CHAPTER XII.
OUR CHRIST.
A YOUNG woman of the Pech-ic-la’s, the upper division of the Klamath tribe, lived at Caw-ah-man, now known as Orleans Bar. She was the mother of Po-lich-o-quare-ick, our Christ, and never married after the birth of her son, and lived single all her life, residing with her folks at Orleans Bar. Caw-ah-mis-o-ma, the mother of our Christ, during the years of her womanhood, would go alone daily to a high rock, not heeding the remonstrances of her parents and kindred, and would ascend the sides of this rock to its top, where she would seat herself and weave baskets every day. She went alone every day for nearly three years to this rock and made baskets, and one day Wah-pec-wah-mow (God) appeared to her and said that she would bear him a male child, which would be His Son, and this Son would be our Christ, or Savior, who would be a very wise and talented man of the two tribes and would rule our people.
Upon reaching her home that evening she told her parents and the people of the tribes that she soon would give birth to the Son of God, that God himself, having appeared before her, made facts known to her, and that she should not be looked upon in disgrace by her people. Her parents and a great many of the people of the Klamath tribes believed her story to be true and they made ready to receive the Child.
Caw-ah-mis-o-ma gave birth to a son as she had said, and cared for the infant in her father’s home, giving it the name of Po-lick-o-quare-ick, proclaiming the child to the tribes as the Son of God. Her parents and a great many of the people of the tribe believed in the infallibility of the child, while a number of the people did not believe in him as infallible, and regarded him as a bastard child. Some of our Talth, or High Priests, did notbelieve in his divine birth and considered him as the bastard son of man, however, they recognized his great powers and wisdom as an ordinary man. Most of my people worshiped the child as divine.
During the childhood and boyhood years of Po-lick-o-quare-ick he sought the solitudes of a great creation, as he never played with other children, and never mingled in the social gatherings of his people. As a little child he played alone, and when he had reached the age of about two years, he had a little canoe that he would play with and sail it in the waters at Orleans Bar. This little toy boat was one of his earliest playthings, and when he left his early childhood scenes he left this boat at Orleans Bar on the south bank of the river in a rift or crevice of a large rock. There, to this day the Indians say you can see the little boat that he played with and which has turned into a solid stone, and is still the perfect shape of a small boat. (This I have not seen).
While yet a small boy of tender years, Po-lick-o-quare-ick came down to the river to Ca-neck, alone, where he spent a great deal of his early boyhood years in restless wandering, as he was never still. He would never go with his mother, or with any one else as he went from place to place alone. On the south side of the river at Ca-neck is a small lake at the foot of the hill back from the river, and is surrounded on the outer banks by marshy lands. This lake cannot be observed from the river or village, and its existence might never be known except by coming upon its very banks. He spent a great deal of his time playing in his solitary ways about the lake. Just back of this lake is a rock that our Christ used as a place where he would continually be sliding down its side, he wore away one large and some small groove with his heels, in this solid stone, which can be seen to this day. (This I have seen many times and my people rub their fingers on these grooves and then rub the fingers on their eyes, to cure weak or sore eyes.) About half a mile below the lake, located on the same side of the river, is another rock, where the young man went for prayers which he offered up to his father, (God) to bless him with great powers and wisdom. As he knelt at the top of this rock in prayer he left the sunken imprint of his knees and feet in the rock, which is still visible.
Another rock concerning our Christ is located a short distance above the lake on the bank of river, which was his specialfishing place, where he would sit on the rock and fish. Here also in the solid stone is the sunken imprint of his bare feet and knees, and also the pool of water, close by, that he cast his fish in; all of which are left as his written memoirs of his past existence. These are his written annals left upon the rocks; the traditions handed down through the long centuries when the Christ himself had passed away, far out on the ocean waves, perchance to a better land than that, which had given him birth. (This place I have been close to many times, yet I never went to see it.) He could speak the language of any tribe or nation without teaching, and could peer into the darkness of the past, telling the events of bygone times. He could gaze into the future and tell of the events to be, so great was his wisdom; he could also command anything he wanted, and his commands would be answered, to his every wish.
When he was in the prime of his years he took a lot of valuable things, such as cheek, cheese (the scalp of the woodcock) and other things, got into his canoe and started down the river and when he arrived where Bill McGarvey’s store afterwards was built, he stopped and took a rest in the early morning sunshine. This is the reason this place is the warmest and most sunny the year round, that is to be found in any part of our whole territory. After resting as long as he wished he started on down the river. Many of the Indians followed after him, and as they were crowding quite close he commanded that an opening be made through the rock bluff at Reck-woy, which was done and this turned the Klamath river into the ocean at that place, some six miles south of where it went into the sea before, at Ah-man. (Wilson Creek) Thus they never caught up to him but could see out in the ocean, gliding gently on towards the west. He had previously told them that he was ready to go and was going, that in some future time he would come back. He was the wisest man that we have ever had among our people, he knew all things and could do all things and we hold his name with great reverence. It is the custom of our young women to use the expression; “when we get married and if we have children, we wish they can talk all languages like Po-lick-o-quare-ick.” My people for many generationslook for him to come back, but since the coming of the Ken-ne-ah’s, the white people, they are losing trace of his name and the things that he did, and it will soon be lost. It is now my desire, after many years of thinking, to write it all out so it may be preserved for the American Indians, that they may know something of the religion and teachings of our forefathers.