Devil's Tower, Wyoming - An Iconic Landmark - Geology, Wildlife, Flowers & Movies Travels With Phil

Devil's Tower National Monument. This iconic geological feature is located in the northeastern corner of Wyoming, not far from South Dakota and Montana. We will be looking at videos and photos of the tower, its geology, wildlife, vegetation and its history. It is a famous feature of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and is also sacred to many American Indian tribes in the area.
The Columns of the Tower -
The most distinguishing feature of the Tower is the columns that make it up. Stretching several hundred feet tall and with some over ten feet wide the columns at Devils Tower National Monument are the largest in the world.
The structure is the result of a natural phenomenon called columnar jointing, which occurred when the Tower was forming. As the magma cooled into solid rock, the topmost and outer layers cooled faster compared to the interior parts of the Tower. The rock contracted, pulling away from itself at 120-degree angles, forming hexagonal shapes at the top level of the Tower. As the rock continued to cool the original cracks grew, turning into long columns that stretch the length of the Tower.
The Tower is actually formed from a rare igneous rock called phonolite porphyry. Phonolite gets its name from the ringing sound it makes when struck with a hammer. Porphyry is a term geologists use to describe the texture of the rock, meaning coarse-grained crystals in a finer grained rock.
ean, exposed surface of the rock, as most of surface of the Tower is weathered and covered in lichen, making it harder to see the crystalline structure beneath.
Devils Tower rises up 867 feet from its base to the summit. It stands 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River and is 5,112 feet above sea level.
The summit is slightly dome shaped and rocky, with native grasses, cactus, and sagebrush. Chipmunks, mice, pack rats and even the occasional snake are found on top!
At the summit, Devils tower is approximately 1 1/2 acres, about 180 feet by 300 feet (around the size of a football field), a drastic difference from the base which measures in at approximately one mile around!
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Tribal Connections
Many of the tribes below have a sacred narrative, or oral history, about the creation of the Tower. You can read some of these oral histories on our park website.
Arapahoe call Devils Tower "Bear's Tipi."
Cheyenne call Devils Tower "Bear's Lodge," "Bear's House," "Bear's Tipi," and "Bear Peak."
The Crow call Devils Tower "Bear Lodge."
The Kiowa call Devils Tower "Aloft on a Rock" and "Tree Rock." The oral histories of the Kiowa people link Tree Rock with their astronomical knowledge.
The Lakota people call Devils Tower "Bear Lodge," "Bear Lodge Butte," "Grizzly Bear's Lodge," "Mythic-owl Mountain," "Grey Horn Butte," and "Ghost Mountain." Of the may tribes associated with the Tower, the Lakotas arguably have the strongest connections (or at least the most well-documented). The Lakotas traditionally held their sacred Sun Dance at Devils Tower around the summer solstice.
The Eastern (Plains) Shoshone claim to have a sacred association with Devils Tower. Their religious world, however, is kept very secret and, as a result, cannot be documented at this time.
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Fair use Attributions:
Name - Devil's Tower
Title - Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Website Name - Yarn.com
Publisher - Columbia
Publication Date - 1977
URL -
yarn.co/yarn-clip/2f7797db-c6...
yarn.co/yarn-clip/daa19733-27...
yarn.co/yarn-clip/fe6a1a8d-b0...
yarn.co/yarn-clip/3496f228-1c...
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- Travels with Phil copyrighted by Phil Konstantin -
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You can see some of my photos of the area through this link:
travelswithphil.com/May2017/M...
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Photo Credits:
My Own
National Park Service &
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Video Credits:
My Own
Cyberlink Subscription
United State Geological Survey
National Park Service (HHerbert Collin,, Brian Miller, Andrea Carlomagno, David Lane, Andrew Landry, Chris Racay, Joe Bruce, Michael Wheeler, Jonathan Malrait, Stephanie Carter)
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Music Credits:
Purchased License: Audio Hero-Fairy Dance & Dream Sequence & Awestruck; Dark Fantasy Studio-Sancta Terra
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You can subscribe to my UA-cam Channel at this link ----- ua-cam.com/users/cherokee...

[@HarryGrimez]

Thanks Phil, very informative

[@TravelsWithPhil]

I appreciate it.