlet.
Cullaby Lake is the scene of the activities of the Clatsop county cranberry growers, and a number of acres of low land lying adjacent to the lake have been converted into cranberry bogs.
I have already mentioned Wallowa Lake. This is one of the larger mountain lakes of Oregon, and is approximately four miles long. It is fed principally by the Wallowa river which is formed by the junction of the east and west forks about a mile south of the lake. The elevation of the lake is approximately 4340 feet and the name is derived from a Nez Perce word meaning a fish trap built in a peculiar manner by the use of three poles sunk in the water. The name was first applied to a point on the Wallowa River where a number of these traps were located and has since become attached to the lake itself and other important geographic features in northeastern Oregon. A view from the north end of the lake includes the serrated peaks and spires of the Wallowa Mountains, many of which bear snow throughout the entire year.. This view of Wallowa Lake is certainly one of the most beautiful in the state.
Nature narrowly missed giving Oregon two crater lakes almost equal in size and beauty, but like many other second attempts to improve upon a masterpiece, this one failed. Twenty-five miles south of Bend lies Newberry crater, a result of vulcanism much more recent than the caldra that is occupied by Crater Lake. Newberry crater is situated in the summit of the isolated Paulina Mountains and in this crater are two lakes, Paulina Lake and East Lake, at an elevation of about 6500 feet or several hundred feet higher than Crater Lake. It is apparent that the caldra was at one time occupied by one lake, but subsequent volcanic action has built up a series of small craters running north and south across the middle which divides the depression and leaves East Lake with neither inlet nor outlet. Paulina Lakes overflows to the west down Paulina Creek to the east fork of the Deschutes River. Paulina Creek is blessed with several pretty waterfalls. Newberry crater broke down its western side and if it had not been for this break it is apparent that the water level would be much higher in the crater, and the surroundings would have more nearly resembled Crater Lake itself. At some points around the two lakes the walls are precipitous and high, and Paulina Peak, which is just south of Paulina Lake, affords what is probably the finest view in Oregon. It stands about 8500 feet high, or 2000 feet above the lake, and its sides to the north are rough and jagged. From the Forest Service lookout on top the writer has seen the great snow peaks of the Cascade Range spread out like a fan in magnificent panorama, extending from Mt. Adams on the north to Mt. McLouglin on the south. Paulina Peak is situated well to the east of the Cascade Range and permits a comprehensive view of the great mountain backbone of the state that cannot be duplicated, not only on account of the height of the viewpoint but also on account of its distance from the main range which provides an almost perfect perspective. Paulina Lake was named for the famous Indian chief of central Oregon.
Summer Lake, in Lake county, is one of the larger lakes of the arid part of the state and has an area of about 60 square miles. Its main source of supply is the Ana River which is a spring-fed stream attaining great volume within a short distance from its source. Summer Lake has no outlet and as a result its water is strongly impregnated with salts, particularly sodium salts. The lake was discovered and named by then Captain John C. Fremont, of the U. S. topographical engineers on December 16, 1843. As he looked down from the ridge which his party had climbed from the west he saw the sun shining on the lake, bordered with green grass and the contrast was so great that he named the mountains Winter Ridge and the body of water Summer Lake.
Four days later Fremont reached another large lake occupying a great trough in the earth's surface, and this he named for his chief, Colonel J. J. Abert. Lake Abert is about the same size as Summer Lake and is fed principally by the outlet of Chewaucan Marsh and Crooked Creek. The water is strongly impregnated with various sodium carbonates and other salts. The great fault scarp which stands above this lake on the east is an imposing sight.
The Warner Lakes, which occupy the extreme southeast corner of Lake county, were discovered at Christmas time in 1843 by Captain Fremont. They consist of various shallow lakes, marshes and playas, extending almost the entire length of Warner Valley. The lakes and marshes are connected by surface channels or by underground seepage and they present an attractive field of study to the geologist. The valley and lakes were named for Brevet Captain W. H. Warner, who explored the valley in the latter part of 1849 and was ambushed and massacred by the Indians on September 26 of that year near the present sight of Warner Lake post office.
Fremont discovered and named one of these lakes Christmas Lake but it is not definitely known which lake he distinguished by the name. It seems probable that it was Hart Lake. Much confusion has resulted over this name on account of the fact that there is another lake north of Summer Lake now known as Christmas Lake, and it is frequently mentioned as having been discovered by Fremont, although such of course is not the case.
Upper Klamath Lake is one of the largest lakes in the state and is of considerable importance from an economic standpoint. The elevation of the water has been put under control and it is probable that very substantial use of the water for irrigation and power purposes will be developed from time to time. Upper Klamath Lake is surrounded by large areas of marshes which are said to be susceptible of being converted into valuable agricultural land if properly drained.
Lower Klamath Lake is one of the other substantial storage reservoirs that form the Klamath River, but it is not nearly as large as Upper Klamath Lake and the surrounding swamp areas make it much less attractive from a scenic point of view.
Tule Lake to the east of Lower Klamath Lake no longer exists as water body in Oregon as practically all of the area that originally lay north of the Oregon-California state line has been reclaimed by irrigation enterprises.
Maps of Oregon show two large lakes in the northern part of Harney county. Malheur Lake and Harney Lake are connected by The Narrows. These lakes have achieved considerable prominence because of the controversies that have developed over them between the proponents of bird refuges and champions of the development of reclaimed lands for agricultural enterprises. The lakes are far more imposing on the map than they are on the ground. They are shallow bodies of water, and after a succession of dry years they actually occupy a much smaller area than indicated on the maps. At the time of this writing they are substantially smaller than they were at the time the first land surveys were made. Malheur Lake, which receives the flow of several large streams, remains comparatively fresh, but owing to the fact that the lake outlets into Harney Lake the latter acts as a catch basin for mineral deposits and as a result is gradually growing more alkaline in character.[2]
As official map making progresses many new lakes are brought to public attention. This is particularly true of the Cascade Range area. As a result of the activities of the U. S. Forest Service a large number of small unnamed lakes and ponds between Crater Lake and Mt. Jefferson have been placed on the map. There are probably more than fifty of these bodies of water that are not yet named, and a considerable number of them are within easy reach of Bend. There is no doubt but that they will in the future constitute an attractive field for recreation. A large number have been stocked with game fish.
The lakes of the coast region are not generally of economic importance. Most of them occur near the sea level and are so situated that they are not suitable for power or for irrigation development. Some of them offer good recreational facilities, but so far the people of Oregon have not realized what an asset they have in the coast lakes, and also in the Cascade Range lakes. The city of Bend is just beginning to get an estimate of the value of a number of fine bodies of water within easy automobile distance from The Dalles-California Highway.
As I said before, the lakes of Oregon present an attractive field of study, not only the lakes as they exist today, but the lakes as they have existed throughout geological time. Geologists have hardly scraped the surface of their investigations with reference to the prehistoric conditions in the Warner Valley and in other sections of the southeastern part of the state. It is hoped that the time will come when it will be possible to assemble in one place the large mass of information that now exists in scattered form about these most interesting features of Oregon geography.
Notes edit
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1951, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 72 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse