OUR MERMAIDS.
The Klamath Indians tell of the Mermaid that they said could be seen at
night come and sit on a rock out in the middle of the river, at a place
called Ca-neck. This rock is in a rocky and rough place in the river,
some thirty miles up the river from its mouth, and some nine miles
above where the White Deer-Skin Dance is held. This rock is in the
middle of the river and the water in the summer time, at the low stage,
just covers the top of it. On each side are whirls and eddies which the
Indians have used for fishing with dip nets for many generations. There
was never more than two of these Mermaids seen at a time, but they have
been seen many times in the generations gone. They had very long hair,
and were half fish and half women, but it is not known whether they
were male or female. They looked like women and would sit there combing
their long hair for hours at a time, and as they went away one could
see their long hair floating in the water. The Indians say that for
the past twenty years or more, they have not seen them and think they
have been washed away, or that the river has been filled by the gravel
and debris from the mines, which have destroyed them. They also say
that they never had any fear of the Mermaids, but looked upon them as a
freak of nature. They could see them plainly in the summer months while
fishing, when the moon was full and sometimes they would be only a few
yards away from them. These Mermaids we call Squerth-tucks.