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Devils Tower, an important landmark for
Plains Indian tribes long before the white
man reached Wyoming, was called Mateo
Tepee, or Grizzly Bear Lodge, by the Sioux.
A number of Indian legends describe the
origin of Devils Tower. One legend tells
about seven little girls being chased into a
low rock to escape attacking bears. Their
prayers were heeded. The rock carried them
upward to safety as the claws of the leaping
bears left furrowed columns in the sides of
the ascending tower. Ultimately, the rock
grew so high that the girls reached thesky
where they were transformed into the
constellation known as Pleiades.
Fur trappers may have visited Devils Tower,
but they left no written evidence of having
done so. The first documented visitors were
several members of Captain W.F. Raynold's
Yellowstone Expedition who arrived in 1859.
Sixteen years later Colonel Richard I. Dodge
led a U.S. Geological Survey party to the
massive rock formation and coined the name
Devils Tower. Recognizing its unique
characteristics, Congress designated the area
a U.S. forest reserve in 1892 and in 1906
Devils Tower became the nations first
national monument.
Rising dramatically to a height of 1,280 feet
above the Belle Fourche River. Devils Tower
has become a rock climbing mecca. On July
4, 1893, local rancher William Rogers
became the first person to complete the
climb after constructing a ladder of wooden
pegs driven into cracks in the rock face.
Technical rock climbing techniques were first
used to ascend the Tower in 1937 when Fritz
- Wiessner conquered the summit, with a small
party from the American Alpine Club. Today
hundreds of climbers scale the sheer rock
walls each summer. All climbers must
register with a park ranger before and after
attempting a climb.
From twenty miles away.
A Refuge, A Gathering Place
The dramatic and alluring character of the
Tower evokes a powerful sense of wonder,
attracting people for centuries. From the
earliest native peoples to local ranchers, the
Tower has always been a gathering place, a
place of community, a place of refuge.
Today the Tower continues to draw thousands
of visitors each year. It is a place to enjoy
nature by walking the trails and looking for
wildlife. American Indian people come
because the Tower is a sacred place.
Photographs, painters, musicians and writers
come to be inspired.
Climbers arrive from around the world to
scale its large columns. Some people come
because it is a national park site.
Almost to the top.
Wouldn't it be great to stand up there and see out
over the land?
Devils Tower -
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