Colorado Legend: Grand Mesa is Home to Wandering Spirits

Prior to being inhabited by settlers of European descent in the mid 1800s, the Grand Valley of Western Colorado was home to the Utes, a tribe of indigenous people who were also behind numerous legends regarding the area.

Colorado’s Grand Mesa + the Thunderbirds

One of the legends that came from the Utes was that the Grand Mesa was home to huge eagles known as the Bahaa Nieche, better known today as the Thunderbirds.

Get our free mobile app

These large birds were said to have created the white, rocky area of the northern part of the Grand Mesa from bones of creatures that they preyed upon, as well as debris from their nests and droppings.

It’s also been said that the Thunderbirds preyed upon Ute children, and the people claimed that a formation visible from Grand Junction and Palisade on the side of the Grand Mesa is a monument from the time that they lived there.

Colorado’s Grand Mesa + the Home of Departed Spirits

The Utes also believed that because of the landscape of the Grand Mesa and its location just west of the Rocky Mountains, as well as its elevated yet flat terrain, it was the ideal place for wandering, departed warriors to call home.

Legend has it that the spirits still wander the Grand Mesa to this day, and it is the origin of its nickname, the house of the departed spirits.

Colorado’s Grand Mesa + the Great Serpent

Another Ute legend says that the Grand Mesa’s lakes were formed after a Chieftain’s child was abducted by Thunderbirds and, seeking revenge, the man killed numerous young Thunderbirds while disguised as a tree.

The legend goes on to say that once the birds discovered what had happened, they captured and killed a giant serpent that lived on the mesa, and once its remains were dropped back to the ground, the lakes were formed.

Learn more about these legends of the Grand Mesa in the video below.