= Weits-pek, Gibbs in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 422, 1853 (a band
and language on Klamath at junction of Trinity). Latham, El. Comp.
Phil., 410, 1862 (junction of Klamath and Trinity Rivers). Gatschet in
Mag. Am. Hist., 163, 1877 (affirmed to be distinct from any
neighboring tongue). Gatschet in Beach, Ind. Misc., 438, 1877.
< Weitspek, Latham in Trans. Philolog. Soc. Lond., 77, 1856 (junction
of Klamath and Trinity Rivers; Weyot and Wishosk dialects). Latham,
Opuscula, 343, 1860.
= Eurocs, Powers in Overland Monthly, VII, 530, June, 1872 (of the
Lower Klamath and coastwise; Weitspek, a village of).
= Eurok, Gatschet in Mag. Am. Hist., 163, 1877. Gatschet in Beach,
Ind. Misc., 437, 1877.
= Yu´-rok, Powers in Cont. N.A. Eth., III, 45, 1877 (from junction of
Trinity to mouth and coastwise). Powell, ibid., 460 (vocabs. of
Al-i-kwa, Klamath, Yu´-rok.)
X Klamath, Keane, App. Stanford’s Comp. (Cent. and So. Am.), 475, 1878
(Eurocs belong here).
Derivation: Weitspek is the name of a tribe or village of the family
situated on Klamath River. The etymology is unknown.
Gibbs was the first to employ this name, which he did in 1853, as above
cited. He states that it is “the name of the principal band on the
Klamath, at the junction of the Trinity,” adding that “this language
prevails from a few miles above that point to the coast, but does not
extend far from the river on either side.” It would thus seem clear that
in this case, as in several others, he selected the name of a band to
apply to the language spoken by it. The language thus defined has been
accepted as distinct by later authorities except Latham, who included as
dialects under the Weitspek language, the locality of which he gives as
the junction of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers, the Weyot and Wishosk,
both of which are now classed under the Wishoskan family.
By the Karok these tribes are called Yurok, “down” or “below,” by which
name the family has recently been known.