Devils Tower National Monument (also known as Bear Lodge Butte) was the first United States national monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. The monument’s boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres and is located in the Black Hills of northeastern Wyoming.
Devils Tower rises 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, and stands 867 feet from summit to base. The summit is 5112 above sea level. Devils Tower features the world’s largest example of columnar jointing. Hundreds of parallel cracks make it one of the finest crack climbing areas in North America.
*Clicking on a photo will give you a closer look!
My camera lens was not powerful enough to take sharp photos of those black dots way up there, but it is enough to see that there were a lot of turkey vultures hanging out!
Devils Tower is a sacred place to over 20 Native American tribes. There are numerous legends and oral histories passed down and preserved through their cultures and traditions. You can learn of these stories when you click here. Devils Tower received its original name from these stories. The current name originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, when his interpreter reportedly misinterpreted a native name to mean “Bad God’s Tower”.
Hubby and I hiked the Tower Trail…an easy trail that surrounds the base of Devils Tower. This tree is found about halfway on the trail.
The Window is one of Devils Tower’s most distinctive features, a 300 foot alcove above the boulder field. The Window cracked open as tall stone pillars toppled from the Tower.
I love this photo because you can clearly see that the columns are not straight!
The first climbers on record to summit Devils Tower, Willard Ripley and William Rogers, built a ladder to the summit in 1893. They advertised the climb as a Fourth of July spectacle, charging admission to dance and picnic. Dressed as Uncle Sam, and carrying the American flag, Rogers climbed the ladder for the crowd.
On July 4, 1895, Linnie Rogers became the first woman on record to climb Devils Tower. She used the ladder built by her husband.
The prairie dog town at Devils Tower National Monument is approximately 40 acres in size. As in the Badlands, I really enjoyed watching them!
See the world around you!
LC's Cottage 