To the Bear's Lodge

Our adventure continues eastward today with stops at Devils Tower National Monument before heading to Deadwood, South Dakota in the Black Hills.  Its 131 miles to Devils Tower and then 74 miles from there to Deadwood, about 3 1/2 hours of driving today.

Teddy Roosevelt

Devils Tower

President Theodore Roosevelt made Devils Tower the nation's first national monument in 1906.  Technically its a monolithic, igneous intrusion which basically means that its volcanic rock.  The magma created rock that was harder than the ground around it.  Over the years, the softer rock around it eroded away leaving only the hard rock.

Bear Claw Marks

The tower soars 1,267 ft above the surrounding terrain.  It has grooves along all of its sides.  The name Devils Tower (no apostrophe) came from someone misinterpreting the Indian name to mean Bad God Tower which later became Devils Tower.  The Indian folklore is more interesting.  The Indians call this Bear's Lodge.  The story is that six Lakota girls were picking flowers when they were attacked by bears.  The Great Spirit felt sorry for them and caused the ground around them to lift up so the bear could not get them.  The markings on the side of the tower are supposed to be markings left by the bear's claws as he tried to reach them.

We are not going to climb the tower, but if we are brave there is a hiking trail around it.

The tower was also made famous by the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

After visiting the tower we travel to Deadwood, South Dakota.  Historic Deadwood is an old mining town that is still as wild at heart as it was in the 1800s when the outlaws, gamblers and gunslingers ruled the streets.  Today the entire town is a National Historic Landmark.  Here we will walk in the footsteps of Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane and Seth Bullock.

There are now 80 gambling halls in the town which helps to bring in the tourists. We are staying at the Hampton Inn at the Four Aces Casino.