YREKA
Yreka, the name of the county-seat of Siskiyou County, is an Indian word, of which the spelling has probably been corrupted, perhaps in a spirit of facetiousness, from the original Wai-ri-ka to its present eccentric form. Various theories have been offered in explanation of the word, but the only one apparently based on scientific data seems to be that it means “north place.” One writer advances the whimsical explanation that the word was formed by the transposition of the letters in “bakery,” but fails to explain what becomes of the letter “b.” This is, of course, but an idle invention.
Yreka is said by Powers, in his Tribes of California, to be the Indian word for “mountain,” especially applied to Mt. Shasta. Its former spelling was Wai-ri-ka. Here is a contradiction between scientists.