The Elk Mountain pilot., 1923-01-18
Indian
Lodge Tales
Ford C. Frick
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THE UTE LEGEND OF
CREATION

TN THE beginning of time there were
= no mountains, no streams, no hunt
ing grounds and no forests. In those
days there were no red men roaming
the plains, no bison, no antelope and
no living things Even was there no
earth. but only the blue sky and the
clouds and the sunshine and the rain.
The Manitou, who dwelt in the CEN
ter Of the sky, lived all alone. There
were no smaller gods in Heaven-and
he was the ruler Of the sky and the
sun and the rain; and the lightning
and the thunder were at his command,
and the sun shone and the rain fell at
his desire.
tired and lonely and wished for new
things to see and new work. to do. So
he took stone and whirled 1t round
and round until he bored hole
through the floor of Heaven, which Is
the sky. And the hole he made larger
and larger until he could look through
at the nothingness beyond. And he
was much pleased.
When he had made big hole In the
sky and was able to look through,
then he took the snow and the rain,
and this he poured through the hole in
the sky also. With 1t he poured, too,
the stones and the dirt from the floor
Of Heaven. And the snow and the
rain and the dirt and the stones fell
from Heaven into the great nothing
ness, and the Manitou was pleased
with his work.
By and by, when he had poured for
days. he looked down and saw below
him a great moutnain which had been
bHlded by the rain and the snow, the
dirt and the rocks. And FAR below the
mountain he could see a great plain
which stretched away and away as far
as he could see-for great was the
quantity of dirt and rock which re had
poured.
Seeing the mountain. the Manitou
was curious to know what lay beyond
and what wonder the dirt and the
rock had worked. So he made the
hole bigger, until he was able to crawl
through and then he stepped down
from the floor of the sky to the sum-
NIT of the great mountain which ne
had formed. When he had come down
he found that the earth and the stones
had spread out and had formed the
world, which was large and vast. But
It was world Of bare rock and dirt,
and the Manitou wished for something
to make 1t more beautiful.
He stopped and touched the earth
with his fingers, and wherever he
touched there trees sprang forth and
forests were made, and the plains were
made green with the trees and the
shrubs. The sunshine which came
through the hole in the sky which the
Aanitou had made warmed the air and
melted the snow, and great lakes OF
water were made; and the water ran
down the side Of the mountain and
made the streams. And on the level
land Of the plains great lakes were
formed and rivers flowed and seas
grew, and grass sprang mp and flowers
and the world became very beauti-
full.
So was the world created, and 1t was
a world of sunshine and warmth-a
pleasant world where the rain fell on
the afternoon of every day and trees
grew, and flowers and shrubs. And
the Manitou, seeing 1t, was very
pleased.
Every day he came down from his
home in the sky to roam in the fields
and to rest by the side of the streams
or In the shade of the forests-and the
world became his playground where.
he rested when his work In the Heaven
was done.
But at that time there were no liv-
ing creatures. no birds and no beasts,
no bear and no wolves, and no fishes,
and no red men-nothing but trees
and grass and water.
BY and by the Manitou became lone
ly and wished for some one to inhabit
these lands which he had made SO
beautiful some one with whom he could
talk and play. So he created the liv-
ing creatures and put them on the
earth-but that Is another story.
Note-The Utes. always a mountain
tribe, have always been Influenced In
their legends and their folklore by the
majesty and mystery of the mountains,
which have been a part Of their en-
vironment. 1t Is only to be expected.
therefore, that their very f,rst legend
the legend of creation-should be
centered about one of the great peaks
which they knew and loved.
Forestaiied.