Blue Oregon, Cascades. By Walt Curtis Photos by Fellow Travellers The poet in front of his Blue Hole. After our boat ride, I felt haunted by the magnificence of being so close to it. Close, hell! David leapt in and swam in the chilly, choppy water at Cleetwood Cove. No sissy, I followed! And was surprised by the bouyancy of the water. It was blue bubblebath, wafting and billowing my boney body. The Place o f Death id early Native Americans commit human sacrifices at Crater Lake? To appease the volcanic forces? Archaeological evidence shows Indians’ lives were interrupted by Mazama’s explosive end about 6,840 years ago. What atavistic IMazama emptied its volcanic chamber of more than 32 cubic miles of fiery magma, then collapsed in upon itself. Pleasant green canyons were turned into valleys of 10,000 smokes. and bloody racial memories are garbled in the Klamath-Modoc myths of Liao and Skell? Liao was the malevolent god of the underworld and the hero Skell was forced to do battle with him. Luckily, Skell’s ripped- out heart was returned to him. Regaining his strength, he tossed the pieces of Liao from high rocks to crawdads below. The head, landing last, became Wizard Island! At least, this surviving version appears in Blue Enchantment, The Story of Crater Lake, by Wayland Dunham. Sounds a bit romanticized. Perhaps local Indians fed whites the b.s. they wanted to hear! Carrol Howe, in Ancient Tribes o f Klamath County, claims Crater Lake was taboo to the Klamaths. Yet this same author was told by a chief of the tribal council that as a boy, h e ‘and a friend swam in the lake! Practically speaking, Crater Lake offered no game or fish. Only since white settlement have trout been planted in the lake. An excellent scientific description of Mt. Mazama’s demise is Stephan Harris’ Fire and Ice (The Cascade Volcanoes). The Mt. Adams-sized peak, 12,000 ft. high, ejected incredible amounts of gas-filled pumice. It emptied its volcanic chamber of more than 32 cubic miles of fiery magma, then collapsed in upon itself. Pyroclastic flows stretched 40 miles to Diamond Lake and far down Rogue River. Pleasant green canyons were turned into valleys of 10,000 smokes. A dust-smeared brave must have asked, “Why has Mother Earth disembowelled herself? Has the world ended?” Harris speculates that something else will occur at this place of death. Its postcaldera activity isn’t finished. Perhaps Wizard Island will blaze into new life, spitting clots of red-hot lava. The lake may fill and divide in two. Campfire Stories as Janey Scott ever in the Campfire Girls? Or i ) W Jan? Janey manifested i V w a self-reliance, if not downright indepen- dence! She refused i my help in setting up her one-person green nylon, jigsaw puzzle of a tent. Politely saying, “I want to learn to do it myself, in case I’m stuck someplace in the dark and alone.” Other damning evidence: both gals had a fondness for “snicks”—a sickeningly sweet combination of Hershey bar, Graham cracker and marshmallow. I was wood-gatherer and fire-starter at Clinton St. Dec. ’89-Jan. ’90 9
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