Wy’east Engineering
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Why Wy’east?
THE KLICKITAT FIRE LEGEND
In a time long ago, a time old in the memory of our oldest ancestors, the Great Spirit made the world. He made the mountains and rivers, the ocean and lakes. And when He saw that all was good, he made the forests and deer and bear to live in them and birds to fly high above them on the vastness of the sky. And he saw that it was good. When all was in place, He made the People, the first of our ancestors, and put them in this world to share His goodness. And again He saw that it was good and He was pleased.
The People lived in the world for many winters and sons replaced fathers for untold generations and it was good. And as the Great Spirit watched the People he saw that, while most of the life was good, they were cold in the long winter nights and so He gave them Fire. But while giving the People Fire He had to be fair and give Fire to all the People in the world. To do this, he came up with what he thought would be a good and fair way for all people of the world to get Fire.
There was across the Great River a bridge, the Tomanawus Bridge, a massive stone bridge that was anchored in the mountains on each side of the river. He put Fire in the middle of this bridge with an old, withered crone to tend it. The People and all the other people in the world sent a messenger to the Tomanawus Bridge to obtain Fire for their lodges. And thus did the people come to have Fire
At this time there lived on either side of the Great River the two sons of the Great Spirit, Wy’east and Klickitat. To the south lived Wy’east, a young, lithe and powerful warrior; to the north Klickitat, the elder son, hulking and brooding and a great warrior in his own right. For many years they had been friends and supporters of the People in all endeavors and acted for them in matters with the Great Spirit.
For many years after Fire was given to the People all was well; summer followed spring; winter followed autumn. The lodges were warm and life was good and the Great Spirit was pleased. To show his gratitude, He went to the old crone tending Fire in the middle of the Bridge and offered to grant her a wish, any wish she chose, to demonstrate His gratitude. After thinking on this for a moment, the hag replied that she wished for beauty, the beauty of youth, for all time. To this the Great Spirit agreed, and she was immediately transformed into the most beautiful maiden the People had ever seen. And He told her that hereafter, for all eternity, she would be known as Loowit.
From either side of the Great River, the brothers, Wy’east and Klickitat, looked down upon the Bridge and were captivated by the beauty of Loowit. As time went on, the brothers could contain themselves no longer and finally, unbeknown to each other, stole down to the Bridge to court Loowit. As they approached the middle of the Bridge where Loowit tended Fire, each became aware of the other and was overcome with a terrible rage. Retreating to their respective sides of the River, they rumbled and roared and stamped their feet until the entire world shook. As their rage grew, they threw great stones and fire across the River at each other. Forests burned, animals that were not killed were driven from the mountains, and the People were forced to flee for their lives and take shelter in caves.
Terrified by the warring brothers, the People called upon Coyote, that wily and crafty fellow, to intercede with the Great Spirit to calm Wy’east and Klickitat. Climbing a high mountain on the south side of the River where he could watch the brothers as well as the Bridge and Loowit, Coyote beseeched the Great Spirit to council the warring brothers who were terrifying the People and destroying all that He, the Great Spirit, had made. Having been elsewhere in the world, the Great Spirit had been unaware of the brothers actions and immediately ordered Wy’east and Klickitat to cease their battle or He would be forced to take drastic action.
For a time all was peaceful. The forests regrew, the animals returned to the mountains and the People emerged from their caves and rebuilt their lodges. Messengers were sent to the Bridge to obtain Fire for the People. And the Great Spirit was pleased.
Eventually, however, the brothers could restrain themselves no longer and commenced once more the hurling of stones and fire across the Great River. Again, the destruction was immense and widespread, and the People were forced to flee. Once again they asked Coyote to intercede. But before he could speak with the Great Spirit, the brothers’ battle became so great that, as the earth trembled, the Tomanowus Bridge came crashing down across the River. Loowit fled to the north side of the River and hid in a cave in terror as the brothers’ battle grew until it seemed that the world itself would end.
The Great Spirits’s anger was terrible to behold. He reminded the brothers of His
earlier warning and immediately banished Loowit to a place well to the west on the
north side of the River where he turned her into stone. While doing this, however,
He remembered his promise of everlasting beauty and made her into a perfectly symmetrical
cone. Draped from her shoulders were great veils of white snow and blue ice made
of her frozen tears. At her feet, He made a beautiful deep blue lake into which
she could gaze to remind herself of her everlasting beauty. The brothers returned
to their homes on each side of the River where they could look to the west forever
on Loowit. To this day they remain -
©2012 -
Wy’east
©2009 Nature Graphix Photography
Klickitat
©2009 USGS
Loowit and Spirit Lake
©2009 USFS
