Preliminary report on the recent volcanic activity of Lassen Peak

Holway, Ruliff

The article gives the past history of Lassen Peak before it erupted in addition to eyewitness accounts of the volcanic eruptions which occurred in 1914. It documents letters from witnesses to the eruptions and also gives a list of eruptions from May 30 to July 15, 1914. The recent formation of a new crater on the old cone of Lassen Peak is, so far as the writer knows, the first recorded instance of undoubted volcanic activity actually witnessed within the limits of the United States, if territory not contiguous be excluded. It is not surprising, therefore, that both popular and scientific interest have been greatly aroused as to the nature and extent of the real changes which have taken place. At first it was difficult to secure reliable reports, for the region about the mountain is sparsely settled, and this year, on the date of the first eruption, May 30, the snow was still very deep, obscuring all roads and trails as low down as the six thousand-foot contour line. On account of the unusually late season, the summer influx of cattlemen, lumbermen and campers had not yet begun; probably the nearest occupied house was at least eight miles distant in an air line from the mountain top. The inhabitants of the neighboring region were unfamiliar with volcanic phenomena and very naturally observations from stations ten to fifty miles distant resulted in the first reports being conflicting and confusing. Considering all these circumstances, it seems advisable to issue this preliminary report even though at this date it is necessarily incomplete, and even though the probability may be strong that the eruptions have by no means ceased.

Preliminary report on the recent volcanic activity of Lassen Peak

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