DEVILS TOWER

Home of Bears

In Northeastern Wyoming, USA, a lone tower of nature stands tall and proud across vast flat grasslands. It rises about 1,267 feet (386 meters) above the land. From afar, it cuts through the sky majestically, being the focal point for miles and miles. Wild horses, cattle and many forest animals and birds roam peacefully in its domain. Tourists gaze up in wonder at the magnificent geological feature surrounded by pine trees and ancient oaks. It was the eerie center piece of the alien UFO landing scene in the movie, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1977. So, what is it about this “earthly” tower that allures scientists?

Devils Tower became America’s first national monument when it was first discovered in 1906 To climbers, it stands as a formidable challenge with a breathtaking view of the nature of Wyoming waiting for them when they reach the top. But to geologists, it’s a fascinating study in the incredible forces at work beneath the planet’s surface. Hexagonal parallel vertical columns draw their way from the top of the tower to the bottom; a very peculiar texture for a supposed rocky mountain to have. At its base, one will see the evidence of the changes it has undergone throughout its geologic history. Massive rocks, some large as a bus, form a 13-acre field. Predominantly around the west and south faces of the Tower, this field of giant rocks was created as pieces of the Tower weathered off and eroded down.

This volcanic monolith was not always called by this name, however. American Indian tribes who lived in this region had their own names for the formation. The most common and widely used during the time of United States exploration of the Black Hills (1855-75) was Bear Lodge. Other English translations of names used by Native Americans include Grey Horn Butte, Tree Rock, and The Place Where Bears Live. For thousands of years, it has been a spiritual and ceremonial home ground to Great Plains tribes. The name change happened during the time period when information was brought back by an inspection expedition led by Colonel Richard Irving Dodge.

His expedition sent a small group to study the Tower. After the group returned, Dodge wrote that the Indians called this place evil spirit. As a result of mistranslating two similarly sounding words “black bear” and “evil spirit” in Native American language, the label “Devils Tower” was created. The lore behind associating it with bears goes back to many native American stories. The basic idea behind them was about children or people fleeing from a colossal black bear. They prayed to the great spirit, who saved them by shooting up this monument from the ground, leaving the bear below. It clawed at the tower to try and reach them, and that is how the current textures came to be. In short, it was a place of refuge from bears, not devils.

There are numerous theories of how this massive tower could’ve formed, with the most obvious one being ancient volcanic activity. Geologists agree that Devils Tower formed from molten rock forced upwards from deep within the earth. Debate continues, however, as to whether the rock cooled underground or whether the magma reached the surface. Current research supports the conclusion that Devils Tower was not a volcano, but was injected between sedimentary rock layers and cooled underground. The characteristic of thin columns is the result of contraction, which occurred during the cooling of the magma. Estimates have placed the age of Devils Tower at greater than 50 million years!

However, the texture of the tower raises questions. This structure really does look like giant petrified tree trunks that flare out at the bottom as you would see in a root system on a tree. The structure itself looks like an actual tree trunk, only much, much bigger. When looking at some of the split rocks at its base, they look a lot like wood when they get sawed or cut; they leave behind blocky forms and flaring splinters similar to the ones found on the tower.

There is an even a crazier theory that it used to be a big foot, belonging to ancient giants. The base of the tower when viewed from an aerial perspective, can look like a snapped ankle, with a wrinkly texture, as insane as that sounds. A documentary series, Mudfossil University, by a scientist named Roger, explains the whole anatomy of an ankle and matches it with the individual forms on the tower. He points out that the discoloration between the rocks is actually blood, and not volcanic red sand. He claims to have performed tests on the rocks and collected DNA evidence that they are body parts. These claims may be delusional, but who are we to argue with DNA samples, if found?

There were enormous dinosaurs that lived once, as well as old texts about how humans were giants compared to our average size today. On that note, couldn’t some of the trees been up to scale? Whether something as bizarre as this could be true, it would probably be hard to prove. So, is it a mountainous rock? Petrified wood from a prehistoric tree? A dormant volcanic mountain? Or even the remains of giant species? Perhaps that’s why its identity got associated with the devil, an entity we will never truly understand. In the end, it is still a ritualistic place to this day. People visit to worship, pray, celebrate and leave offerings.

The Devils Tower has long been associated with the devil due to its strange location, but the color vibrancy of the landscape cancels that. It is actually place rich in cultural history when first discovered by the Native Americans. A “devilish” red portal opens, scattering tree leaves to reveal an old settler who traveled back through time to visit his old home. The spirit of the black bear joins him in the sky and bear tracks are visible on the path, as that was the tower’s original name; Bear’s Lodge. It was also named Tree Rock, as some crazy theories suggest it was an ancient giant petrified tree. An extension of the portal brings the tree in its place, to return everything back together as it supposedly was.