THROUGH THE PEARLY GATES OF HEAVEN.
Long time ago a mother and father resided in Cor-tep village, in the
house of Metch-cher-rau, located about a half-mile up the river from
the old Klamath Bluffs store. They had two good children, a boy and
girl, the girl being the eldest. Brother and sister loved each other
divinely; their devotion was more divine than human hearts had ever
known. Their parents were very wealthy, and were married of a good
marriage ceremony of the wealthy class. Metch-cher-us-ah-may, the
sister, was the most lovely of all the girls of the tribe; besides
her rare beauty she possessed a kind and loving disposition beyond
comparison. When she had grown to womanhood, she went to the Talth, or
High Priests, and asked them if she might join the sacred lodge. But
the High Priests sadly shook their heads, and said they could never
admit her to the sacred lodge, as her parents were not of high birth,
and that she was not of the Talth marriage. Her pleadings were in vain,
and she turned away from the lodge deeply grieved, realizing that she
had been barred forever from the sacred altar of the High Priests,
and that she could never become a Talth, or mix with the Priests. It
would be useless to plead again; she was denied their solitary ways of
worship and she could never sit in their lodge and kindle their sacred
fires. Her proud spirit was grieved and wounded almost beyond human
endurance; a great battle now waged within her heart, that God Himself
might take her above her humble birth and station in life, that she
might rise in greatness beyond the glories of the High Priests, as she
would walk in Heaven, and they on earth until death claimed its own.
She would rise from her bed about four o’clock every morning while the
villages were yet dark and sleeping and go to gather wood, praying as
she gathered the branches in her basket, and when it was filled she
would return to her house, praying all the while, and leave the wood
there long before any one was astir to see her at work. After this task
was done she would go to a high rock on the hill-side in a small creek,
a short distance from the Cor-tep village, where she would spend the
entire day on top of this rock, praying to God and weaving baskets.
There was a small basin of water in this solid rock close by where she
sat, which she used to keep her basket materials wet as she worked
them. The rock was very high when she sat upon it long ages ago, but it
is nearly covered with earth at this present writing. At evening-tide
she would return to her home. So earnest were her prayers, so patient
was her humble soul in waiting that she prayed a number of years on top
of this rock, ere her prayers were answered in Heaven. Praying in the
great solitudes of a vast creation she never faltered, but prayed on
to the Heavenly Father that he might give her strength and courage to
become far more pure than any that had ever lived on earth before her,
that she might rise as a virgin of purity above her people, leaving in
her footsteps the holy halo when she had passed from the earth away to
the realms of Heaven above.
This beautiful woman, made far more beautiful in her purity, the
sublime whiteness of her soul shining forth, transfigured beyond the
glories of womanhood. After these years of faithful prayer, dark
suspicions and intrigues rose from the people of the villages, as
her actions seemed so strange and why one so beautiful should always
be solitary. No doubt some youth was yearning for the beauty of her
arms to encircle him, the sweetness of her smile had fascinated all,
as her sweetness was so perfect. She was always alone, and there did
not seem to be anything to prevent it. Day by day the village folks
grew more restless in their surmises of their doubts and fears for her
safety, and they brought the tale to her parents who accused her of
clandestine meetings with some unscrupulous man who no doubt had ruined
her virtuous womanhood, and that they would soon cast her from the
village in disgrace if she persisted in her lone walks to the woods in
the early morning and kept solitary place on the rock during the day.
How unjust we sometimes accuse the innocent; how deep the wounds we
thrust that we mourn in after years in sad regret of our cruel words
spoken when God has taken them away and they no longer soothe our dark
afflictions. Rising in wounded pride once more she proclaimed her
innocence, that her soul was free from this preposterous accusation. So
long she had been patient and true, so long she had denied herself the
pleasures and passions of earth, directing her thoughts to lofty ideals
she could proudly verify when the time came for her to go to the Throne
on High, when the Heavenly Father would call her to the Eternal Home.
She said she could not tell her parents and the people her reasons and
account for her actions now; why she would always get up so early in
the morning to get her wood, and why she spent the entire days upon the
rock. But she assured them that they would all know at a future time
why she spent so many hours of solitude, this time would be when God
called her Home, and they would repent for their cruel accusations.
During these years of patient prayer, brother and sister met in loving
companionship of sympathy and exchanging the prayer of their ambitions.
Metch-cher-us-ah-chene, the brother, knew the secret prayers of his
devout sister, and by them his thoughts were directed to higher ideals.
Pledged by solemn vows, he would never make known her secret prayers,
until she herself was ready for him to do so. They prayed together, he
alone at his fishing, she alone on the high rock at her basket weaving,
their prayers united. However, his faith in God was not so strong, and
his prayers were not so earnest as his sister’s, that the future years
left him alone on earth to mourn her loss.
Metch-cher-us-ah-may heeded not the warnings of her people as she
continued to rise in the early morning hours to gather her wood before
the light of day, so that no one would feast their unscrupulous eyes
upon her while she was at work. After this task was done she would go
as usual to the high rock and weave baskets the whole day through until
evening, saying her prayers all the while.
Spring time had come when all the leaves of the trees and shrubbery had
grown up, and the sap of the maple tree was full. Metch-cher-us-ah-may
peeled the maple tree of its bark and took the inner layers that grow
upon the surface of the hard wood of the tree and out of this bark
she made a dress of beautiful fringes, softer than silk itself, as
it hung in ripples about her body. From the yellow-hammer she plucked
its beautiful golden feathers and made a cape in which she wrapped her
shoulders and arms. Spring-time waned and mid-summer came; it was the
last summer that she would spend on earth, as her faithful prayers
had been answered and she was now ready to be taken to Werse-on-now
(Heaven). Ah, she could now mount to the glories of Heaven without
passing through that dark and shadowy vale of death. The High Priests,
who had turned her away from the scared lodge, together with the other
people, would all have to die and the earth would give them a grave.
Their hands would never touch her body, the earth would give her no
grave, but instead, her body would be carried through the winds and
storms until she reached that Infinite Shore where she would dwell in
the flowery meadows of Heaven.
The evening before the day of her departure she brought all of her
baskets she had made to her home and gave all of her wealth to her
brother, telling him to watch for her in the early morning, as she was
departing for a far better throne than she had ever known upon earth.
In the early morning hours, ere the sun was shining over the mountains
of the Klamath, she bathed her body with sweet scented herbs, put on
her new maple dress and draped her shoulders with the gorgeous dyes of
the yellow-hammer feathers, her long raven locks were combed and left
flowing about her shoulders. Bidding her brother good-bye, he beheld
her mount the rock where she had sat so many years in devout prayer;
he alone saw her rise from the earth to go to the realms above. Swift
as the lightning from Heaven she mounted the rock, bowing to the great
creation of the world with her arms outstretched and her beautiful hair
flowing, she stood erect with her face to Heaven in the north with her
eyes closed. Out of the north, on his mighty wings, rose the red eagle
and came to her feet on the rock. Dipping her hand to the west, to the
land of the setting sun, she bade the world farewell and mounted the
eagle’s back. With outstretched wings, gorgeously tipped in crimson,
he rose from the rock with his fair princess mounted securely upon his
back, and flew with her to the far north from whence he came. In the
early dawn of the rising sun, in all the glories of Indian summer, her
brother saw her mount the eagle and fly away to the Kingdom of Heaven,
passing not through the gates of death.
She sat on the eagle’s back through the long journey, with her eyes
always closed, her arms raised above her shoulders and her hands
folded at the back of her head and neck. The eagle on his long journey
north to the land of Cheek-cheek-alth, commanded her not to open her
eyes, though the storms from Heaven may feel severe against her face
and body. Rising from the earth she felt the heat of the still Indian
summer beat like fire upon her. Far away they soared and the eagle
said, “You will now feel the mighty winds of Heaven sweep around you
in piercing gales, but do not open your eyes.” Far up through the
winds they soared and she opened her eyes not. Far on they flew and
he said again, “You will feel the rain pouring in torrents upon you,
but you must never open your eyes.” Through the rain they went until
he again said, “You will now feel the cold fall like piercing blades
of ice but you must never open your eyes.” Through the piercing cold
they flew, her eyes always shut, until he said again, “You will now
feel the snow fall thick and fast upon you, but you must not open your
eyes.” Through the mighty winds and the cold, fierce storms of Heaven
they had flown, until the eagle at last exclaimed, “You will feel the
warmth of pleasant summer again, open your eyes and I will leave you
in that sublime land of Cheek-cheek-alth.” She opened her eyes for the
first time during her long flight through the airy regions and beheld
the beauteous land of Cheek-cheek-alth, the old land that gave birth
to our people long ages ago. She now stood upon the banks of the most
sublime river the world has ever known, with its hallowed charms and
brilliant gems of fortune, its mystic waters of transparent brilliancy
flowing sweet and peaceful through the valley of Cheek-cheek-alth. On
the shores of this wonderful river she beheld millions of the dead
turk-tum (short shells of the Indian money) shining from the sands of
the water. From this river long centuries ago, when the Indians first
left their native land in search of the new world they brought with
them the cheek, or Indian money. They say this money is found in no
other clime except in the old land of Cheek-cheek-alth, the land of
their birth. They do not use the dead turk-tum washed upon the banks
of the river for money, but fish for the live cheek in the river which
they catch the same as fish, and out of these live shells make their
cheek or money. This money through the long evolution of centuries has
been handed down from one generation to another.
In the land of Cheek-cheek-alth, this divine princess found the ladder
that goes to Heaven and climbed it, round by round, until she reached
Heaven. All of her tribulations of earth, were finished, the false
accusations of cruel friends could no longer thrust their wounds into
her blameless soul as she now sat glorified on a Throne of Eternal
Splendors, truly a Saint in Heaven.
Several days had elapsed since the departure of Metch-cher-us-ah-may
and the people began to inquire why she returned no more to the house
at night-fall. They went in search of her and found the wood baskets
she had used here on earth, left on top of the high rock where she had
taken her flight. Her brother then informed them that his sister had
gone to Werse-on-now as he had beheld the vision himself. The parents
recalling to mind the harsh words spoken of their dark suspicions
concerning their saint-like daughter, wept and wailed most bitterly,
and were bowed down with heavy hearts and sad regrets, that one so true
could no longer stay on earth; that God should so early call the divine
and true to His Eternal Home.
The brother who had loved his sister so devotedly, recalled to memory
the tender devotion of her trying years of patience. Heart wrung with
the strange pathetic life of his sister and the charm of its beautiful
ending, he wept until his proud heart seemed broken asunder. Weeping
tears of blood it seemed, from the heart that loved so much, for the
gentle hand that touched his brow, the hallowed form, the low voice and
cheering smile was gone forever.
After a few days, the bitter wailing of her parents and the intense
grief of her brother was answered by the gentle Saint herself. Her
spirit came earthward in a shadowy image, or o’quirlth, and appeared
before her loved ones, soothing them with gentle words of compassion
in their dark hours of grief and sad regrets, assuring them that she
dwelt safely beyond the Pearly Gates of Heaven, in the infinite
meadows of beauty and light. Their misgivings no longer wounded,
for her spirit survived in peace and happiness and for them to weep
bitterly no more. Her spirit faded from the earth, leaving her parents
assured of the eternal years of her greatness, a Saint in Heaven.
Her brother, Metch-cher-us-ah-chene, could not be comforted long, as
he had only known a sister’s love and tender devotion. Day by day he
grieved more and more in his loneliness, a sorrow that knows no comfort
when the loved one has gone to realms beyond. His grief became so great
that he could not long endure it, when her spirit answered him in his
loneliness once more. This time she appeared before him in her living
form as she had lived on earth, and brother and sister met in sweet
earthly communion for the last time as she would return to comfort them
no more. She lifted that heavy veil of sorrow from his heart and gave
him courage in earthly things again. She instructed him to go to a
riffle on the Klamath river, opposite the old Klamath Bluffs store and
fish there for twelve days, at the end of which he would catch a small
fish about the size of one’s little finger, and that this fish would
have many white rings encircling its body. This fish as soon as it was
caught was to be put in an elk-horn Indian purse, which is beautifully
carved out of the elk’s horn and polished smooth on the internal and
external surfaces. They sometimes carve and color very artistic designs
upon them, cutting out a small oblong lid in the middle of the purse
which they fit on it after putting the money in and wrap the lid on
securely with a strip of buck-skin.
Metch-cher-us-ah-chene fished on the riffle for twelve days as directed
by his sister and at the closing of the twelfth day he caught the
small fish, which he put in the elk-horn purse, and then the raven,
or qua-gawk, came to him and said for him to mount his back, which he
did and then the raven commanded him to close his eyes and keep them
tightly closed until he was told to open them. The raven flew with him
through sunny regions, rain, cold, sleet, snow and over icy fields,
taking the same route that the red eagle had flown with his sister.
Over the icy fields he could feel the ice with his hands, then after
this the raven sat him down, in a warm place and commanded him to
keep his eyes closed, and the raven flew on and left him alone for a
short time. While alone he began to feel around as he could not open
his eyes, he felt in the sandy soil around him and felt that it was
covered with cheek, (the shell of the Indian money) and he began to
rake it up in heaps around him. When the raven returned he said that
he must leave the cheek where it was found, as it was too heavy to
carry so far. Metch-cher-us-ah-chene mounted the raven’s back again
and away they flew to the land of Cheek-cheek-alth, which was only a
short distance from where raven had first left him. Upon arriving in
this land, the raven set him down on the banks of the wonderful river,
Wer-roy, where the climate is always warm and pleasant, the valley
forever green and the fruits and flowers forever bloomed through one
long perpetual summer day. On the banks of this glorious river the
raven said for him to open his eyes and fish in its brilliant waters
for one of the living cheek, or little shell fish. Fishing in this
river of sublime beauty he caught this rare and precious shell fish
which the raven said he must put in the elk-horn purse with the other
fish his sister had told him to catch in the Klamath river. He put the
two fishes together as he had been instructed, and lo, vast riches soon
followed. The fish he had caught in the Klamath was the female fish,
while the one he had caught in the river of Cheek-cheek-alth was the
male fish.
Metch-cher-us-ah-chene mounted the raven’s back again, the raven
instructing him to keep his eyes closed as before, and they flew back
to the Klamath river, back to the Cor-tep village. When they reached
the Klamath river the raven instructed him to make twelve of these
elk horn purses as large as the horns would permit and he made twelve
of the largest kind that he could, and as the male and female cheek
would breed little cheek in the small purse he would take the young
cheek just as soon as they were large enough and place them in one
of the larger purses. He kept on breeding cheek in this way until he
had all of his large purses filled with money, or cheek, and he now
began putting the cheek in a large basket. His riches were growing so
large that he did not know what he was going to do with so much money.
Finding himself so lonely in the midst of his vast riches he wooed a
wife from the Pec-toolth village where the Trinity river flows into
the Klamath. Following the custom of marriage his name was changed
to Pec-tow, adopting his wife’s name, and she taking his name. After
they had been married but a short time his ambitions died within him
and he lost interest in his work and neglected the teachings of his
sister. Now the two fishes made their escape from the breeding purse
and turned into a worm or bug, about an inch long, with white and black
stripes on their bodies and two long horns on their heads. These worms
can be found along the river banks around the large rocks, and the
Indians always consider it good luck to find one of them, as they catch
and put them away in a purse to keep them for good luck. After the
escape of these fishes he no longer had the power to accumulate vast
riches and ill luck followed.
His wife gave birth to a handsome boy, but it was said that God was
displeased and caused the child to die. A second child was born to
them, this time a beautiful baby girl, but it died also. A third child
was born, another beautiful baby girl, but God too took it away as he
had taken the others. A fourth child to this unhappy couple was born, a
boy, it was still said that God was displeased with his marriage, and
the handsome babe followed its brother and sisters in Heaven. At the
death of the fourth child, Metch-cher-us-ah-chene became very sad and
thoughtful. So sad and heavy was his heart that earth seemed to him but
dreary waste without the noise and prattle of his beautiful babies. He
thought long and could not understand why God took the innocent and
pure away to His Heavenly Home so soon.
Rising in the early morning he would weep as he went up the mountain
side to gather a load of sweat-house wood, and with this on his
shoulders he started to the sweat-house in the village, singing and
weeping as he went, “I-a-quay, tus,” saying he was very sorry for his
children. The mourner sat down to rest, putting the load of wood on the
ground and resting his back and shoulders against the load. When he
had rested sufficiently, he tried to rise with his load in the usual
manner but there was a heavy weight on his load and he could not rise;
as if some one was holding him down. He looked around but saw no one,
so he tried again and was able to rise with the wood. He sat down a
second time and rested with his wood and as before when he began to
rise up he could not, but after looking around and seeing no one, he
was able to get up all right. He sat down and rested a third time when
the same thing happened and upon reaching home he made a fire in the
sweat-house and sweated himself in the usual manner, after which he
went to the river and took a cold plunge in the water. Coming out of
the plunge he went back to the sweat-house and seated himself in front
of the door, and gazed far off in the distance, imagining that he could
see the spirit, O’quirlth, and at the same time his wife was calling
him to dinner. He continued to sit there gazing far beyond the earth.
He did not answer her calls, his spirit had gone to join his sister in
Werse-on-now, where she resided in Heaven with God. There you may see
brother and sister straying together in the infinite meadows of Heaven
and about them his beautiful babes, the pure buds of the blooming
meadows.
After the death of Metch-cher-us-ah-chene his wife returned to her
native village at Peck-toolth where the Trinity and the Klamath rivers
come together. She took with her the large basket with cheek, (money)
and after a time married a man of the Weitchpec village which is
located on the north side of the Klamath river opposite the mouth of
the Trinity river. From her second marriage she had one son, and all
the cheek she had brought with her made these two villages very rich
from this time on.