Devils Tower

Devils Tower is a huge rock in Wyoming.

It sits near the Belle Fourche River. Many Native Americans call it Bear Lodge. They have many special stories about it.

Some stories say giant bears chased girls. The girls prayed to be safe. A rock rose up to help them.

The bears left deep marks on the stone.

Long ago, hot liquid rock rose up. It cooled into tall stone columns. These columns have many sides. They look like big gray pillars.

Rain and snow hit the rock. This breaks bits of stone off. Small rocks pile up at the bottom. The tower was once even wider.

People like to visit this place. Some people even climb the tall walls. It is a very famous site.

Devils Tower is a giant rock in Wyoming. It sits near the Belle Fourche River. It is part of the Black Hills region.

Many Native Americans have special names for it. Some call it Bear Lodge or Bear's Tipi. These names show how important the site is to them.

Long ago, hot liquid rock called magma rose up. It pushed into older layers of stone. As the magma cooled, it made tall columns. These columns have many sides, like six or seven. The rock is a gray color. It has small white crystals in it. Over time, rain and snow wear the rock away. This leaves piles of small stones at the base.

Many people visit the monument today. It was the first national monument in the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt set it up in 1906. Some visitors like to climb the tall walls. In 1893, two men made the first climb. They used a ladder made of wooden pegs. Today, hundreds of people climb the rock every summer.

Devils Tower is a huge, lonely rock in Wyoming. It sits in the Bear Lodge Ranger District near the Black Hills. The tower rises high above the Belle Fourche River. It is a special place known as a laccolithic butte. This means it is a large, dome-shaped mass of rock. Many people travel from far away to see it.

This amazing landmark was formed a very long time ago. About 40.5 million years ago, hot liquid rock called magma rose up. It pushed into older layers of sedimentary rock. These older layers include red sandstone and white gypsum. As the magma cooled, it turned into a gray rock called phonolite porphyry. This rock has small, white crystals inside it. As it cooled, it formed many tall, vertical columns. These columns can have four, five, six, or even seven sides.

Many different groups of people have names for this place. Native American groups like the Kiowa and Lakota have special stories about it. Some call it Bear Lodge or Bear's Tipi. Others call it Tree Rock or Great Gray Horn. The name "Devils Tower" came from a mistake in 1875. An interpreter for Colonel Richard Irving Dodge misunderstood a native name. He thought it meant "Bad God's Tower."

History shows how important this site is to the United States. It was the very first national monument in the country. President Theodore Roosevelt established it on September 24, 1906. People have been exploring the rock for a long time. In 1893, two ranchers made the first climb ever. They used a ladder made of wooden pegs in the cracks. Today, hundreds of climbers visit every summer to scale the walls.

Nature is still changing the tower every single day. Rain and snow fall on the columns all the time. This water can freeze inside the cracks of the rock. When ice grows, it can break the columns apart. Pieces of rock fall to the bottom of the tower. These piles of broken stones are called scree. The scree shows that the tower was once much wider. Over many years, the wind and water will keep shaping it.

Devils Tower is a massive geological landmark located in northeastern Wyoming. It is a laccolithic butte, which is a dome-shaped mass of igneous rock. The monument sits within the Bear Lodge Ranger District of the Black Hills. It rises high above the Belle Fourche River near the towns of Hulett and Sundance. This site holds great importance as the first United States national monument. President Theodore Roosevelt established the monument on September 24, 1906.

The formation of the tower began approximately 40.5 million years ago. During this time, magma rose through the Earth's crust. This molten rock intruded into existing layers of sedimentary rock. The surrounding landscape is mostly composed of sedimentary layers like the Spearfish Formation. This formation contains dark red sandstone and maroon siltstone. The red color comes from the oxidation of iron minerals. Above this lies the white gypsum of the Gypsum Springs Formation. The Sundance Formation sits above that layer. The rising of the Rocky Mountains and Black Hills occurred during the Paleocene Epoch, between 56 and 66 million years ago.

As the magma cooled, it turned into a specific igneous rock called phonolite porphyry. This rock is light- to dark-gray or greenish-gray in color. It contains visible white crystals of feldspar. A fascinating process occurred as the magma cooled underground. The cooling caused the rock to contract into vertical columns. Most of these columns are hexagonal, meaning they have six sides. However, some columns have four, five, or seven sides. These columns are very tall and wide. Geologists Nelson Horatio Darton and C.C. O'Harra theorized in 1907 that the tower is an eroded remnant of a laccolith.

The name "Devils Tower" is the result of a historical misunderstanding. In 1875, Colonel Richard Irving Dodge led an expedition through the area. His interpreter reportedly misinterpreted a Native American name. The interpreter believed the name meant "Bad God's Tower." This was eventually shortened to "Devils Tower." Because of this, many Indigenous groups have different names for the site. The Lakota and Kiowa call it Mato Tipila, or Bear Lodge. Other names include Bear's Tipi, Tree Rock, and Great Gray Horn.

Native American cultures have deep spiritual connections to this monolith. Many geomyths describe the tower as a place of protection. In Kiowa and Lakota stories, girls escaped giant bears by praying to the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit made the rock rise toward the heavens. The bears left deep claw marks on the sides while trying to climb. In Cheyenne versions, the marks also come from bears attempting to reach the girls. Another Northern Cheyenne legend involves a buffalo head appearing at the summit. This story is significant because the Northern Cheyenne held sacred buffalo heads in their camps.

Human interaction with the tower has changed over many decades. The first documented nonindigenous visitors were part of a 1859 expedition. The first successful ascent occurred on July 4, 1893. Two local ranchers, William Rogers and Willard Ripley, completed this climb. They used a ladder made of wooden pegs driven into rock cracks. Modern climbing techniques were first used in 1937 by Fritz Wiessner. In 1941, George Hopkins performed a famous publicity stunt by parachuting onto the butte. He became stranded for six days due to bad weather and lost equipment. A rescue team eventually brought him down safely.

Today, the tower continues to change through the process of erosion. Rain and snow fall on the columns constantly. Water enters the cracks and freezes, which expands the gaps. This process can cause entire columns of rock to break off. These fallen rocks form piles called scree at the base. The presence of scree suggests the tower was much wider in the past. While the tower is being eroded, it remains a massive and iconic feature of the Wyoming landscape. Hundreds of climbers visit each summer to scale its sheer walls.