Devils Tower Wyoming – 15
Monday, April 20th, 2009Many people first saw Devils Tower Wyoming in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. With a flat top and ridges down the sides, it has a unique look. One movie character built models of it in mashed potatoes and dirt. It became a landing site for an alien craft. While truth may not be stranger than fiction in this case, it’s still an interesting place.
First there will be an explanation. Devils Tower Wyoming doesn’t refer to a town or city, it refers to a mountain. You can check out maps of it at the University of Wisconsin website. They describe the elevation of this location and give a very complete view of how this natural structure looms above the surrounding countryside. That’s incredible, as the saying goes.
Now for a second Devils Tower Wyoming point. Notice that when it’s written the apostrophe is missing. In other words, one would expect an apostrophe”s” at the end of devil in the name. But this name is always written without the “’s” so it’s nothing to cause concern.
Devils Tower Wyoming became a national monument on September 24, 1906. It was an act of President Theodore Roosevelt, known popularly as Teddy. He was never called that by his close friends. He got America involved in the Panama Canal. Back to this monument, it covers nearly 5 ½ square kilometers of Wyoming.
The Devils Tower Wyoming stands 1267 feet above the surrounding land. It’s almost a full mile above sea level. The tower is very high. That hasn’t stopped people from climbing it. In fact, of the 400,000 people who visit each year, about 4000 make the climb. Mount Everest is a much more challenging climb. Of course, the most dangerous part of climbing Mount Everest is getting down the mountain. Enough people climb that mountain that a queue forms at the top to make the descent. Most of those who are hurt are hurt because of exposure to the elements while waiting to get down the mountain. There’s no such danger at the tower.
Devils Tower Wyoming first began to form about 200 million years ago during the Triassic Period. It includes various types of rocks from sandstone, to silt stone, and shale. The different types of rock make it a beautiful sight.
Visit the local library to learn more about Devils Tower Wyoming.