Wyoming's Devils Tower

President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower the first national monument in 1906 under the new Antiquities Act. His action made Wyoming the home of both our first national park - Yellowstone in 1872 - and our first national monument. Roosevelt acted to protect the Tower from commercial exploitation.

During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps built road improvements, camping and picnicking facilities, and a museum. The roughhewn log museum still serves as a visitor center, book sales outlet, and the registration office for rock climbers.

But there is more to this area than the Tower. Life thrives around its base. Here in Wyoming's northeast corner, Black Hills pine forests merge with the rolling plains grasslands. At Devils Tower you can see every phase in the process of establishing a forest. More than 150 species of birds have been counted, including hawks, bald and golden eagles, prairie falcon, turkey vulture, and America kestrel. You will also find the bright mountain bluebird, nuthatches, and the black-billed magpie. White-tailed deer and black-tailed prairie dogs abound with the American bison. Prairie dog town is a must stop while at the Tower.

Devils Tower can be seen for many miles before you actually get to the monument. Standing at the base of the Tower one feels an eeriness not experienced anywhere else this traveler has been.

Several Indian nations of the Great Plains share similar legends on the origin of this prominent butte. The Kiowa people say:

"Eight children were there at play, seven sisters and their brother, Suddenly the boy was struck dumb; he trembled and began to run upon his hands and feet. His fingers became claws, and his body was covered with fur. Directly there was a bear where the boy had been. The sisters were terrified; they ran, and the bear after them. They came to the stump of a great tree, and the tree spoke to them. It bade them climb upon it, and as the did so it began to rise into the air. The bear came to kill them, but they were just beyond its reach. It reared against the tree and scored the bark all around with its claws. The seven sisters were borne into the sky, and they became the stars of the "Big Dipper."

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The Ladder at Devils Tower was first constructed and used on July 4,1893 by William Rogers and Willard Ripley to publicly ascend the first 350 feet of Devil's Tower with fanfare and more than 1,000 spectators. Two years later Roger's wife Linnie ascended the tower via the ladder, becoming the first woman to reach the summit and one of a total of about 215 who have used the ladder. The last use was by Babe "The Human Fly" White in 1927.

The present tower ladder consists of a series of wooden stakes connected on the outside by vertical wood planks. One end of each stake is driven sideways into a rock crevice, vertically ascending the southeast side of the tower. Attached with nails and/or bailing wire to the other end of the stakes are 12-inch lengths of 1 x 4 - inch lumber. The ladder ascends from about 100 feet above the ground to the summit, and is about 170 feet long. Because of its small scale in comparison to the tower, it is very difficult to see in modern photographs, and visitors to the tower usually must view it through a telescope. The lowest 100 feet were removed in the 1930s as a safety measure. The remaining ladder was restored in 1972.

Records of Tower climbs have been kept since 1937. Approximately 5,000 climbers come here every year from all over the world to climb on the massive columns. More than 220 climbing routes have now been used in climbing the Tower.

The Belle Fourche River Carved most of the landscape that exposed Devils Tower. It was named the pretty fork river in the 1700's by French trappers.

About 60 million years ago molten magma was forced into sedimentary rocks above the Tower and cooled underground. As it cooled it contracted ad fractued into columns. An earlier flow formed Little Missouri Buttes. Over millions of years, erosion of the sedimentary rock exposed Devils Tower. The Tower rises 867 feet from its base and stands 1,267 feet above the river and 5,112 feet above sea level. The area of its tear-drop shaped top is 1.5 acres and the diameter of the base is 1,000 feet.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban and Cary Guffey. It tells the story of Roy Neary, an Indiana electrical lineman, whose life changes after he has an encounter with an unidentified flying object. However, the United States government is also aware of the UFOs as is a team of international scientific researchers.

One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Richard Dreyfuss's character begins making models of Devils Tower from mashed potatoes. He played an obsessed man very well. Devils Tower was the perfect place for the "Encounter". When I was there, I had the eeriest feeling. I couldn't put my finger on anything specific, but there was a "presence" I could feel. I still get chills thinking about it.

If you haven't seen this classic science fiction movie, rent it or purchase it for your collection.