The Devil's Tower (Devils Tower) is an amazing structure of nature. It is a lonely rock located in the northeast of Wyoming (USA), rising 386 meters above the surrounding area. From afar, the Devils Tower resembles a giant tree stump and is visible from a distance of 160 km. She served as a reference point for the first European settlers.
The Devil's Tower is truly impressive and surprising. It stands out sharply against the surrounding landscape, which has nothing like it nearby. The unusual shape of the rock and its relief with vertical grooves are amazing - as if from the bowels of the earth, like from a tube, they squeezed out molten stone, which froze in the form of a pillar.
The cliff top is amazing, unlike the usual mountain peaks and representing a platform similar to a huge oval stadium.
The Devil's Tower was formed from a magma melt that rose from the depths of the Earth and froze in the form of graceful columns. The Devils Tower is estimated to be between 225 and 195 million years old. The host rocks are represented by dark red sandstones, siltstones with shale interlayers.
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Naturally, there are other versions of its origin, both scientific and legendary. So, one of the Indian legends tells about girls playing in the forest, who were attacked by a giant bear. Trying to run away from him, the children climbed onto the stone, which began to grow, raising the girls higher and higher above the enraged beast. The bear tried to climb the rock, but he failed, and the traces of his claws remained on the rock. The mountain continued to grow until the girls were able to go to heaven, where they turned into the stars of the Pleiades. One of the Indian names of the mountain is associated with this myth - Mato Tipila (House of the Bear or Bear Den).
The national monument received its modern name by mistake. In 1875, during an expedition led by Colonel Richard Dodge, the translator misinterpreted the words of the Indians. As a result, the monument was first named the House of the Bad God, and later - the Tower of the Devil. In 2005, several Indian tribes proposed to rename the monolith to Bear Lodge, but their proposal was rejected.
In the XX century, the mystical theories of the origin of the rock were replaced by sci-fi. So, according to one of the versions, it is no coincidence that the top of the Devils Tower has a flat shape, because it is a site for UFO landings. And there were reasons for this, since, according to eyewitnesses, strange light phenomena were repeatedly noticed on the top of the cliff, and unidentified flying objects in its vicinity. This version was so popular that it was even embodied in Steven Spielberg's famous film "Close Encounters of the Third Degree".
It is not surprising that the Devil's Tower, as an outstanding geological phenomenon, has become a sacred place for the Aborigines, and therefore litigation between local authorities and Indians trying to restrict the access of tourists to the sacred mountain does not subside.
For a long time, the devil's rock was impregnable. The first time a local resident climbed it at the end of the 19th century. The feat was repeated only in 1938 by the climber Jack Durance. But the third conquest made a lot of noise.
The third conqueror of the devil's peak was an experienced skydiver, George Hopkins, who got up the mountain from above, jumping out of an airplane with a parachute in 1941. The landing was successful, but it turned out to be much more difficult to get out of there: the ropes that were thrown from the planes so that he could descend, fell past or became unusable from hitting stones. It was impossible to use a helicopter or an airship because of the bad weather conditions. The parachutist became a prisoner of the rock.
The news of this spread throughout America. Crowds of tourists and onlookers surrounded the Tower, and the captive star sprinkled witticisms on live radio. The most popular joke has become that he only lacks Eve, so that, if there is a flood below, give rise to a new branch of humanity. Soon, dozens of planes were circling in the air, dropping free food and equipment provided by manufacturing companies for advertising purposes on Hopkins. Tired of dodging falling objects, the parachutist on the radio began to beg to stop the bombing, especially since most of the objects still fell into the abyss.
Despite the abundance of food, in the rain and a piercing wind, forces quickly left the prisoner. To his horror, it also turned out that the impregnable smooth granite rock was inhabited by rats, which became more insolent every night. Hopkins' specially created rescue committee called in experienced climber Ernst Field and his partner Gorrell from Colorado for the rescue operation. But the climbers, after an hour of visual exploration and 3 hours of ascent, were forced to return and abandon further attempts. Field admitted: "We are too tough for this damn lump!"
It seemed incredible - professionals conquer peaks over 8000 m, but they are powerless in front of 390 m! The committee, through the press, began to look for Jack Durance, and only a day later he was found on the east coast in Dartmouth. A day later, he arrived and began preparations for the ascent along the old route, only known to him. Exactly at noon the assault began, and although the summit was clouded with fog, the climbers led by Durrance reached the summit and, on a climbing cradle, lowered the exhausted parachutist down. In total, Hopkins was a prisoner of the Tower for about a week.
In 1906, by order of President Theodore Roosevelt, the area around Devil's Tower became the first US national park, and the rock itself was declared a national monument. Several hundred thousand tourists visit the Tower every year. Several thousand of them go upstairs. Only climbers can do this.