70
D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • FA L L 2 0 2 5
T
HERE IS AN INTERESTING ROCK FORMA-
TION LOCATED A LITTLE WAYS OUTSIDE
OF WHITEHALL, MONTANA, JUTTING
OUT OF THE EARTH IN A WAY THAT RESEM-
BLES NOTHING SO MUCH AS A PREHISTORIC
WALL—APPEARING TO BE MADE OF CYCLO-
PEAN SLABS PILED ON TOP OF EACH OTHER
WITH STARTLING EXACTITUDE. In places, you
couldn't slip a credit card in between. It's been
there for thousands of years, but it's only been
internet famous for a handful.
But wait, maybe that's not the right place to
start. Perhaps the true beginning of the story
is thousands of years earlier, around the time
of the Younger Dryas, a period of dramatic cli-
mate change that occurred over 10-12,000 years
ago. The history books tell us there wasn't much
going on back then, humanity-wise. Just a lot
of hunter-gatherers poking around in the dirt,
eating various roots and grubs while struggling
mightily to invent language and culture. But
the history books are wrong; this is the claim
Goes
Viral
Sage
Wa
by JOSEPH SHELTON
The
Geologist Ted Antonioli
