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.
