odditiesoflife:

The Legend of Devil’s Tower

Brought to international attention by the hugely popular movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Devils Tower in Wyoming has been a sacred place of numerous Indian tribes since prehistoric times. The Tower also seems to attract many UFOs that have been seen at its summit.

Various legends are told about the origin of the tower. One story concerns a group of seven small girls pursued by a giant bear. According to this legend, the girls were one day playing in the forest. A great bear came upon them and gave chase. Recognizing the hopelessness of their situation, the girls jumped upon a low rock and prayed loudly to the Great Spirit to save them. Immediately the small rock began to grow upwards, lifting the seven girls higher and higher into the sky. The angry bear jumped up against the sides of the growing tower and left deep claw marks. The tower continued to soar towards the sky until the girls were pushed up into the heavens, where they became the seven stars of the Pleiades.

Long an inspiration and attraction for nature lovers, mountain climbers, and UFO enthusiasts, Devil’s Tower was the first site to be named a National Monument in the United States. It received the honor in 1906, just seven years after the first recorded ascent of the mountain by William Rogers and W.L. Ripley in 1893.