Later writings have perpetuated this belief:
The Indians felt this way about it [Crater Lake], too. They lived on the Klamath Lakes not many miles away, yet before the white man came none but the medicine men dared to look upon Crater Lake. [5]
And again:
The Indians long believed that only punishment could come to men who looked upon a lake that was sacred to the spirits. ‘Do not look upon this place,’ the legend warned, ‘for it will mean death or lasting sorrow.’ [6]
One of the features of Crater Lake that was reportedly held in awe by the Indians was the jagged island known as Phantom Ship:
Near the base of Dutton Cliff stands a solitary rock, probably one hundred feet high, by two hundred in length and nearly the same breadth, that, while not seen by the present generation of Indians, is nevertheless known to them, and is a special object of superstitious dread. They consider it as a peculiarly ferocious monster, but are unable to describe its characteristics. . . . I have never learned its Indian name, but among the whites it is known as the Phantom Ship. [7]
A party of California adventurers who journeyed to Crater Lake in 1896, besides mentioning a Fort Klamath Indian’s unwillingness to accompany them to the lake rim, noted that
around the lake innumerable pinnacles and beetling crags of black, crimson, and yellow bristled to the sky in a vast amphitheatre. Yonder, arching caverns pierced the base of a fearful precipice, whose frowning walls glowered upon the rugged rock island of the Phantom Ship, a fantastic object of unspeakable dread to the Klamath Indians. [8]
Seldon Kirk, a distinguished head of the Klamath Tribal Council, reportedly stated that the story of the Indians’ fear of Crater Lake was greatly exaggerated, for he had even swum in it as a boy. Instead, he reasoned, their avoidance was probably due to the fact that it contained neither fish nor game and, in addition, required a long, steep descent in soft pumice to reach the water. If one considers these factors, plus the possibility of encountering an arrow from an unfriendly Umpqua Indian, “then the taboo takes on a meaning not based on religion but on common sense.” [9]
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