Discovery Point
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 42° 55.222 W 122° 09.738
10T E 568367 N 4752312
Quick Description: History sign on West Rim Drive about the discovery of Crater Lake.
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 11/5/2009 8:06:32 PM
Waymark Code: WM7KPX
Views: 9
Long Description:Marker Name: Discovery Point
Marker Text: Near this point a plodding mule stopped abruptly, a few feet short of the crater rim. Its astonished rider suddenly found himself on the brink of a natural wonder few had ever seen. John Wesley Hillman had stumbled upon Crater Lake.
The day was June 12, 1853. Hillman had joined a party of goldseekers on a searchfor the fabled Lost Cabin Mine. They found no gold, but they knew they had discovered a scenic treasure. The prospectors erected a crude sign bearing their signatures, and named the majestic waters, “Deep Blue Lake.”
In the years that followed, the lake was rediscovered and renamed several times. An 1869 exploring party gave the lake its present name, and in 1902, Crater Lake became the nation’s sixth national park.
John Wesley Hillman ventured west as a young man to seek his fortune with the forty-niners. Prospecting, mining, freighting, and odd jobs kept him on the move. Hillman was only 21 when he first saw Crater Lake. He later rode for the famed Pony Express.
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