CHAPTER XIV.
THE DELUGE OF THE KLAMATH INDIANS.
IT has been handed down from long ago that the people became so wicked, no good was found in anything, and human progress retrograded into destruction. Unwedded women became the mothers of a host of bastard children as the men led a life of debauchery, and the women a life of shame. Crimes and murders lurked in every corner, plunder and the greed for riches followed each other in a terrible way. Men sought not honest lives, but sought the greed and plunder of riches. Those who commanded their self-respect and cherished their family pride became few and far between. Profane language became the rule, laws became corrupt and unheeded, and whole communities swerved downward in utter ruination.
God became angry upon looking down, He saw the people growing more corrupt, year by year, where human beings eked out a miserable existence in their greed. God appeared to one of the good men, (a Talth) a man who had always lived an honest and upright life, respecting his fellow men, and observed above all, God’s moral laws. He appeared to this man, Gus-so-me, who possessed in his secret breast the true name of God, and God said unto him that He was going to destroy everything on earth with a great flood, as the people had become so wicked that He would no longer endure the sights of such wickedness. Gus-so-me pleaded with God not to destroy the people by flooding the world, and God then told him to go forth among the people and see how many good ones he could find, he could find but one more, so God told him to prepare a raft, as He was going to destroy the world with a flood. This one man that had the abiding faith of an honorable man was Haw-gon-ow, also a Talth. God now appeared before their two High Priests and bade them prepare for the final deluge as there was no good people to be found on earth, except the two Talth and their wives. He bade them to build a large raft upon which they would float while the rest of the creation would sink beneath the rising waters and perish.
Gus-so-me and the Haw-gon-ow began at once to build the raft, (men-up) while the people continued in their wild revelries, jeering in contempt at the two builders, but they heeded them not and worked steadily on. When the two Talth completed the raft He caused it to begin raining, and it rained steadily, causing the waters to rise higher and higher, until the o-plah-peck (flood) waters covered the entire world. When the waters came up around the raft the two Talth took their wives, Ger-ke-er and Ca-wa-mer onto the raft, where they remained and floated upward as the water rose. These two wives were also Talth, and our holy order was kept intact over the great deluge. They carried with them upon the raft, the herb, or walth-pay, which as before kept perfectly green and bloomed, they also took with them the raven and the dove, but all the other species of the earth were left, and they were destroyed in the great flood. It rained steadily for many days and nights upon a terror stricken world, until all the valleys and lowlands were one continuous sea, and only tops of the highest hills and mountains remained uncovered, where the people stood huddled together, as they had been steadily driven up the mountain sides by the water. And still it continued to rain, the people running hither and thither, piercing wails went up as the terrible apprehension of destruction was upon them, their piteous cries were only answered by the rising waters as their bodies were tossed a moment upon the angry waves and then sank to their graves in the unknown depths. Soon all the highest mountain peaks were covered with water and the world was one continuous sea. All living creatures had perished from the earth, as they had sank beneath the waves to live no more.
When the rain stopped, Gus-so-me sent the raven (bua-gawk) forth from the raft to see if it could bring any tidings of dry land. He flew away over the waters until he found some dead fish and never returned. This is the reason the raven ever since has lived on carrion and always remained so wild, inhabiting the far off crags of the mountains that command a view of the surrounding country, so they can see any one approaching, and fly away. After a few days had passed and no tidings of the raven came, Gus-so-me sent forth the dove, (aw-rah-way) and after it was gone a short time, it returned to the raft with a twig of the pepperwood. Gus-so-me now knew that the waters on which he floated were going back, and soon there would be dry land, and from that time on, the Indians have had a great reverence for the dove. We carry the symbol of the dove in our sacred lodge, and teach the children from childhood never to harm the dove, and we never harm it in any way.
After the return of the dove the raft floated on the waters for a few days longer and finally rested on the top of a very high mountain, known as Ne-gam-alth, which is located in the far north-east on this continent and not across the ocean. This lofty peak glistens in the sunlight and can be seen from a great distance. The raft as it rested on this mountain, turned to white flint, and when the sun shines this flint glistens brightly. In our traditions only one man has ever climbed this mountain and returned to our people since the flood, bringing with him a piece of the flint, and since this time we have used the white flint at our festivals, it being the most valuable of all other kinds.
When the waters went down sufficiently, God commanded Gus-so-me and Haw-gon-ow, with their wives, to go down from the mountain and re-populate the earth. From these two Talth and their wives came our present people, and they again scattered over the continent. In coming down from the mountain top the Talth carried with them the walth-pay, the same as they did when they first made their long journey from the land of Cheek-cheek-alth. This divine herb bloomed perpetually again, and Gus-so-me, with the assistance of Haw-gon-ow, in using the correct words of their prayer to God, could command with the herb anything they needed for human existence, as their prayers would be granted by God.