devil's tower

 

Devil's Tower rises from Black Hills pine forest of Wyoming.  Long held sacred by the Native Americans, it was "discovered" and named Devil's Tower by Col. Richard Dodge in 1875 while leading a military expedition to confirm reports of gold in the Black Hills.  Rising 865 feet high, the formation was earlier thought to be the core of an ancient volcano: Devil's Tower is now considered an "igneous intrusion" -- molten magma which crystallized before reaching the earth's surface which cooled into vertical symmetrical columns of 4-, 5-, or 6-sides.  President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devil's Tower the first national monument on September 24, 1906 under the Antiquities Act.

 

Devil's Tower National Monument

Wyoming

6.12.2014