The myth about Mt. Shasta is that God dwelled on its top. His wife, wanting a place of her own began to build a second peak. The wife’s peak started to get as tall as God’s. He yelled “stop” and all the people bringing dirt to the new peak dropped their baskets where they stood.
Mt Shasta is a shield volcano that flowed lava out over a broad valley. Small hills of rock actually floated on the lava. http://academic.emporia.edu/aberjame/tectonic/cascade/cas10.jpg
Thanks. The story fits so well it sounds like the folklore had been one thing, then had to be adjusted when the first deity turned out to be just a volcano.
