Imagine hiking up the beautiful Bear Lodge Mountains of northeastern Wyoming, surrounded by the Belle Fourche River, and seeing a grand structure of rock, a thousand feet up in the air. Nearly half a mile high, Devil’s Tower stands tall and proud, able to be seen from miles away. Devil’s Tower is known for its exciting climbing aspects, however, there is so much more than meets the eye when it comes to this particular climbing range. Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming possesses a thought provoking cultural history, pertains to many geological mysteries, and was the start of a widely debated controversy.
Several generations ago, a story was told among the local tribes surrounding Devil’s Tower. This story revolves around seven sisters and a brother playing in the woods of northeastern Wyoming. According to N. Scott Momaday’s book “The Way to Rainy Mountain”, the brother is transformed into a bear, fueled with rage, and chases the sister up to the stump of a great tree. The sisters climb upon the tree in hopes of escaping the bear, pray to the Great Spirits, and suddenly the stump rose up into the sky. The bear grew larger and larger and clawed down the length of the stump, giving the monument the long jagged columns (Dustin). …show more content…
“The annual number of climbers has increased dramatically from the first recorded ascent in 1893 to 312 climbers in 1973 to more than 6,000 climbers in 2000.” The friction climaxed in the 1990’s, resulting in legislative and legal disputes, leaving the National Park Services (NPS) in the middle of the crossfire (Dustin). As an attempt to ease the tension, the NPS established a work group, consisting of the local native americans, the rock climbers, and several NPS officials, in hopes that they could hear each other out and listen to each other's different
Several generations ago, a story was told among the local tribes surrounding Devil’s Tower. This story revolves around seven sisters and a brother playing in the woods of northeastern Wyoming. According to N. Scott Momaday’s book “The Way to Rainy Mountain”, the brother is transformed into a bear, fueled with rage, and chases the sister up to the stump of a great tree. The sisters climb upon the tree in hopes of escaping the bear, pray to the Great Spirits, and suddenly the stump rose up into the sky. The bear grew larger and larger and clawed down the length of the stump, giving the monument the long jagged columns (Dustin). …show more content…
“The annual number of climbers has increased dramatically from the first recorded ascent in 1893 to 312 climbers in 1973 to more than 6,000 climbers in 2000.” The friction climaxed in the 1990’s, resulting in legislative and legal disputes, leaving the National Park Services (NPS) in the middle of the crossfire (Dustin). As an attempt to ease the tension, the NPS established a work group, consisting of the local native americans, the rock climbers, and several NPS officials, in hopes that they could hear each other out and listen to each other's different