--Jeff Davis
Virtually every Native American culture has stories of a giant, magical bird, which most call the Thunderbird. The name comes from the sound the birds' wings make when in full flight, like thunderclaps. The Thunderbird's wings, it was said, were larger than two canoes, and the feathers the size of canoe paddles. Their eyes glowed red, and lighting shot out of their claws. At least two Thunderbirds flew in Washington: one in the Cascade Mountains, and the other in the Olympic Mountains of the Puget Sound.
The first bird lived part of the time inside Mount St Helens. It created earthquakes and volcanic eruptions when it rolled over in its sleep. The rest of the time, it lived at the bottom of Spirit Lake, at the foot of the mountain. The Native people saw the water bubble and froth when the Thunderbird was angry. According to one legend, this bird attacked many other creatures until the Raven killed it, after which the Thunderbird's body fell into the Columbia River, where it formed several islands. Other people believe it is still alive, and is responsible for the recent eruptions at the mountain.
The local people were afraid of Spirit Lake because of the Thunderbird and the other spirit beings that inhabited the area, and kept a healthy distance away. When Mount St. Helens erupted in the 1840s, artist Paul Kane traveled to the mountain to sketch and paint it. Upon his return a few days later, the locals ran away from him. Their belief in the powers of the spirits there was so strong; they thought Kane was a ghost.
The second thunderbird was friendlier to humanity. Many generations ago, the Quileute people of the Olympic Peninsula were starving, in part because a giant killer whale was eating all the fish. Their chieftain appealed the Great Spirit for help, and it summoned the Thunderbird. The Thunderbird appeared to the people with the body of the whale in its claws, which it gave to them to eat, then flew to Mount Olympus, where it made its home. And though it was helpful to humans, the bird valued its privacy. Hunters climbing the mountain were scared away by the ice and rock-falls the bird created when it smelled them.
In addition to explaining natural phenomena such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, the Thunderbird legends have some basis in fact. Some think they were (and are) eagles, which are not common in the area but known to the native people there. And the largest living bird in North America is the California condor, which make their home in the Sierra Madre Mountains: a long way to travel to Washington State. Or is it?
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Legends & Tales Of Mount St. Helens
Ficção HistóricaA collection of legends and tales around Mount St. Helens. Collection contains oral accounts from survivors who witnessed the unknown, Native American legends, urban legends, newspaper articles, and first-hand eyewitness accounts from the mountain.
