The worldwide relatively frequent recurrence of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis, as well as their strong impact on society make them the most common sources of myths. The most intriguing part is how different cultures describe relatively similar events in very different ways. Among them, the myths at the base of the origins of the Crater Lake in Oregon (USA), mainly orally inherited from the Klamath people, are really fascinating.
Volcanic origins of Crater Lake
Crater Lake covers a huge caldera (EGU Blog – Do Caldera eruptions occur in cycles?; Explosive calderas) basin extending 8 to 10 km with depths > 1 km, formed by the collapse of the Mt. Mazama volcano ~7700 years ago. Crater Lake has a depth of ca. 594 m, which makes it the deepest lake in the USA, and the seventh deepest in the world (USGS). Mt. Mazama and the Crater Lake are located along the Cascade Range of Southern Oregon (Fig. 1), which represents a N-S distributed arc of 16 major volcanoes spanning from northern California to southern British Columbia (Fig. 1a). The Cascadia arc is related to the relatively slow north eastwards subduction of the young and hot oceanic Juan de Fuca Plate beneath the North American Plate (Fig. 1), comprised in the Pacific Ring of Fire (EGU Blog – Japan’s Earthquakes – The work of Namazu?). Prior to the caldera collapse that formed the Crater Lake, Mt. Mazama stood up to 3700 m (Williams, 1942); nowadays the highest point is 2277 m.
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the Juan de Fuca Plate subduction beneath the North American Plate and the production of magma that generates volcanism. Topography and bathymetry have been download as ETOPO 15 arcs from NOOA Grid Extract
The volcanic history of Mt. Mazama began at least 420000 yr through a complex overlapping of shield and stratovolcanoes (Types of Volcanoes). The climactic eruption 7700 yr ago produced ash falls along much of the Northwest Pacific, and pyroclastic flows as far as 70 km devastating the land (Bacon, 2008). The entire eruption likely lasted at most a few days, with an initial phase characterized by a massive column of ash and gas reaching the atmosphere erupted from a single vent. This was followed by the collapse of the central volcano to form the caldera (Bacon, 2008; USGS). Shortly after the caldera collapse, further smaller eruptions formed the Wizard Island, which is now the only volcanic cone emerging form the Crater Lake (Fig. 2). The collapse exposed the Llao Rock at the rims of the caldera (Fig. 2), whose formation is linked to pumice-fall deposits (EGU Blog – Field report: Pumice) occurred 200 to 100 yr before the climactic eruption (Bacon, 2008). Currently the volcano is considered active and it is expected to erupt most likely beneath the water surface, whose interaction could increase the violence of any future eruption.
Fig. 2. Topographic and bathymetric map of the Crater Lake area showing the locations of the Llao Rock, Wizard Island and Klamath Lake (a few km following the arrow direction) expressed in NAD83 UTM 10N. The inset shows the USA and the Crater Lake area (red box).
Love and war at the origins of Crater Lake
Even if there is not a specific date for both oral myths I am going to present, I like to think they are related to the two phases of the eruption and describe the initial caldera and the following Wizard Island; I present them following a possible chronological order from the book by Clark, (1953).
(1) Long ago the Chief of the Below World (Llao) used to come up from his home inside the Earth, standing on top of the “used to be” high mountain; at that time there was no lake but an opening to the Below World. During one of his Earth passages, Llao saw Loha, a beautiful woman beloved by her father and clan, and fell in love with her. He wanted her at all costs, so he initially asked her to go with him, but then sent a warrior to convince her to live forever in the Below World without sorrow nor sickness. Her continual rejections made Llao furious, until he swore he would have his revenge on Loha and her people. He raged and thundered, rushing out from the opening until he saw the Chief of the Above World, who descended on the top of Mt. Shasta (Fig. 1). Shortly after, the two Chiefs started a fierce battle, during which “Mountains shook and crumbled. Red-hot rocks… hurtled through the skies. Burning ashes fell like rain… spewed fire from his mouth. Like an ocean of flame it devoured the forests on the mountains and in the valleys” (Fig. 3a). Looking at the destruction, which reached the villages, people found refugee in Klamath Lake south of Mt. Mazama (Fig. 2), where two great medicine men decided to resolve the battle with human sacrifice. They volunteered themselves and started to climb Mt. Mazama with their pine torches; when they reached the top, they threw themselves into the opening. The mountain shook once more and Llao was driven back to his home where the top of the mountain fell upon him… the Mt. Mazama stood no more, instead a huge crater formed (Fig. 3b). For the following years, rain fell and filled the great hole to produce the beautiful Crater Lake.
Fig. 3. (a) Mount Mazama Erupting, Paul Rockwood Painting, 1930. Image Courtesy of National Park Service, Original in Crater Lake National Park Museum and Archives Collections. (b) Mount Mazama After the Cataclysmic Eruption. Paul Rockwood Painting, 1930. Image Courtesy of National Park Service, Original Located in Crater Lake National Park Museum and Archives Collections.
(2) Spirit Llao lived in the lake as chief of many other lesser spirits. When they left the lake they took animal forms, playing games in the smooth fields near the Llao Rock (Fig. 2). Also spirits from the Klamath Marsh, near the Yamsay River, whose chief was the spirit Skell, would go there to play together. At one point, a fierce war raged between the spirts of Skell and Llao, until Skell was killed in the Klamath Marsh country. His heart was brought to the realm of Llao, where the spirits enjoyed the victory with a big feast, playing ball with Skell’s heart. Skell’s spirits, in shape of animals, knew that by retaking the heart they could resurrect Skell, so they hatched a plan. Llao’s spirits where playing by throwing the “ball” higher and higher, with Fox goading them to throw it higher still. At the right moment, Deer intercepted it and started running away down the mountain side. When Deer ran out of breath he passed the “ball” to Antelope, who sped eastwards still chased by Llao’ spirits until he gave it to Wolf and then to Bald Eagle, and again to Golden Eagle and finally to Dove, who put the heart back in Skell’s dead body. Skell returned to life, and Llao fled back to his home Llao Rock, harried, then slain by Skell and his spirits. They took Llao to the edge of the cliff overlooking the lake, where they tore his body into so many pieces they could be certain he would never come back to life. Skell fooled Llao’ spirits, by throwing Skell’s legs and arms “These are Skell’s legs… These are Skell’s arms“ into the lake, where Llao’ spirits swallowed them. “But this is Lao’s head” finally shouted Skell, throwing Llao’s head into the lake and flying away. Llao’ spirits knew that truly was their chief head, so they left it there, where it is now known as the Wizard Island.
References
Bacon, C.R., 2008. Geologic Map of Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Oregon. Pamphlet to accompany Scientific Investigations Map 2832. U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey.
Clark, E.E., 1953. Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest. University of California Press, Berkley.
National Park Service, Crater Lake National Park. https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery-item.htm?pg=0&id=f2699a34-155d-4519-3eae-2b626978d124&gid=F2699A00-155D-4519-3EBD76C2749BD03C. Accessed on 12.02.2025
USGS, Geology of the Crater Lake National Park. https://www.usgs.gov/geology-and-ecology-of-national-parks/geology-crater-lake-national-park. Accessed on 12.02.2025
Williams, H., 1942. The geology of Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 540, 162 p.
