If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 318

Devils Tower, Wyoming, early 1920s

We stopped at Devils Tower on our summer road trip and found this old photograph from the early 1920s made into a postcard available at the visitor center.  Devils Tower Monument was the first National Monument established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.  The photo on the card comes from the Devils Tower Natural History Association (www.devilstowerha.org) and was published by Shoshone Dist., Co., Box 8, Cody, WY 82414.  

Devils Tower as seen from several miles away

Devils Tower is located above the Belle Fourche River in the Bear Lodge Mountains, part of the Black Hills, in northeastern Wyoming near Sundance and Hulett, Crook County.  The butte rises 1,267 feet or 386 meters above the river and is 867 feet or 265 meters from the base to the summit.  It is extremely impressive close up and can be seen for miles.  

Near the Tower the Spearfish Formation of red rock is dramatic and interesting.  The dark red color of the sandstone was caused by oxidation of iron minerals in the rocks.  The colored hillsides reminded me of the Painted Hills in the John Day area of Oregon.

A placard explaining the origin theories about Devils Tower

Devils Tower from the trail

There are several Native American folklore stories about the Tower usually involving giant bears and children fleeing from them, asking the Great Spirit to save them.  Hearing their prayers the Great Spirit made the rock rise from the ground toward the heavens so that the bears could not reach them.  The groves on the sides of the Tower are said to be the claw marks of the huge bears as they tried to climb the rock.

 Sign asking visitors to respect the place

There are signs along the paved trail around the Tower informing visitors of the Native American heritage as asking visitors to respect the place by staying on the trails and not touching items that had been placed there by the tribes.  

 Small red ribbons tied to pine tree near the base of the Tower

We did see red ribbons and small items tied to a small pine tree near the base of the tower but did not touch them.  The Tower is sacred to several Plains tribes, including the Lakota, Cheyenne and Kiowa.  The Tower is can be scaled by climbers; however, during the month of June when the tribes conduct ceremonies around the monument climbers are asked, but not required, to stay off the Tower.  Most honor this request.

For more information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devils_Tower