USA's Mysterious place!!!
- FYI
- Aug 8, 2020
- 2 min read
Located at the northwest end of the Black Hills, Wyoming Slide, Devil’s tower, or Bears Lodge, might have grabbed your attention in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Declared as the US’s first national monument in 1906, the Devil’s tower has many theories & legends around its formation and existence.
Scientifically, one of the theory mentions that it was formed as a huge portion of igneous rock intruded through sedimentary rock beds but did not really reach the surface and created a bulge in the sedimentary layers on top. Whilst the other one states that it was created as magma or lava cooled, the hexagonal columns formed. As the columns continued to cool, vertical cracks developed as the columns shrank horizontally in volume. However, there are gold caves and mines in the area, and so the igneous nature of formation is unlikely.
Also, According to local legend in the area, two boys were lost as a gigantic bear chased them, the kids started praying to the gods and suddenly the ground emerged into the sky protecting children from the bear-like a shield. The bear on the other side, trying to get to them, clawed leaving scratch marks but failed to climb it. In the other version of 7 sisters, the girls turned into the stars and are known as the Big Dipper.
While these legends may just be folk tales, it still holds cultural importance to the tribes that have carried it down for decades. That is why many tribes refer to the monument not as Devil's Tower, but rather Bear's Lodge or Bear's Tipi.
American Indian tribes often leave a bunch of tiny colored clothes as this is a cultural and religious principal point for them & because of this cultural significance, voluntary rock climbing closure is carried out every June.
Even after all the research and all the folklore, there is not a single conclusion about the monument’s existence and formation.
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