Devils Tower Wyoming morning sun

Northern Plains Indians honor a towering

rock formation that they consider sacred. They call

the rocky tower Bear's Tipi, Grizzly Bear's Lodge,

Bear Lodge Butte, Tree Rock and other related

names. In 1875, Colonel Dodge led an expedition

into the area. In his book titled, The Black Hills,

Colonel Dodge explained, “the Indians call this

shaft The Bad God’s Tower, a name adopted with

proper modification, by our surveyors.” Dodge

“modified the name to a better form of English,

calling it Devils Tower.” Evidence suggests that

the initial translation was incorrect. The Indian

words for the Tower should have been translated

into “Bear Lodge” and not into “Bad God’s Tower.”

In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt created

Devils Tower National Monument, the first national

monument.

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