Editing Mount Hood (section)

==== Wy'east ====
The name Wy'east has been associated with Mount Hood for more than a century, but no evidence suggests that it is a genuine name for the mountain in any indigenous language. The name was possibly inspired by an 1890 work of author [[Frederic Balch]], although Balch does not use it himself.<ref>{{Cite news |newspaper=The Columbian |first=Andy |last=Matarrese |date=June 11, 2017 |url=https://www.columbian.com/news/2017/jun/11/anthropologist-dispelling-myths-with-plankhouse-talk/ |title=Anthropologist dispelling myths with plankhouse talk |access-date=2020-06-01 |archive-date=2020-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005105437/https://www.columbian.com/news/2017/jun/11/anthropologist-dispelling-myths-with-plankhouse-talk/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |journal=Quartux |first=David G. |last=Lewis |url=https://ndnhistoryresearch.com/tribal-history-themes/native-place-names/ |title=Native Place Names |date=13 May 2018 |access-date=2020-06-01 |archive-date=2020-09-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924053735/https://ndnhistoryresearch.com/tribal-history-themes/native-place-names/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Balch |first1=Frederic Homer |title=The Bridge of the Gods |url=https://archive.org/details/bridgeofgodsroma00balcuoft/page/x/mode/2up |website=Internet Archive |year=1890 |publisher=A.C.McClurg and Company |access-date=12 December 2020}}</ref> The name may have been popularized by his story being combined with a play around 1911 at Pacific College. It is also possible it was 'invented' by scholars in the 20th century or even a minister hearing it second-hand around the same time the play was happening.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Native Place Names – The Quartux Journal |url=https://ndnhistoryresearch.com/tribal-history-themes/native-place-names/ |access-date=2024-04-21 |website=ndnhistoryresearch.com|date=May 13, 2018 }}</ref>

In one version of Balch's story, the two sons of the Great Spirit Sahale fell in love with the beautiful maiden Loowit, who could not decide which to choose. The two braves, Wy'east and Pahto (unnamed in his novel, but appearing in a later adaptation), burned forests and villages in their battle over her. Sahale became enraged and smote the three lovers. Seeing what he had done, he erected three mountain peaks to mark where each fell. He made beautiful [[Mount St. Helens]] for Loowit, proud and erect Mount Hood for Wy'east, and the somber [[Mount Adams (Washington)|Mount Adams]] for the mourning Pahto.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/cvo/Historical/naming_mount_adams.shtml |first=Lyn |last=Topinka |work=Volcanoes and History |publisher=Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) |date=2008-05-21 |title=Naming the Cascade Range Volcanoes: Mount Adams, Washington |access-date=2015-06-14 |archive-date=2015-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403055751/http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/cvo/Historical/naming_mount_adams.shtml |url-status=live}}</ref>

There are other versions of the legend. In another telling, Wy'east (Hood) battles Pahto (Adams) for the fair La-wa-la-clough (St. Helens). Or again Wy'east, the chief of the [[Multnomah people|Multnomah tribe]], competed with the chief of the [[Klickitat (tribe)|Klickitat tribe]]. Their great anger led to their transformation into volcanoes. Their battle is said to have destroyed the [[Bridge of the Gods (land bridge)|Bridge of the Gods]] and thus created the great [[Cascades Rapids]] of the [[Columbia River]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest |url=https://archive.org/details/indianlegendsofp00clar |url-access=registration |last=Clark |first=Ella E. |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, California |year=1953 |isbn=0-520-23926-1 |oclc=51779712}}</ref>