The Tale of The Mountain That Moves

Long ago, about the time humans first crossed the land bridge through the frozen Bearing Sea, the continent now named North America was populated by a variety of creatures. The Saber Tooth Cat with his long dagger like canine teeth prowled the grasslands and forests of the vast North American plains. Pleistocene era deer, antelope, and bison roamed the flat grassy fields in huge herds. So large were these herds that one could stand on the tallest boulder amongst a migrating pack and see nothing but fur and horns right up to the horizon. For although the Earth was in the mist of a great frozen ice age, there were abundant grains and grasses to eat in the southern plains. Through many generations of plentiful food supplies, the populations of these animals grew enormously, as well as the size of the creatures themselves. By far the largest and most feared, because of their great bulk, were the Wooly Mammoths.

The Wooly Mammoths were gigantic mammals. Fifty times larger than the next largest beast they were. These great lumbering giants roamed the plains like mountains of muscle and fur. When their hairy bodies swayed in unison, as they migrated across the land, they would create powerful gusts of wind that would roar behind the herds like hurricanes. They were the largest things in this land both living and nonliving. For, at that time, all the land was flat. A Mammoth could stand at the banks of the Mississippi River and see clear to the Pacific Ocean with nary an obstacle obstructing its view. There was one Mammoth, in particular, who was known and feared among all the animals of the continent. He was the largest Mammoth of them all. This behemoth was fifty times again the size of the other Mammoths. He was a creature of great strength and power. The ancient peoples of the plains gave him the name of Gorlonga, The Mountain That Moves.

Gorlonga was the undisputed king of the Wooly Mammoths and he used his power with unrestrained indulgence. He had, by far, the largest harem of the herd and he coupled with his females as often as he desired. He would always be the first to eat and he would drink his fill before the rest were allowed to imbibe at watering holes or rivers they encountered during their long journeys.

The Mammoth King had many offspring but he would seldom acknowledge them as his own. When his male children no longer needed to suckle from their mothers. He would force them to the rear of the herd where they would have to fight for years to earn a place even within the sight of the King. Many never made it past the first year, for life could be short at the rear of the herd. It was the favorite hunting spot for the Saber Tooth Cats. Gorlonga ruled in this way for many years unchallenged. No other bull dared confront him. One swift flick of his enormous tusks was all he needed to do to smite anyone foolish enough to attempt to take his place.

One day, one of Gorlonga’s favorite females gave birth to a son. The King cast a wary eye towards the calf for he was much larger than a normal calf, even for a male. He watched with apprehension as the young bull grew even larger before his eyes. He needed so much nourishment that his mother had to encourage her son to suckle from other new mothers for she could not make enough milk to satisfy his appetite. Gorlonga grew so concerned about this possible rival that he forced the youngster to the rear of the herd before he was fully weaned. The King was so sure that this very young calf could not survive the attacks of the cats that he completely forgot him as soon as he left his sight.

And so the years passed. Gorlonga’s rule remained unchallenged and unchecked. Then one morning, as the King was grazing from the tops of giant pines, a tremendous roar was heard. He turned his immense head and saw an enormous Mammoth, his trunk raised in obvious confrontation. It was his long forgotten son. He had survived the assaults of the cats and near starvation from the scarcity of food at the back of the herd. He held within him great anger and vitriol towards his father and had returned to the head of the herd to challenge him. The son of Gorlonga had grown to nearly his father’s size and the years of hardship and hate had toughened him. He stood tusk to tusk with his father, ready to take his kingdom from him. Gorlonga did not for a moment let the fact that this was his son deter him and made the first charge.

The two goliaths clashed with an earth shattering sound. Great mounds of dirt and rock flew high into the sky as they wrestled. Their huge ivory tusks collided with enormous force as they tried to gore each other’s torsos. They fought continuously for many passes of the sun, stopping for only minutes to catch their respective breaths. As the battle raged, a great hole in the hard earth formed around them. Their tremendous limbs dug deep into the ground as each attempted to hold their footing against the other’s attack. The very Earth seemed to flee from the incessant battle. The scared ground soon deepened into a huge canyon. The herd huddled around its rim and watched as the two giants, far below, threw each other into the canyon’s rough walls causing large chunks of rock to fly high into the air and out of sight. Then the fighting stopped. One of the Mammoths had fallen. The victor lifted the defeated beast with his tusks and carried him up the side of the ravine for all to see. The son of Gorlonga carried the beaten body of his dead father to the base of the tallest mound of earth produced from the fallout of their epic battle. He lifted the great mountain and placed the old king’s body underneath it. He then raised his immense trunk and released a triumphant roar so loud that the glaciers far to the north cracked and crumbled. The son of Gorlonga returned to his herd as King.

The scars of this great battle can be seen to this day. The Grand Canyon of Arizona was dug not by wind, water and ice but by huge beasts in a battle for a kingdom. And somewhere under the Rocky Mountains still lays the bones of the powerful Mammoth King who thought that he was invincible but, like all kings, was defeated by his own arrogance.