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Published: June 12th 2008
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Devil's Tower
also known as Bear Lodge to the Dakota Sioux Indians Thursday, June 5, 2008 we departed Deadwood, South Dakota and arrived at Devil's Tower, Wyoming, which was proclaimed by President Theodore Roosevelt as America's first national monument on September 24, 1906 and rises 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River (named by French fur trappers in the 1700s and means "pretty fork river"). The river carved most of the landscape that exposed Devil's Tower. The present day name of the Tower was named by Colonel Richard Dodge in 1875 when he led an expedition sent to confirm reports of gold being discovered in the Black Hills and to survey the area.
Each tribe living in this area had a legend connected with the Tower which they named Bear Lodge, here is the legend of the Lakota Sioux -- it is quite long but here is a shortened version: It is based on seven brothers and the wife of the oldest brother who was carried off by a bear to it's cave. The youngest brother turned himself into a gopher and dug a hole into the bear's den where he found the bear sleeping with it's head in the woman's lap. He told the woman to make a pillow of her
blanket and put it under the bear's head and to crawl backward through the hole he had dug. The woman and the seven brothers hurried away from the den before the bear woke up and soon came to the place where Bear Lodge now stands. The bear woke up, found the trail of the Indians and started after them, taking all of the bears with him. When the bears reached Bear Lodge they all sat in a line but the leader stood out front and called "Let the woman come down." The brothers killed all the bears but the leader. He kept jumping and jumping high up against rock. His claws made the marks that are on the rock today. The bear kept jumping higher and higher and with each jump the youngest brother would shoot an arrow at the bear. On the fourth jump, the bear almost got up on the tower, then the young Indian shot his last arrow. It went into the top of the bear's head and came out below the jaw, and the bear fell dead. The youngest brother then made a noise like a bald eagle and four eagles came. They took hold of
the eagles and were carried down to the ground. The brothers built a large fire on top of the body of the bear and finally the bear was burned to ashes. After this there were a great many bears running around. The Indians killed all but two. The youngest brother told these two not to bother people anymore, and he cut off the ears and tails. This is why bears have short ears and no tails to this day.
Bear Lodge (Devil's Tower) is a place of great spiritual value to all the tribes of this area and some of their most sacred ceremonies take place during the month of June each year.
On July 4, 1893, with more than 1,000 spectators, William Rogers and Willard Ripley made the first ascent, using a wooden ladder they had built that spring for the first 350 feet. The tower became a Fourth of July meeting place for families from area ranches, who might not see each other but once a year. At the annual picnic in 1895, Mrs Rogers used her husband's ladder to become the first woman to reach the summit. Today it is a popular rock climbing destination
for people from all over the world. More than 220 routes have now been used in climbing the Tower. There is a hiking trail around the base of the Tower, which on the second day here we hiked. A voluntary climbing closure is in effect each June out of respect for American Indian beliefs.
There is a very nice campground on the grounds of the Tower where we stayed. The sites are large, are not close to one another and there is some beautiful scenery to look at. There are no facilities -- water, electricity, sewer -- (although there are several water spigots around the campground where you can get water if you have a way to transport it to your RV). Since we do have a generator, solar panels to charge our six batteries, and a 45 gallon water bag to transport water, we were able to stay for six nights. This area of Wyoming is very picturesque and every time we would take a ride we saw many prong horned antelope. Outside of the campground there is also a 40 acre black-tailed prairie dog village and it is very entertaining to watch them.
The weather was
cold, rainy, overcast and windy again much of the time we were here. I know one thing for sure, we will never travel this far north again this time of the year, although several people born and raised in South Dakota and now Wyoming have told us this is the worse spring in about 20 years. We decided to leave here on June 11, 2008 and head to Cody, Wyoming. However, we will drive only half way today and will spend the night in Buffalo, Wyoming.
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Carolyn Dave
Carolyn Plante
Love your Adventure - You go you two
Dee and Trish, Love your blog. We wish you all the best in your adventure as full-timers. We'll keep checking on your progress and will see you in Florida next winter. Stay safe - Carolyn and Dave