(image from Wikipedia)
Devil’s Tower in Wyoming rises above the forests and grasslands surrounding it. It was a special, sacred place for Native Americans and a landmark for pioneers heading west. It is fascinating to look at, and in 1906 it was made the first United States National Monument by President Theodore Roosevelt.
This large rock formation is a great structure of protruding igneous rock, meaning it was made from cooled magma (lava). Scientists still aren’t quite sure how the magma pushed up between the layers of sedimentary rocks and cooled. Some think it’s possible that Devil’s Tower is the plug of an ancient and extinct volcano. Over millions of years, the softer sedimentary layers around the hard igneous rock eroded away, leaving Devil’s Tower.
Native Americans held Devil’s Tower as a very special, spiritual place. There are many different legends about how it came to be, but they all center around a bear trying to attack someone and digging its claws into the rock as it raised out of the ground. That is the explanation for the large, parallel cracks traveling down the sides of Devil’s Tower.
The scientific explanation of the cracks in Devil’s Tower is less entertaining. The kind of magma that formed Devil’s tower takes up more space when it is hot. As it cools it shrinks down, and this shrinkage caused the cracks in Devil’s Tower.
Today Devil’s Tower is protected and visited by people from all over the country. Some experienced climbers have scaled its walls and seen the view from the top. This treacherous but lovely rock formation is even a home to swallows, rock doves, and chipmunks.
