Capital, your post reminded me of a story (but then, pretty much everything reminds me of a story... )

In the northwest corner of Michigan's lower peninsula, along the Lake Michigan shoreline, is a national park encompassing a huge dune area, which includes two islands just off the shore, the Sleeping Bear Dunes. The name is from Indian legend, a poignant story:

Long ago, along the Wisconsin shoreline, a mother bear and her two cubs were driven into Lake Michigan by a raging forest fire. The bears swam for many hours, but eventually the cubs tired and lagged behind. Mother bear reached the shore and climbed to the top of a high bluff to watch and wait for her cubs. Too tired to continue, the cubs drowned within sight of the shore. The Great Spirit Manitou created two islands to mark the spot where the cubs disappeared and then created a solitary dune to represent the faithful mother bear.

You can see a picture of the dunes area here:

http://www.nps.gov/slbe/home.htm