Legend

The Ginkgo Petrified Forest is in a state park in central Washington. In clay pits near the petrified trees, which are embedded in basalt, fossilized remains of prehistoric animals have been found. White people did not discover the fossil forest until 1931, but Indians made arrow points from accessible petrified logs.

This story of the origin of the forest and the fossils was recalled by May Summerlin, who learned it from her Colville grandmother.

In the days of Coyote, the Raccoon family lived along the Columbia River, below where the Rock Island Dam is now.

In the family were seven beautiful sisters. When Coyote saw them, he wanted to marry one of them. So he asked Father Raccoon if he could have one of his beautiful daughters for his wife.

"We need all our daughters," answered Father Raccoon. "We need them to bring in sagebrush for our fires. We cannot spare one of them."

"I will see that you have firewood," said Coyote. "Let me marry one of your girls, and I will send you all the wood you need."

"I will talk it over with the girls when they come home with the sagebrush," the father promised.

He told his daughters that Coyote wanted one of them for his wife, and all night the girls tried to make up their minds who it should be. Coyote was so homely that no one wanted to marry him, but the Raccoon sisters did want to stop carrying sagebrush. Half the night Coyote tried to make up his mind which of the seven he wanted to marry. He knew he wanted the prettiest one, but they were all very pretty, with bright eyes, long eyelashes, and soft fur. At last he decided to marry all seven of them. And he used his powers the second half of the night to make all seven of them want to go with him.

Next morning, a great pile of driftwood was washed up on the shore near the camp of the Raccoons. So the father let all of his daughters go along with Coyote. The daughters soon wanted to return home, but they traveled with Coyote until they were sure there was enough firewood to last for a long time.

As they traveled up the river, Coyote broke off trees and sent them down toward Raccoon. He pushed fallen logs into the river and sent them down as driftwood. He made an eddy in the river so that the logs would be washed in near Raccoon's camp. He planted a new forest on the west bank of the river so that there would be green wood when the dry wood was all gone. Coyote kept his promise.

By this time the girls were so homesick that they begged Coyote to take them home for a while. So they started back. When they got there, they found great piles of driftwood, and they saw the new forest growing near the camp. They knew that they would not have to carry sagebrush again. So they plotted against Coyote. They told him that they would stay at home, that they would not go with him again.

Coyote became very angry because the girls had tricked him. He scolded and scolded, and then he placed a curse on the Raccoon family. But they did not know about the curse for three years. Although the first two winters were cold, the Raccoons had plenty of firewood. The girls had salmon bakes and clambakes and burned the driftwood whenever they wanted a fire.

The third year, Coyote came and told them about the curse he had put on them. "You will all die this winter. All your people who are buried here will some day be dug out. The people digging them will dig out your woodpile."

Then he changed the new forest to rocks. His powers caused a harsh winter. Much snow fell. When spring came and the melted snow rushed down in the mountain streams, the water in the streams became a great flood. The pile of driftwood near Raccoon's camp dammed up the water and made the river overflow.

The great flood of water knocked down the stone trees. When the floodwater left, the stone trees were buried underneath sand and soil and rocks. Many animals were buried with the trees.

The trees and the bones of the animals still lie where Coyote sent the flood. Trees are buried in rock. Deer, raccoon, cougar, and many animals not seen in our country today lie buried there in the clay.

How Well Did You Read and Understand the Story?

Hint: When you are asked to summarize a text, try to include the most important parts in just a few sentences. Remember to include the main ideas and leave out the details.

1. Why does Father Raccoon need all his daughters?

2. How did Coyote make sure that Father Raccoon had enough wood?

3. What curse did Coyote place on the Raccoon Family?

4. What happened as a result of the curse on the Raccoon Family?

5. Summarize this legend with as few words as possible.

6. Analyze Coyot'’s actions. What characteristics and events do you think led to his being tricked?

7. Select a passage from the text that contains foreshadowing. Why did you choose the section that you did?

8. Think of a chore that you wish you were not responsible for. Devise a trick to get someone else to do the work for you. (Do not try this trick at home!)

9. Imagine that all seven Raccoon sisters fell madly in love with Coyote and create your own ending to the story.

10. The Raccoon sisters tricked Coyote in order to get out of their work. Do you support their decision? Why or why not?