Devils Tower | |
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Matȟó Thípila (Lakota) | |
Devils Tower, 2005
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Highest point | |
Elevation | 5,112 ft (1,558 m) NAVD 88 |
Coordinates | 44°35′25″N 104°42′55″W / 44.59028°N 104.71528°WCoordinates: 44°35′25″N 104°42′55″W / 44.59028°N 104.71528°W |
Geography | |
Location | Crook County, Wyoming, US |
Parent range | Bear Lodge Mountains, part of the Black Hills |
Topo map | USGS Devils Tower |
Geology | |
Mountain type | Laccolith |
Climbing | |
First ascent | William Rogers and Willard Ripley, July 4, 1893 |
Easiest route | Durrance Route |
Devils Tower National Monument | |
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IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)
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Nearest city | Hulett, Wyoming |
Coordinates | 44°35′25″N 104°42′55″W / 44.59028°N 104.71528°W |
Area | 1,346 acres (5.45 km2) |
Established | September 24, 1906 |
Visitors | 496,210 (in 2016) |
Governing body | National Park Service |
Website | Devils Tower National Monument |
Devils Tower (also Bear Lodge Butte) is a laccolithic butte composed of igneous rock in the Bear Lodge Mountains (part of 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 Belle Fourche River, standing 867 feet (265 m) from summit to base. The summit is 5,112 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 climbed Devils Tower, mostly using traditional climbing techniques.
The name Devil's Tower originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, when his interpreter reportedly misinterpreted a native name to mean "Bad God's Tower". All information signs in that area use the name "Devils Tower", following a geographic naming standard whereby the apostrophe is eliminated.
Native American names for the monolith include: "Bear's House" or "Bear's Lodge" (or "Bear's Tipi", "Home of the Bear", "Bear's Lair"; Cheyenne, Lakota Matȟó Thípila, Crow Daxpitcheeaasáao "Home of Bears"), "Aloft on a Rock" (Kiowa), "Tree Rock", "Great Gray Horn", and "Brown Buffalo Horn" (Lakota Ptehé Ǧí).