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We took this photo in Devils Tower National Monument after sunset. There were a lot of deer in the clearing.
Devils Tower (Lakota: Matȟó Thípila (“Bear Lodge”) or Ptehé Ǧí (“Brown Buffalo Horn”) (Arapaho: Wox Niiinon ) is an igneous intrusion or laccolith in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,114 feet (1,559 m) above sea level.
Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Monument’s boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres (545 ha).
In recent years, about 1% of the Monument’s 400,000 annual visitors climb Devils Tower, mostly using traditional climbing techniques.Tribes including the Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone had cultural and geographical ties to the monolith before caucasians reached Wyoming. Their names for the monolith include: Aloft on a Rock (Kiowa), Bear’s House (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear’s Lair (Cheyenne, Crow), Daxpitcheeaasáao, “Home of bears” (Crow[6]), Bear’s Lodge (Cheyenne, Lakota), Bear’s Lodge Butte (Lakota), Bear’s Tipi (Arapaho, Cheyenne), Tree Rock (Kiowa), and Grizzly Bear Lodge (Lakota).
The name Devil’s Tower originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge when his interpreter misinterpreted the name to mean Bad God’s Tower, which then became Devil’s Tower. All information signs in that area use the name “Devils Tower”, following a geographic naming standard whereby the apostrophe is eliminated.
In 2005, a proposal to recognize several American Indian ties through the additional designation of the monolith as Bear Lodge National Historic Landmark met with opposition from the United States Representative Barbara Cubin, arguing that a “name change will harm the tourist trade and bring economic hardship to area communities”.
from visitnature.com
Devils Tower (Lakota: Matȟó Thípila (“Bear Lodge”) or Ptehé Ǧí (“Brown Buffalo Horn”) (Arapaho: Wox Niiinon ) is an igneous intrusion or laccolith in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,114 feet (1,559 m) above sea level.
Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Monument’s boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres (545 ha).
In recent years, about 1% of the Monument’s 400,000 annual visitors climb Devils Tower, mostly using traditional climbing techniques.Tribes including the Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone had cultural and geographical ties to the monolith before caucasians reached Wyoming. Their names for the monolith include: Aloft on a Rock (Kiowa), Bear’s House (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear’s Lair (Cheyenne, Crow), Daxpitcheeaasáao, “Home of bears” (Crow[6]), Bear’s Lodge (Cheyenne, Lakota), Bear’s Lodge Butte (Lakota), Bear’s Tipi (Arapaho, Cheyenne), Tree Rock (Kiowa), and Grizzly Bear Lodge (Lakota).
The name Devil’s Tower originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge when his interpreter misinterpreted the name to mean Bad God’s Tower, which then became Devil’s Tower. All information signs in that area use the name “Devils Tower”, following a geographic naming standard whereby the apostrophe is eliminated.
In 2005, a proposal to recognize several American Indian ties through the additional designation of the monolith as Bear Lodge National Historic Landmark met with opposition from the United States Representative Barbara Cubin, arguing that a “name change will harm the tourist trade and bring economic hardship to area communities”.
from visitnature.com
The landscape surrounding Devils Tower is composed mostly of sedimentary rocks.
The oldest rocks visible in Devils Tower National Monument were laid down in a shallow sea during the Triassic period, 225 to 195 million years ago. This dark red sandstone and maroon siltstone, interbedded with shale, can be seen along the Belle Fourche River. Oxidation of iron minerals causes the redness of the rocks. This rock layer is known as the Spearfish Formation.
Above the Spearfish formation is a thin band of white gypsum, called the Gypsum Springs Formation. This layer of gypsum was deposited during the Jurassic period, 195 to 136 million years ago.
Created as sea levels and climates repeatedly changed, gray-green shales (deposited in low-oxygen environments such as marshes) were interbedded with fine-grained sandstones, limestones, and sometimes thin beds of red mudstone. This composition, called the Stockade Beaver member, is part of the Sundance Formation. The Hulett Sandstone member, also part of the Sundance formation, is composed of yellow fine-grained sandstone. Resistant to weathering, it forms the nearly vertical cliffs which encircle the Tower itself.
About 65 million years ago, during the Tertiary period, the Rocky Mountains and the Black Hills were uplifted. Magma rose through the crust, intruding into the existing sedimentary rock layers.
American Indians use the Tower as a place of
worship. Most of the ceremonies that take place are
small groups or individuals, who have gathered for
prayer, pipe ceremonies, the tying of prayer cloths, or
vision quests. Group rituals also continue here,
including sweat lodge and sun dance ceremonies.
Devils Tower National Monument issues special use
permits for these observances. The ceremonies that
take place here require quiet and solitude
Bear Lodge Butte, known more commonly as Devil's Tower, is the core of an extinct ancient volcano, and is sacred to the many indigenous tribes of the surrounding region, who have revered it as a sacred site for millennia. The butte stands 867 feet (264 meters) tall, and rises 1,267 feet (386 meters) atop a stone outcrop above the adjacent Belle Fourche River. The butte became a National Monument in 1906, owing to its significance as a natural geologic formation, but unfortunately, this did not include the similar, though less eroded, Missouri Buttes to the northwest.
The butte is a dramatic rock formation that rises out of the surrounding landscape and is visible from miles away. Surrounded by a bluff made of sedimentary rock, the butte towers over the grassy lowlands along the Belle Fourche River, today home to wildlife, including a colony of prairie dogs. The butte stands out among the surrounding lowlands, being visible from roadways miles away, enticing tourists to stop at pull-outs to take photos and marvel at the majesty of the butte.
The butte is known to the local indigenous tribes as the "Bear's House" or "Bear Lodge," but was given the name "Devil's Tower" by a European-American visitor to the area, who misinterpreted the indigenous names of the butte. There have been ongoing efforts since the early 21st Century to change the name back to "Bear Lodge," but these have been opposed by government officials due to fears of decreased tourism.
Bear Lodge Butte, known more commonly as Devil's Tower, is the core of an extinct ancient volcano, and is sacred to the many indigenous tribes of the surrounding region, who have revered it as a sacred site for millennia. The butte stands 867 feet (264 meters) tall, and rises 1,267 feet (386 meters) atop a stone outcrop above the adjacent Belle Fourche River. The butte became a National Monument in 1906, owing to its significance as a natural geologic formation, but unfortunately, this did not include the similar, though less eroded, Missouri Buttes to the northwest.
The butte is a dramatic rock formation that rises out of the surrounding landscape and is visible from miles away. Surrounded by a bluff made of sedimentary rock, the butte towers over the grassy lowlands along the Belle Fourche River, today home to wildlife, including a colony of prairie dogs. The butte stands out among the surrounding lowlands, being visible from roadways miles away, enticing tourists to stop at pull-outs to take photos and marvel at the majesty of the butte.
The butte is known to the local indigenous tribes as the "Bear's House" or "Bear Lodge," but was given the name "Devil's Tower" by a European-American visitor to the area, who misinterpreted the indigenous names of the butte. There have been ongoing efforts since the early 21st Century to change the name back to "Bear Lodge," but these have been opposed by government officials due to fears of decreased tourism.
American Indians use the Tower as a place of
worship. Most of the ceremonies that take place are
small groups or individuals, who have gathered for
prayer, pipe ceremonies, the tying of prayer cloths, or
vision quests.
Devils Tower (Lakota: Matȟó Thípila (“Bear Lodge”) or Ptehé Ǧí (“Brown Buffalo Horn”) (Arapaho: Wox Niiinon ) is an igneous intrusion or laccolith in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,114 feet (1,559 m) above sea level.
Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Monument’s boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres (545 ha).
In recent years, about 1% of the Monument’s 400,000 annual visitors climb Devils Tower, mostly using traditional climbing techniques.Tribes including the Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone had cultural and geographical ties to the monolith before caucasians reached Wyoming. Their names for the monolith include: Aloft on a Rock (Kiowa), Bear’s House (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear’s Lair (Cheyenne, Crow), Daxpitcheeaasáao, “Home of bears” (Crow[6]), Bear’s Lodge (Cheyenne, Lakota), Bear’s Lodge Butte (Lakota), Bear’s Tipi (Arapaho, Cheyenne), Tree Rock (Kiowa), and Grizzly Bear Lodge (Lakota).
The name Devil’s Tower originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge when his interpreter misinterpreted the name to mean Bad God’s Tower, which then became Devil’s Tower. All information signs in that area use the name “Devils Tower”, following a geographic naming standard whereby the apostrophe is eliminated.
In 2005, a proposal to recognize several American Indian ties through the additional designation of the monolith as Bear Lodge National Historic Landmark met with opposition from the United States Representative Barbara Cubin, arguing that a “name change will harm the tourist trade and bring economic hardship to area communities”.
from visitnature.com
Shrouded in fog, Devils Tower looms in the distance. From the Black Hills Shoot out Saturday morning.
Devils Tower (Lakota: Matȟó Thípila (“Bear Lodge”) or Ptehé Ǧí (“Brown Buffalo Horn”) (Arapaho: Wox Niiinon ) is an igneous intrusion or laccolith in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,114 feet (1,559 m) above sea level.
Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Monument’s boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres (545 ha).
In recent years, about 1% of the Monument’s 400,000 annual visitors climb Devils Tower, mostly using traditional climbing techniques.Tribes including the Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone had cultural and geographical ties to the monolith before caucasians reached Wyoming. Their names for the monolith include: Aloft on a Rock (Kiowa), Bear’s House (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear’s Lair (Cheyenne, Crow), Daxpitcheeaasáao, “Home of bears” (Crow[6]), Bear’s Lodge (Cheyenne, Lakota), Bear’s Lodge Butte (Lakota), Bear’s Tipi (Arapaho, Cheyenne), Tree Rock (Kiowa), and Grizzly Bear Lodge (Lakota).
The name Devil’s Tower originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge when his interpreter misinterpreted the name to mean Bad God’s Tower, which then became Devil’s Tower. All information signs in that area use the name “Devils Tower”, following a geographic naming standard whereby the apostrophe is eliminated.
In 2005, a proposal to recognize several American Indian ties through the additional designation of the monolith as Bear Lodge National Historic Landmark met with opposition from the United States Representative Barbara Cubin, arguing that a “name change will harm the tourist trade and bring economic hardship to area communities”.
from visitnature.com
A storm was approaching and it was hazy when we stopped to see Devil's Tower in Wyoming, so I suspect that we did not see this natural formation in its full glory.
@ Devils Tower, Wyoming
David's thoughts about this picture selected in his top 25 of 2010:
The point-of-view is almost vertically. And the bold blue sky with few of cirrus clouds striking distance from Devil's Tower. The trees is under me as I look up and feeling eeriely of the unique rock formations.
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.
Devils Tower (Lakota: Matȟó Thípila (“Bear Lodge”) or Ptehé Ǧí (“Brown Buffalo Horn”) (Arapaho: Wox Niiinon ) is an igneous intrusion or laccolith in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,114 feet (1,559 m) above sea level.
Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Monument’s boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres (545 ha).
In recent years, about 1% of the Monument’s 400,000 annual visitors climb Devils Tower, mostly using traditional climbing techniques.Tribes including the Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone had cultural and geographical ties to the monolith before caucasians reached Wyoming. Their names for the monolith include: Aloft on a Rock (Kiowa), Bear’s House (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear’s Lair (Cheyenne, Crow), Daxpitcheeaasáao, “Home of bears” (Crow[6]), Bear’s Lodge (Cheyenne, Lakota), Bear’s Lodge Butte (Lakota), Bear’s Tipi (Arapaho, Cheyenne), Tree Rock (Kiowa), and Grizzly Bear Lodge (Lakota).
The name Devil’s Tower originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge when his interpreter misinterpreted the name to mean Bad God’s Tower, which then became Devil’s Tower. All information signs in that area use the name “Devils Tower”, following a geographic naming standard whereby the apostrophe is eliminated.
In 2005, a proposal to recognize several American Indian ties through the additional designation of the monolith as Bear Lodge National Historic Landmark met with opposition from the United States Representative Barbara Cubin, arguing that a “name change will harm the tourist trade and bring economic hardship to area communities”.
from visitnature.com
Devils Tower (Lakota: Matȟó Thípila (“Bear Lodge”) or Ptehé Ǧí (“Brown Buffalo Horn”) (Arapaho: Wox Niiinon ) is an igneous intrusion or laccolith in the Black Hills near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet (386 m) above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,114 feet (1,559 m) above sea level.
Devils Tower was the first declared United States National Monument, established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. The Monument’s boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres (545 ha).
In recent years, about 1% of the Monument’s 400,000 annual visitors climb Devils Tower, mostly using traditional climbing techniques.Tribes including the Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone had cultural and geographical ties to the monolith before caucasians reached Wyoming. Their names for the monolith include: Aloft on a Rock (Kiowa), Bear’s House (Cheyenne, Crow), Bear’s Lair (Cheyenne, Crow), Daxpitcheeaasáao, “Home of bears” (Crow[6]), Bear’s Lodge (Cheyenne, Lakota), Bear’s Lodge Butte (Lakota), Bear’s Tipi (Arapaho, Cheyenne), Tree Rock (Kiowa), and Grizzly Bear Lodge (Lakota).
The name Devil’s Tower originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Col. Richard Irving Dodge when his interpreter misinterpreted the name to mean Bad God’s Tower, which then became Devil’s Tower. All information signs in that area use the name “Devils Tower”, following a geographic naming standard whereby the apostrophe is eliminated.
In 2005, a proposal to recognize several American Indian ties through the additional designation of the monolith as Bear Lodge National Historic Landmark met with opposition from the United States Representative Barbara Cubin, arguing that a “name change will harm the tourist trade and bring economic hardship to area communities”.
from visitnature.com