William Gladstone Steel

William Gladstone Steel
Steel is known as "Father of Crater Lake"
Born	(1854-09-07)September 7, 1854 Stafford, Ohio,
Died	October 21, 1934(1934-10-21) (aged 80) --> Medford, Oregon
Occupation	Journalist
Known for	Crater Lake National Park

William Gladstone Steel (September 7, 1854 – October 21, 1934), called the "father of Crater Lake", referring to the creation of Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, United States. A native of Ohio, he worked in the newspaper business before becoming a mail carrier. He campaigned Congress for 17 years to designate Crater Lake as a national park.

William Steel was born on September 7, 1854, in Stafford, Ohio, to Elizabeth Lawrie and William Steel,abolitionists who were active in the Underground Railroad. The family included his brother, George A. Steel, who became Treasurer of Oregon, and his sister, Jane, who attended St. Mary's School.

On March 25, 1868 the Steel family moved from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to a farm near Oswego, Kansas. In May 1870, William, as a Kansas school boy, he read a newspaper wrapped around his lunch about the discovery of Crater Lake.

Steel finally traveled to Crater Lake in 1885, traveling by railroad and then stagecoach to Fort Klamath. After that, he walked 20 miles, arriving on August 15, 1885. Steel published an articles in the March 1886 issue of West Shore describing his reactions as he viewed the lake for the first time.

Steel was a member of the Portland Alpine Club, the first known alpine club in the West, and then a member of the Mazamas after the Portland Alpine Club folded.

Steel not only spent time guiding influential people around the area and leading nature hikes, but he also gave campfire lectures about Crater Lake's flora, fauna and geography, much like a contemporary interpretive park ranger. Steel more than anyone else shaped the early public perception of Crater Lake. For example, he garnered a great deal of publicity for Crater Lake by hosting The Mazamas' convention and mountain climbing tour in 1896. Hundreds of people, including politicians, scientists and climbers, spent three weeks in the area. At the close of the convention, fireworks were lit on Wizard Island and the group ceremoniously christened the volcano that once stood where the lake is, calling it Mount Mazama.