Klamath Lake

“ The run, every mile of the way, is beautiful and inspiring, a fit introduction to the grand climax that greets you at the end. A few miles out of the town the road took us to the shores of Klamath Lake, which we followed to the northern extremity—a distance of some twenty-five miles. While by no means a perfect highway, we rejoiced to find it free from the bottomless dust that strangled us when entering the town—a few sandy stretches and a stony spot here and there were only pleasant variations compared with our experiences of the previous clay. ”

“ The Klamath Indian name for Klamath River was Koke , the general name for river , and the hearer had t o judge from the con text which river was meant , Williamson , Lost , Sprague o r Klamath . For information about the name Klamath see under KLAMATH COUNTY . Klamath River has a total drainage area o f 11,850 square miles i n Oregon and California , and has a total length o f 180 miles be tween Lake Ewauna and the Pacific Ocean . About five miles above Keno the river i s connected t o Lower Klamath Lake b y a stream , now under dyke control , known a s Klamath Strait . ”

“ The travel was east, pointed for another “large water” which the Indians said would be found in that direction, after a few days’ journey. Thus, from the lake-meadow, which was not really Klamath Lake of Southern Oregon, but was only Klamath Marsh, north [213] of the lake proper, the company again entered the great pine forest. Here some of the trees were five and six feet through, at the base.
That night the thermometer dropped to zero. Among fallen timber and in snow sometimes a foot deep the morning march was made, the overworked mules tugging at the heavy howitzer. ”

“ Just to the east of the lake is Mt. Scott, partly covered with snow, while close to the camp on the east, is a high cliff known as Cathedral Rock, running far down to the right and at last disappearing below the tree tops. To the south the scene was varied by a wide range of mountain tops, stretching far away to California, chief among which is snow-capped and beautiful Pitt. Just to the left the rough mountain view is changed to a charming plain, in the midst of which is a broad expanse of water, which proves to be Klamath Lake, about thirty miles distant. ”

“ Of the plentiful suckers, especially noteworthy are the multiple varieties inhabiting the Klamath Lakes and river and adjacent waters. To the Klamath and Modoc Indians these were formerly a source of wealth second only to the great salmon runs.
A red fish that abounded fifty years ago in Wallowa Lake and Wallowa River has mysteriously disappeared. In early days white men
found this food fish in almost limitless quantities in spawning season. ”

“ On this trip motorists pass along the Annie Creek Canyon, through the Klamath Indian Reservation, and along the edge of upper Klamath Lake, the largest inland body of water west of the Rocky Mountains.
Through the use of powerful snow plows Crater Lake National Park has been made accessible throughout the year over the Klamath and Medford approach roads. This is possible through the cooperation of the State highway commission. Even during midwinter, when snow attains a depth of 12 to 15 feet on the level, motorists can drive to the very rim of the lake. ”

“ On the east side of Link River near its upper end, there are streams of hot water bursting from the depts of the earth in continuous flow. These springs are said to possess wonder- ful healing properties. When the winds blow from the south, the waters of the upper Klamath Lake are forced back like a great tide, leaving Link River almost dry, save the deep holes and pools left in the channel. In the middle of this channel the water has cut in the stone, curious holes, said to resemble the feet of a large man. Near the footprints, another won- drous work of nature, wrought in the image of a man. ”

“ Cross the ridge, and descend on an open grassy flat, surrounding the lower Klamath lake, which I should say, at a rough guess, is thirty miles in circumference. It is in reality more like a huge swamp than a lake ”

“ No railroad comes within fifty miles; the nearest settler was many miles away—and that settler a Klamath Indian. At the foot of the long grade we came to a sluggish, green-tinted stream—Lost River—which we followed nearly to our destination. They call it Lost River since it vanishes from sight in the vast marshes of Tule Lake to the south.
The last twelve miles out of Klamath Falls were the most trying of a hard day’s run. The road bed was hidden in a foot of flour-like white limestone dust—deep enough to effectually hide the unmerciful chuck-holes and to make driving a blind chance. ”

“ Leaving the lake we sped onward over a level and fairly good road winding through meadows studded with pine trees and passing Klamath Agency, the capital of the Indian Reservation. Fort Klamath is a town of three hundred people just outside the reservation. The Indian trade and the outfitting and supplies required by tourists make it a lively place during the season—from July to September inclusive. The principal resource of the roundabout country, an obliging garage owner informed us, is cattle raising, in which most of the people of the town are interested directly or indirectly. ”

“ In 1944 there was a Tulelake post office just over the line in California, serving among others, a Japanese relocation center frequently in the news. Gatschet, in Dictionary of the Klamath Language, gives a number of Klamath and other Indian names for this lake. One was Mayaltko E-ush, meaning the lake overgrown with rushes or tule-grass. Moatak and Moatokni E-ush were words used by the Klamaths in referring to this lake, indicating that it was in the neighborhood of the Modoc Indians. The Pit River Indians, according to Gatschet, used the word Lutuami when speaking of this lake. ”

“ The chief source of the apparent prosperity of the town is the lumbering business with a pay roll of more than one hundred thousand dollars monthly. Klamath Falls is also the gateway79 to Crater Lake, to which the tide of travel is constantly increasing, and it lays claim itself to being something of a summer resort. The White Pelican Hotel, which, we were assured, cost nearly four hundred thousand dollars, is built over a mineral spring with a temperature near the boiling point and waters closely resembling Carlsbad in mineral constituents. ”

“ Legend says that the Klamath Indians believed Crater Lake was once a weird, ghostly amphitheater where the gods were forever embroiled in conflict, sporting in its blue waters and dwelling on its rocky heights and in its mystic depths.
Pioneers came slowly to southern Oregon, its sparse population in the early fifties living in constant dread of Indian wars. Miles of mountain region had never been explored when a party of California prospectors came to the mining village of Jacksonville. ”

“ En route from Medford, motorists travel through great forest areas, along the banks of rushing streams, along the edges of picturesque canyons, and through attractive mountain country. Of particular interest is the Rogue River, well known for its steelhead and cutthroat trout and salmon fishing.
Motorists entering the park by way of Medford often leave by way of the south entrance to Klamath Falls, 62 miles, or arrive that way and leave over the Medford route. ”

“ The drainage of the westerly slope of the mountain ranges north and west of Shasta reaches the Pacific with difficulty. The Klamath River flows southwest for 120 miles until it flanks the Siskiyous. It there meets the Trinity, which flows northwest. The combined rivers take the direction of the Trinity, but the name of the Klamath prevails. It enters the ocean about thirty miles south of the Oregon line. The whole region is extremely mountainous. The course of the river is tortuous, winding among the mountains. ”

“ Creep along between high craggy peaks for ten miles to reach the Klamath river, a wide, rapid stream that I have to cross, but how, just now is a puzzler. The banks are high; not a tree grows along its sides, or near by, wherewith to make either canoe or raft. I follow on its course for eight miles; the river makes a sudden bend, and in the angle on the opposite side I can see the charred remains of a log-shanty, amidst a clump of trees, one of which has been felled so as to fall across the river, and forms a rude foot269bridge. ”

“ From the summit another rivulet trickles away to the south, and finds its way through a frightful tamarack swamp, and through woods scarred by ruthless lumbering, to Mud Pond, a quiet body of water, with a ghastly fringe of dead trees, upon which people of grand intentions and weak vocabulary are trying to fix the name of Elk Lake. The descent of the pass on that side is precipitous and exciting. The way is in the stream itself; and a considerable portion of the distance we swung ourselves down the faces of considerable falls, and tumbled down cascades. ”

“ The north branch, which joins the South Thompson at Kamloops, is no good for fishing; its waters are seldom clear enough, and seem to be fed too much by glaciers, with no large lake to clear and filter the water. There are several rivers of the same type in British Columbia, and fishing does not seem to be good in any of them. At the western end of Kamloops Lake the Thompson flows out again to join the Fraser at Lytton; the stream is swift and strong, running when in high flood at the rate of twelve miles an hour. ”

“ On leaving the caravanserai one skirts the mountain side to the west, and goes up it to the horse station situated in a most desolate spot. From this point one gets a bird's-eye view of the whole lake. Its waters, owing to evaporation, seem to withdraw, leaving a white sediment of salt along the edge. The road from the Khafe-khana runs now in a perfectly straight line S.W., and, with the exception of the first short incline, is afterwards quite flat, passing along and very little above the lake shore, from which the road is about one mile distant. ”

“ It is when the snow begins to melt in earnest and the rivers and creeks come down in flood that real sport commences, and this usually happens towards the end of May. No sport can be obtained in the Thompson River below Kamloops Lake at this time, as the water is discoloured by the North Thompson flowing in at Kamloops, which makes fishing useless, and it is only in the South Thompson and the Shuswap Lake that good sport can be obtained. ”

“ Toward Fond du Lac, on the south, the horizon is the lake. South-southwestward, Black Wolf Point runs out, just over the verge, and the tops of the tall trees upon it peep up into view, like shadowy pile-work. Westward are the well-kept hospital grounds, fringed with stately elms overhanging the firm, gravelly beach, studded with ice-heaved bowlders, which extends northward to Neenah. The view to the north and northeast is delightfully hazy, being now dark with delicate fringes of forest which cap the occasional limestone promontories, and again losing itself in a watery sky-line. ”

“ Out of the clouds of spray at the foot of the fall the battered, roaring river gropes its way, makes another mile of cascades and rapids, rests a moment in Emerald Pool, then plunges over the grand cliff of the Vernal Fall, and goes thundering and chafing down a boulder-choked gorge of tremendous depth and wildness into the tranquil reaches of the old Yosemite lake basin.
The color-beauty about Shadow Lake during the Indian summer is much richer than one could hope to find in so young and so glacial a wilderness. Almost every leaf is tinted then, and the golden-rods are in bloom ”

“ For lake fishing, in point of numbers, it is impossible that this piece of water could be beaten; it is like a battue in shooting, the number to be caught is only limited by the skill and endurance of the angler; indeed, little skill is needed, for anyone can catch fish there, though a good fisherman will catch the most. Also fish can be caught on any day, some days being better than others, but a blank day is an impossibility. The lake is twenty-three miles south of Kamloops, and is reached by a good road, and there is now a small wooden house, where one can stop and hire boats. ”

“ They had no desire to see men, and they fled to all sorts of lonely retreats and remote forest places. At a certain point on the Klamath is a rough mountain slope which rises abruptly from the water; far up, well toward the ridge, about seven-eighths of the way from the river to the summit, is a bulky high stone which seen from a distance looks much like a statue. ”

“ The lakes are supposed to be occupied by peculiar beings called "water people," who are alleged to have remarkable powers and to use them in performing strange acts. It is dangerous for canoes to pass Battle Bluff, on Kamloops Lake, because of the water people, who in this instance are described as of human shape, but hairy in the upper half, with fishlike tails below. ”

“ It is a fine, well-engineered road, but in the main keeps away from the rim and presents vistas of endless mountains rather than of the lake. We were not able to reach our goal, for the road was closed about three miles from the Lodge on account of blasting. We turned about with some difficulty and as we retraced our way to the inn we had a superb view of the setting sun across the long array of wooded crests that stretch southward toward Klamath96 Lake. At Victor Rock, a short distance from the Lodge, we left the car and sought this splendid vantage point to view the lake at sunset. ”