Mastodon Riders?

Mastodon site in Olympic Peninsula near Sequim, Wa...

Today, people riding on elephants, especially In India, Thailand and other countries is normal. In the past they were trained even for warfare and wore a type of leather armor with spikes and other things to kill the enemy. So, it is not impossible that mastodons were ridden at times too, and this might have been how a Mastodon got down to the State of Washington 12,000 years ago something like this:

The tribe in Alaska 12,000 years ago hunted Mastodons some times for food. But, one time when the killed a Mastodon the realized and elephant cub was for the one they killed. The tribe felt bad because in addition to sometimes Eating Mastodons they also worshiped them like some recent tribes worshiped the Bear because of it's strength. Mastodons likely would be worshiped because humans sometimes would be killed as worthy enemies by mastodons while the mastodons would be hunted. After hunting and killing a Mother Mastodon to eat the tribe found the baby and made friends with it.

The weather was changing there in Alaska at the same time this Mastodon cub was found by the tribe. The children adopted the cub as a playmate in the tribe and the cub was worshiped because it took to the tribe.

When the weather began to change and the snow got deeper the mastodon had grown up. The people being more intelligent than mastodons talked to their Medicine men and women of their tribe and the Seer said," The snow will grow so we must move south." The people said, "But other tribes might kill us."

The tribal Shamen said, "We will die in the great freeze if we stay here. We must move south."

So, the people built two poles for their friend the Mastodon to pull that they had trained him to do. On it they put Mastodon leather tents that they could travel with and stay warm in the weather when they got below the great snows and ice. There was only one boy and girl who the mastodon allowed to ride him. By now he had grow great tusks and looked really fearsome and had become an adult.

But, the only family the Mastodon had known were the two children and the tribe as his herd. So, he defended the tribe as it was his herd.

As the tribe moved south they encountered other tribes and told the tribes of the great snows coming. Some tribes believed them and some didn't. Some wanted to come with them but most were afraid of dealing with other tribes along the way.

Eventually they made their way all the way to Washington State and were happy to be below where the snow and ice was bad year around. However, eventually a nearby tribe caught their pet mastodon and ate him.

This is one explanation for how a Mastodon got into Washington because their normal habitat (as far as we know) was Alaska and Northern Canada 12,000 years ago or more when it was warm there.

There are many mastodons found in Alaska with flowers in their mouths so the freeze came suddenly to a relatively tropical place more like Africa is now it is thought.