{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_58587/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_58587","id":"gutenberg_58587","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58587","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - American","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Nature/Gardening/Animals","Category: Travel Writing","Devils Tower National Monument (Wyo.)"],"text":"Produced by Stephen Hutcheson and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                              Handbook 111\n                              Devils Tower\n\n\n                     Devils Tower National Monument\n                                Wyoming\n\n                            Produced by the\n                        Division of Publications\n                         National Park Service\n\n                    U.S. Department of the Interior\n                         Washington, D.C. 1984\n\n\n                   The National Park Handbook Series\n\nNational Park Handbooks, compact introductions to the great natural and\nhistoric places administered by the National Park Service, are designed\nto promote understanding and enjoyment of the parks. Each is intended to\nbe informative reading and a useful guide before, during, and after a\npark visit. More than 100 titles are in print. This is Handbook 111. You\nmay purchase the handbooks through the mail by writing to Superintendent\nof Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC 20402.\n\n\n                            About This Book\n\nDevils Tower National Monument is in the Black Hills of northeastern\nWyoming. The major attractions are the volcanic rock Tower and protected\nprairie dog communities. This handbook is published in support of the\nNational Park Service's management policies and interpretive programs at\nthe park. Part 1 of the handbook gives a brief introduction to the park\nand its history; Part 2 takes a close look at the area's natural history\nand, in particular, prairie dogs; and Part 3 presents concise travel\nguide and reference materials.\n\n\n           Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data\n\nMain entry under title:\n\n\n  Devils Tower\n  (National park handbook: 111)\n  Bibliography: p.\n  Includes index.\n  Supt. of docs. no.: I 29.9/5:111\n  1. Devils Tower National Monument (Wyo.)\n  I. United States. National Park Service. Division of Publications.\n  II. Series: Handbook (United States. National Park Service. Division\n          of Publications); 111.\n  F767.D47D48 978.7'13 81-607961\n      AACR2\n\n\n                                Contents\n\n  Part 1 Welcome to Devils Tower                                        4\n      Mateo Tepee                                                       9\n  Part 2 Taking a Closer Look                                          20\n      _By Greg Beaumont_\n      A Day at Devils Tower                                            22\n      Prairie Dogs: A Tight-Knit Society                               48\n  Part 3 Guide and Adviser                                             66\n      Regional Map                                                     68\n      Visiting the Park                                                69\n      Park Regulations                                                 71\n      Climbing the Tower                                               72\n      Nearby National Parks                                            74\n      Not So Nearby National Parks                                     76\n      Armchair Explorations                                            78\n  Index                                                                79\n\n\n\n\n                      1    Welcome to Devils Tower\n\n\n    [Illustration: _Rising nearly straight up from the plains, Devils\n    Tower accentuates the differences in the scale of life. The\n    snow-dusted, volcanic sentinel dwarfs the forest at its base._]\n\n    [Illustration: _Smaller still, and requiring our closer look in\n    different seasons, are butterflies, flowers, and, below, pine\n    seedlings._]\n\n    [Illustration: Pine seedlings.]\n\n\n                              Mateo Tepee\n\nDevils Tower rises dramatically and abruptly out of the Black Hills\nabove the Belle Fourche River in northeastern Wyoming. These Black Hills\nare an island in the Great Plains, the heart of the American West. The\naura of this West and of its history, folklore, and legend is a fondly\nnurtured American treasure. Never just The West, it is rather the Scenic\nWest, or the Old West, or the True West, and of course the Wild West.\nEach epithet suggests that no one can pay homage to the region without\nresorting to its curious mixture of the known and the unknown, of truth\nand myth. Here is a land of blue skies, magnificent rock formations, and\na clear, dry atmosphere that easily confuses and distorts your sense of\ndistance. It is a land of mountain views, long probing rivers, deserts,\nand high plains and space--great unfathomable oceans of space. The West\nis the archetypal outdoors whose recreation possibilities forever grip\nthe modern imagination.\n\nA trip to Devils Tower National Monument is a trip to Wyoming, a state\nfully proud of its Western traditions. Car license plates display the\nbucking bronco to advertise \"the land of the cowboy,\" a motif repeated\nin many public places and widely observed in the casual manner of its\npeople.\n\nA trip to Devils Tower is also a trip to the Black Hills, an island of\nlife rising out of the more arid Great Plains. Devils Tower sits on the\nBlack Hills' western fringe and is in fact the area's most remarkable\nlandmark. The Tower still evokes the mystery of this land where whites\nfeared to travel until as late as 1876, the year General George\nArmstrong Custer and his cavalry fought--and were annihilated--in the\nbattle of the Little Big Horn River in Montana. This last great victory\nof the Sioux and Cheyenne who refused reservation life made them hunted\noutlaws among whites. Their relatives on reservations soon gave away the\ntribal lands and with this went the Indians' last hope of remaining free\nto travel and hunt from their revered Black Hills base.\n\nTo speak of history in Wyoming is to speak of a mere hundred years.\nEvents in the settlement are so recent that many residents can recite\nthem as part of their family history. Before that are the oral histories\nof the Sioux, Cheyenne, Shoshone, Crow, and other tribes whose dates of\noccupation are but vaguely known.\n\nGold discoveries in today's South Dakota portion of the Black Hills\nforced the final clash with the plains tribes. Custer had confirmed gold\nreports and the pressure of the excited rush that followed broke the\ngovernment's earlier treaty resolve to preserve forever the Indians'\nsovereignty over the Black Hills.\n\nSettlers carrying American civilization to the West by the overland\nroute to California, Oregon Territory, and Mormon Utah then quickly\nflowed into this backwater area. As the frenzied furor over Black Hills\ngold diminished and mines and creeks played out, homesteaders settled on\nlands parceled out for ranches. Along the Belle Fourche River, where the\nplains Indian tribes had sometimes spent winters, a new era opened under\nthis brooding tower of rock called Mateo Tepee.\n\nPlace names in the West can be powerfully suggestive of history, but\nthey can also be very unreliable; Devils Tower for instance. To the\nIndians this singular occurrence of dramatically upthrust rock marked\nthe dwelling place of bears, hence Mateo Tepee or \"Bear Lodge.\" Their\nstories told of lost youngsters who were chased by a giant bear and\nclimbed on top of a rock in a last desperate effort to save themselves.\nThe children appealed to the spirits and the rock grew up out of the\nground to lift the children out of the giant bear's reach. Versions of\nthis story belong to different tribes, but most have in common the\nbear's futile attempt to claw its way to the top. This clawing left\npermanent grooves on the Tower.\n\nColonel Richard I. Dodge apparently had not heard these stories when he\nentered the Black Hills in 1875. In charge of a large military escort to\na scientific team, he came in violation of Indian treaty rights after\nCuster's 1874 expedition which had reported gold. Dodge noted that his\nquestions to the Indians about this \"terra incognita\" known as the Black\nHills were met with \"studied silence.\" This only heightened a true\nexplorer's curiosity. Perhaps the Indian scouts affected a calculated\nsilence, hoping the whites would leave. When the great rock tower first\nloomed in sight, they told Dodge it was named, \"with proper modification\nby our surveyors,\" the Devils Tower. In later years few could recall why\nthis name was used.\n\nIf it was meant to scare off these white explorers and those to follow,\nit did not. The new wave of American settlers did not believe that\nnatural objects held supernatural powers. No matter how awesome or\nunusual, science had an explanation for everything in nature, or would\neventually. Devils Tower was determined to be the core of an ancient\nvolcano, an obelisk of volcanic trachyte, with sides so straight that\none \"could only look upward in despair of ever planting his feet on the\ntop,\" as one geologist in Dodge's expedition put it.\n\nThe desire to conquer and tame nature, the view that men could use up\nnatural things and discard them without asking the spirits, differed\ngreatly from Indian concepts. While the tools and equipment of an\nadvanced civilization could not be resisted, the explanation white men\ngave for their world could never satisfy the Indians. How uncomfortable\nit must have been for them when they were asked to relate their tribal\nstories of places such as Mateo Tepee, about which there could be no\n\"proof!\" One day a man would find a way to plant his feet on top of\nDevils Tower, and it would be hailed as a personal feat of strength and\ndaring having nothing to do with the spirit of the bear that dwelt\nwithin his lodge.\n\nIn the 20-year period after the opening of the Black Hills, cowmen and\nsheepherders discovered the hilly prairies and spacious grasslands that\nspread from the Belle Fourche River as far west as the Big Horn\nMountains. Cattle trailed up from Texas flourished into great herds that\nfreely roamed the open range. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad\nextended its line from Nebraska northwestward to Gillette, which quickly\nbecame the system's largest shipping point. As many as 12,000 beef\ncattle and 40,000 head of sheep at a time waited at the railroad to be\nsent to eastern meatpackers. Wyoming became a state in 1890, its history\nalready indelibly colored by the cowboy lifestyle and territorial range\nfeuds.\n\nCowboy songs and stories of Western American folklore often mentioned\nthe Belle Fourche River. The first ranchers to settle along it\nestablished small-scale cattle outfits centered about Hulett within\nsight of Devils Tower. These early-day settlers may not have revered the\nTower as the Indians did, but neither were they disposed to see it\nexploited for private gain. There was enough feeling to cause Wyoming's\nSenator Francis E. Warren to introduce into the U.S. Senate in July of\n1892 a bill to establish Devils Tower National Park. Congressional\nsupport for the bill fizzled, but the General Land Office in Washington\nhad already withdrawn from settlement several sections of land adjoining\nthe Tower and the Little Missouri Buttes to the northwest. Protection of\nDevils Tower was at least temporarily assured.\n\nThe same year the park bill failed, two men now famous in the history of\nthe West traveled to Devils Tower hoping against hope like any other\ntourists that it would match their own expectations. Photographer\nWilliam H. Jackson had been commissioned by the State of Wyoming to\nphotograph the State's scenic attractions for the World's Columbian\nExposition the next year in Chicago. With him traveled a friend, the\nlandscape painter Thomas Moran. Their round trip from the railhead at\nGillette, by horse-drawn wagon lasted four days. Moran described the\nadventure in a magazine article illustrated by his drawings, and a\nJackson photo of the Tower ended up in Chicago. In their one afternoon\nthere, they had produced the first widely known visual records of Devils\nTower.\n\nJackson and Moran's unceremonious visit to the Tower in 1892 was\nundoubtedly forgotten in the rush of excitement the next year.\nHomesteaders, ranchers, and cowhands and their families flocked in\nunusual numbers to celebrate Independence Day at Devils Tower. Handbills\ncalled the Tower one of the greatest natural wonders in the United\nStates and announced that \"the rarest sight of a lifetime\" would be\nobserved at the festivities. The news obviously spread far, for more\nthan 1,000 people made the trip.\n\nThe ballyhoo surrounded William Rogers. A local cowboy, he became, as\nfar as anybody knew, the first human being to set foot on top of the\nTower. He and a climbing partner, Willard Ripley, made the ascent by way\nof a wooden ladder they had worked on all that spring for the first 107\nmeters (350 feet) of the Tower. Those who knew the tall and raw-boned\nRogers said he was never afraid of man or devil. After ceremonies on the\nground, he and Ripley scrambled over the boulder field and started up\nthe ladder with the cheers of the crowd presumably ringing in their\nears. The climb took only an hour, the riskiest part of the business\nhaving been accomplished in the days preceding the event.\n\n    [Illustration: _While the Tower draws our eyes upward, playful\n    prairie dogs invite us to look downward--to their burrows on the\n    level grassland between the Tower and the Belle Fourche River._]\n\n    [Illustration: _These communal animals are forever on the alert\n    against such predators as the screech owl._]\n\n    [Illustration: _William Rogers, above right, relaxes at the Tower\n    with his wife, stepdaughter, and dog. Rogers and Willard Ripley, the\n    first persons to climb to the summit, had driven wooden pegs into a\n    vertical crack between two columns on the southeast side and\n    connected the outer edge of the pegs with a wooden strip. Mrs.\n    Rogers used the ladder exactly two years later to become the first\n    woman to reach the top. The last to use it, in 1927, was Babe White,\n    who was known for his exploits climbing city skyscrapers. Remnants\n    of the ladder can still be seen today._]\n\n    [Illustration: _The handbill for the first ascent, on July 4, 1893,\n    touted the event as better than the World's Fair._]\n\n\n\n\n                             DEVIL'S TOWER\n\n\n       _ONE OF THE_ GREATEST NATURAL WONDERS of the UNITED STATES\n\n                             _Situated in_\n                         CROOK COUNTY, WYOMING.\n\nThe Devil's Tower is a perpendicular column of rock and no human being\nhas ever stepped on its top.\n\nOn July 4th, 1893, Old Glory will be hung to the breeze from the top of\nthe Tower, 800 feet from the ground by Wm. Rogers.\n\n_The committee and citizens of Crook County have organized the July 4th\nprogramme._\n\n                               SPEAKERS:\n\n                  Hon. N. K. Griggs.    Beatrice, Neb.\n               Col. Wm. R. Steele.    Deadwood, So. Dak.\n Presentation of costume to Mr. Rogers by ladies of Deadwood, So. Dak.\nPresentation of Flag to be floated on the Tower by ladies of Spearfish,\n                                So. Dak.\n\n                          Marshal of the Day:\n\n               E. B. Armstrong.    Sheriff, Crook County\n\n                            Aids to Marshal:\n\n                       Chas. Williams,    Hulett.\n                       Harry Stevens,    Barrett.\n                        John Mahnken,    Eothen.\n                         Ed. Ludlow,    Beulah.\n                   Wm. H. Southerland,    Riverdale.\n                       Emd Krouse,    Inyan Kara.\n                      Mead Fish,    Black Buttes.\n                    R. Williams,    Williams Divide.\n                         E. L. Burke,    Tower.\n                        Ed. Fitch,    Gillette.\n                      Leroy Salisbury,    Linden.\n                         Tom Nefsy,    Linden.\n                         A. S. Bender,    Alva.\n\n        _THERE WILL BE PLENTY TO EAT AND DRINK ON THE GROUNDS._\n                   LOTS OF HAY AND GRAIN FOR HORSES.\n                         Dancing day and night.\n\nPerfect order will be maintained. The rarest sight of a life time will\nbe observed, and the 4th of July will be better spent at the Devil's\nTower than at the World's Fair.\n\n                  BY ORDER OF Crook County Committee.\n\n    [Illustration: _Parachutist George Hopkins, top second from left,\n    and Superintendent Newell F. Joyner are interviewed by a Denver\n    radio announcer on October 6, 1941, after Hopkins was rescued from\n    the top, where he had spent six days._]\n\n    [Illustration: _Jan Conn and Joan Showacre were members of the first\n    all-woman party to climb the Tower, in 1952. Fritz Wiessner in 1937\n    and Jack Durrance in 1938 pioneered two of the first technical\n    climbing routes. In 1948 Jan Conn climbed to the top with her\n    husband, Herb._]\n\nWhen they reached the top, Rogers and Ripley strung up Old Glory from a\nflagpole they had somehow already managed to carry to the top! It was a\nspectacle in which many in the crowd below could claim a part. Muslin\nfor the oversized flag apparently was purchased in Sundance, Wyoming,\nwhere it was painted and sewn together by a committee of boosters.\nSomeone, it is said, had tailored a patriotic climbing suit of red,\nwhite, and blue that was presented to Rogers at ceremonies before the\nclimb.\n\nRanchers who witnessed the event said that while Rogers may indeed have\nrisked his neck on the Tower, he reaped an entrepreneurial bonanza\nafterwards. During the daylong merriment and the dancing that evening,\nhis wife and his partner's wife ran the only refreshment stand. The\nflag, which had blown down, was cut up and sold for souvenirs, and the\nladies made a small fortune. Perhaps the boast of the handbill published\nthat year by the Crook County Commissioners was true: It was possible to\nhave a better time at Devils Tower that summer than in Chicago at the\nWorld's Fair.\n\nRogers and Ripley raised a public spectacle perhaps not equalled until\nthe caper of \"Devils Tower George\" Hopkins, the subject of a 1941\nTower-top rescue mission by alpinist Jack Durrance. Hopkins parachuted\nto the top and was stranded, keeping millions of newspaper readers in\nsuspense over his fate atop the isolated rock monument few had ever\nseen. Durrance rescued his man five days later. Devils Tower again\nloomed in the national imagination, with the screening of the film\n\"Close Encounters of the Third Kind.\" And in 1979 a televised sports\nshow featured George Willig, the \"human fly,\" whose climbing antics were\nbeamed nationwide via space satellite. As we entered the decade of the\n1980s the number of registered climbs of Devils Tower surpassed the\n10,000 mark. But that's jumping ahead too quickly in the chronology of\nthis story.\n\nAt the turn of the century, the Tower became a natural meeting place for\npeople who might see each other but once a summer at a Fourth of July\ncelebration. Oldtimers recall that a small, rough-cut wooden platform\nserved as a dance floor; the merry-go-round had seats for four children\nat most; and the home-grown orator read the Declaration of Independence.\nThe affairs were fun and lasted for days. People camped at the Tower,\nand sometimes those who came across the river from the east were\nstranded by a quick summer flood.\n\nIn time, the harshness of the frontier softened a bit. Towns and cities\nreplaced crude settlements and provided secure bases from which to look\nout at the wonders of the land. The newly arrived settlers made the West\ntheir own. And, to compress time and events into a few words, some\npeople began to think about protecting some of the uniqueness of the\nWest.\n\nThe National Park System owes its existence to this dawning of a\nconservation ethic in the late 19th century. Yellowstone, in\nnorthwestern Wyoming, became the first national park in 1872. A few\nother tracts were set aside as parks in subsequent years, but the\npreservation movement surged in 1906, when Congress passed the\nAntiquities Act. The President now had the authority to create national\nmonuments. Not only scenery was to remain unspoiled in these monuments,\nbut also priceless Indian ruins, pottery, and projectiles and other\nobjects of antiquity were to be protected from looting collectors.\nPresident Theodore Roosevelt made conservation a national goal and used\nthe Antiquities Act to proclaim the first eighteen national monuments.\nDevils Tower National Monument became the first, created on September\n24, 1906, giving Wyoming both the first national park and the first\nnational monument.\n\n    [Illustration: _Light and shadows constantly play upon the Tower's\n    splintered, many-sided columns._]\n\nThe next campaign was for money to build a bridge over the Belle Fourche\nRiver. By 1916, when the local families gathered at the Tower for\nanother July Fourth picnic, it seemed that Congress would never\nappropriate money to turn the place into a proper public resort. A\npetition to Wyoming's Congressman Frank W. Mondell complaining about\nwashed out trails and difficult access to the Tower was circulated among\nthe 1916 picnickers and may have done some good. The next year, the\nnewly created National Park Service directed the building of an entrance\nroad, soon to be improved again for auto traffic. By the end of the\n1920s Wyoming's participation in the national enthusiasm for highway\nconstruction was showing results. Old pathways followed by the Sioux,\nlater broadened for buckboard wagon and stagecoach, were now graded and\noiled for motorcars. A trip to the West was no longer an expedition of\nmonths: cross-country motoring had arrived.\n\n    [Illustration: _An aerial view discloses the tear-drop shape of the\n    top and the extent of the Great Plains around the Tower._]\n\nThrough the Depression years from 1931 to 1941 the number of tourists,\nvacationers, and sightseers tripled at Devils Tower. And in the\nmeantime, an army of unemployed laborers and artisans, organized as the\nCivilian Conservation Corps, applied themselves to public works projects\nthroughout the country. At last the park received the attention its\nadmirers said it deserved. CCC workers built new roads over an access\nbridge only a few years old. Overnight campgrounds were landscaped and\npicnic areas were provided with tables and benches. Formal walking\ntrails were made for orderly hiking excursions around the base of the\nTower. Water and electrical systems were installed, and in 1935 a museum\nwas built out of rough-hewn logs. The museum, filled with exhibits,\nstill stands at the foot of Tower Trail and serves as a summer visitor\ncenter, book sales outlet, and registration office for climbers.\n\nAsk the average traveler to Devils Tower for his or her impressions and\ninvariably two things come to mind, or, more properly, stand tall. One\nis the immutable, immobile Tower; the other is the animated, lively\nprairie dog. The national monument has become one of several reserves\nfor this beleaguered plains inhabitant, whose communal lifestyle is\nprofiled in Part 2 of this handbook. Like the Tower, it is misnamed, but\nso fixed is it in our minds and experience that it will likely always\nremain so. Subjected to eradication campaigns throughout the plains area\nbecause of conflicts with livestock enterprises, these otherwise\npersonable rodents are protected here at Devils Tower National Monument.\n\nThe visitor conveniences that were so long in coming to Devils Tower are\nnow enjoyed by nearly 300,000 persons every year. They come for\nmid-June's display of wildflowers, or mid-September's fall colors. They\ncome to challenge themselves in the tradition of William Rogers and\nWillard Ripley. They come to watch the prairie dogs bustle about in\nnear-parody of our own busyness. But most of all the Tower inspires a\nswing-by on the way east or west, prompting some travelers to tarry for\na day or two on this pleasant plainsland.\n\n\n\n\n                       2    Taking a Closer Look\n\n\n                            By Greg Beaumont\n\n    [Illustration: _The Belle Fourche River meanders through\n    northeastern Wyoming, exposing red banks of clay. It crosses the\n    southeastern corner of Devils Tower National Monument near the\n    entrance road._]\n\n\n                         A Day at Devils Tower\n\nPouring a mug of boiled coffee, I wait for the sun to make its\nappearance. The cup steams in the damp, cool morning air. Shivering, I\npress both hands to the heat the thick porcelain holds.\n\nThe sky begins to purple, and stars dim perceptibly. Through the\ncampground cottonwoods, the immense, shadow-black bulk of the Tower\nmaterializes against the sky. It is possible now to discern the flight\nof bats overhead. But, in an instant, their swirling, night-long ballet\nvanishes with the darkness.\n\nFrom my campsite along the Belle Fourche--this narrow, meandering river\nthe French fur trappers named \"the beautiful branch\"--I listen to the\nfirst sounds of the day. Across the river a great horned owl protests\nthe morning's swift advance. Coming through the veil of river fog, its\nhaunting, pervasive _hoo-hoo-hoooo_ is enough to freeze the blood of\ncottontails.\n\nEven before the first hint of light, robins had begun to sing softly. In\nthese unhurried morning songs they prove themselves thrushes. With the\nincreasing light, the growing blend of wren, vireo, and thrasher music\nintensifies. These soft phrasings soon quicken into proclamations of\nterritory, and meadowlarks, mourning doves, and yellowthroats compete\nacross thicket, river, and meadow, their singing seemingly sharpened for\ndistance and authority.\n\nNearby, a cottontail grazes on the dew-bent grass. It pauses\noccasionally, pointing its ears and working its nostrils in my\ndirection. Three whitetail deer continue their cautious single-file\napproach, heading from the river bottom toward the higher ground of the\nprairie dog town. Crossing the campground, they repeatedly stop to\ninspect their surroundings. A log snaps and whistles in my fire,\nbringing their heads about in immediate, almost mechanical unison.\nDeliberately the lead animal lifts its tail to expose its white, silent\nsignal of danger, and all three step smartly away as if in time to a\nfast metronome.\n\nDirect sunlight spotlights the Tower. As though to challenge the sudden\nappearance of a gigantic, equally yellow competitor, a meadowlark takes\nwing, singing its loud, clear claim over the prairie dog town. Dawn is\nannounced, the day begun.\n\nThe level rays of the sun accentuate the Tower's vertical polygonal\ncolumns. The stark contrast of light and shadow imparted by the graceful\ntaperings of the soaring, many-sided columns give the Tower a man-made\nlook. In this light it resembles the ruin of a stupendous ancient\ntemple, not the casual result of some remote geological event.\n\nSipping the strong coffee, I wonder at the long procession of vanished\nIndian societies that camped and hunted here periodically through the\ncenturies. These ancient peoples devised various stories to explain such\nan unusual landmark. And yet what science now says about the creation of\nDevils Tower would have seemed to those tribes as fantastic as their\nlegends of a gargantuan bear gouging the rock seem to us today. Minor\nuncertainties remain, but geologists have pieced together a rough\npicture of the Tower's probable origin. Some 60 million years ago, great\nEarth stresses began to deform the crust of the continent, resulting in\nthe uplifting of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region. As the\nsurface rock layers began to crumple and fault, magma from deep inside\nthe Earth welled up into many of the resulting gaps and fissures. In\nmany places on the continent, spectacular volcanoes formed, erupting\nwith explosive force.\n\nAs the Rockies were being created, the climate of the continent's\ninterior began to change. The long reign of the dinosaurs that had\npresided over a stable, tropical landscape was coming to an end. The\nclimate was gradually becoming cooler and drier. Doubtless the immense\nvolumes of volcanic ash ejected into the atmosphere prevented a\npercentage of solar heat from reaching the Earth. Certainly the rise of\nthe Rocky Mountains to the west influenced the old weather patterns. As\nthe mountain blocks rose higher, they intercepted the warm, moist winds\nthat blew inland from the Pacific. With the air masses rising ever\nhigher, more and more of the moisture that had watered the extensive\ninland Cretaceous forests and swamplands was prevented from reaching\nwhat we know today as the Great Plains.\n\nSteadily the forests retreated eastward as the \"rain shadow\" cast by the\nmountains extended eastward, shutting off the moist, warm Pacific winds.\nNo longer moderated by these winds, the mid-continent was increasingly\nopened to seasonal invasions of northern arctic air. Newer ecosystems,\nsuch as deserts and grasslands, slowly evolved to replace the lush\nforests and swamps that had for so long sustained the dinosaurs. Just as\ndrought, fire, and temperature extremes began to alter the old order in\nthe plant kingdom, so did the more adaptable mammals and birds begin to\nreplace reptiles as dominant animal forms.\n\n    [Illustration: _Both the Kiowa and Cheyenne Indians held similar\n    legends on the origin of the Tower. The story goes that tribal\n    members were surprised by a gigantic bear, and their incantations\n    caused a low, flat rock to rise, lifting them above the reach of the\n    bear. The massive beast then gouged huge vertical marks into the\n    rock as it attempted to reach the people. Finally, the Indians were\n    able to kill the bear._]\n\nBut not all the magma that welled upward during this restless period\nreached the Earth's surface. Extensive masses were trapped far below the\nsurface, where they gradually cooled and congealed. The Missouri Buttes\nand Devils Tower, however, are believed to be necks of extinct\nvolcanoes. Geologic evidence indicates the Missouri Buttes formed first\nin two separate eruptions. The magma hardened, plugging the plumbing\nunderneath. A third eruption to the southeast resulted in Devils Tower.\n\nDuring the ensuing tens of millions of years, the gradual erosion of the\noverlying rock strata revealed these intruded plugs of volcanic rock.\nSince this dense, hard igneous rock resists erosion much better than the\nsurrounding sedimentary rock, these formations will continue to stand\nout as features.\n\nThat ancient land of sedimentary rock through which the molten mass of\nDevils Tower penetrated may at one time have been as high as the golden\neagle I now see drifting high above the Tower. Circling slowly in its\nmorning hunt, the eagle spirals upward on the currents of warm air\nrising off the sun-heated rock. Perhaps it now soars at the elevation of\nthe land long ago when the heavy, ringing-hard rock of Devils Tower\noozed like paste far below the surface.\n\nToday the top of the Tower is 386 meters (1,267 feet) above the Belle\nFourche River. If that warm, Cretaceous landscape rested 600 meters\n(2,000 feet) above the present summit of the Tower, then more than 900\nvertical meters (3,000 feet) of sedimentary rock has been pared away in\nthe last 60 million years.\n\nThe relentless physical agents of erosion--running water, wind, and\nfrost action--together with chemical breakdown of rock particles,\ncontinue to alter the landform. Given enough time, even the very hard\nrock of the Tower itself will waste away.\n\nSixty million years ago, when dinosaurs _Triceratops_ and _Tyrannosaurus\nRex_ duelled beside the lush river banks of the predecessor of the Belle\nFourche, the ancestor of the golden eagle was flying overhead. Millions\nof years hence, a descendant of the eagle might soar above this same\nWyoming landscape. Missing will be the unique shaft of fluted rock we\ncall Devils Tower. And what of the men, who for a mere eyeblink of time,\nhunted in its shadow or came to wonder at its somber countenance in the\nmorning sun?\n\n\n                      The Tower's Geological Story\n\n    [Illustration: About 60 million years ago, in early Tertiary times,\n    a mass of molten magma forced its way upward through the relatively\n    level layers of red, yellow, green, and gray Jurassic sedimentary\n    rocks that make up northeastern Wyoming. The mass cooled into a\n    hard, igneous rock called phonolite porphyry. An earlier flow of\n    magma occurred about 6.5 kilometers (4 miles) to the northwest.]\n\n    [Illustration: As millions of years went by, the soft sedimentary\n    rocks were eroded, exposing what eventually became known as Devils\n    Tower and the Little Missouri Buttes. The erosion process continued,\n    baring more and more of the dense, gray rock. Apparently, as the\n    magma cooled, the rock contracted and fractured into columns of 4,\n    5, 6, or more sides. The larger columns are 2.5 meters (8 feet) in\n    diameter at their base and taper to about 1.2 meters (4 feet) at the\n    top.]\n\n    [Illustration: Today the Tower rises 264 meters (867 feet) from its\n    base to an elevation of 1,560 meters (5,117 feet). The top is 386\n    meters (1,267 feet) above the Belle Fourche River at the entrance\n    road. The tear-drop shaped top measures 91 meters (300 feet) from\n    north to south and 55 meters (180 feet) from west to east. The sides\n    rise almost vertically from the base for 12 to 30 meters (40 to 100\n    feet) to a narrow bench, from which they again rise steeply to the\n    summit.]\n\nA _thwack_ of an ax against wood puts an end to my daydreaming. My\ncompanion the cottontail hops for cover. The pair of magpies that have\nbeen feeding on the remains of a road-killed ground squirrel flash\nupward to safety. The gradual awakening of campground life inspires\nwoodpeckers to hammer in the cottonwoods, and a yellow-breasted chat\nadds its odd jibber to the collected noise.\n\nGathering up knapsack and camera. I start my hike to the Tower. Already\nthe sash of river fog has lifted and the air warmed to shirtsleeve\ncomfort. From somewhere on the red cliffs that gown the Tower's base,\nthe faint singing of a rock wren beckons. Ahead lie 13 kilometers (8\nmiles) of trail, looping through a mosaic of sights, sounds, and smells\nof grassland, pine forest, woodland, and river.\n\n\n                      From Dog Town to Ant Colony\n\nLeaving the campground, I follow the trail that leads through the\nprairie dog town. The prairie dogs stand upright as I approach. The ones\nnearest the path begin their warning call, a monotonous\n\"_churk-churk-churk-churk_.\" The closer an intruder comes, the lower the\nanimals sink into their holes, and the faster and shriller the chant\nbecomes. Finally, with a last flick of its nervously twitching tail,\neach disappears into the safety of its burrow.\n\nPrairie dogs, like the bison that once shared their vast range, are now\nreduced to remnant populations. Two hundred years ago, there were\nbillions of prairie dogs on the shortgrass plains; these large ground\nsquirrels had successfully adapted themselves to the harsh conditions.\nPerfect digging machines, they escape most predators and the extremes of\nthe weather by spending more than half their lives underground.\n\nThe prairie dogs near the road do not even bother to sound a warning as\nI approach. They seem to be different creatures from the wild,\nsuspicious animals farther from the road. Laconic and fat from handouts,\nmore curious than cautious, they approach rather than retreat. These\nanimals are easier targets for the redtail hawk that is screaming above\nthe river timber, or the golden eagle that sails high overhead.\n\nAcross the road, the trail leaves the grassland of the prairie dogs and\nclimbs steeply among ponderosa pines. Already the sun grows hot. At the\nedge of the forest, I stop to rest and survey the landscape before me.\nSpread out below, and now shimmering with sundance heat, the\nbuff-colored dog town stands out in stark contrast with its darker,\ngreener surroundings.\n\nAlthough I sit only 30 meters (100 feet) or so above the dog town, I am\nstruck by what my vantage point reveals: a clear patchwork of life\ncommunities. The loop of the Belle Fourche and the June-bright leaves of\nthe deciduous trees lining its course provide a bright counterpart to\nthe somber, pine-scattered ridge beyond. Just a short distance away the\nponderosas appear more black than green. It was just such a quality that\ngave the distant, pine-covered mountain range to the east the name\n_Black_ Hills.\n\nFrom where I sit, the lobe of the level bench of land that juts into the\nriver looks as if it were graded and maintained by man, for its\nclose-cropped vegetation contrasts greatly with the rugged ridge beyond.\nBut this old floodplain was graded level by the river, and prairie dogs,\nnot machines, clip the vegetation.\n\nThis small area of grassland, sandwiched between the base of the Tower\nand the encircling river, supports a surprising amount of life. Yet from\nall appearances, it would seem as if the multitude of prairie dogs would\nsoon denude their patch of land and die of starvation. In contrast to\nthe surrounding territory, the vegetation of the dog town appears\nexhausted.\n\nIndeed, today's empty plains give few hints of what a crowded stage the\nshortgrass plains once was. Before the coming of the white man, the\ngrasslands teemed with bison, pronghorn, wapiti--named buffalo,\nantelope, and elk respectively by European settlers--and sprawling towns\nof prairie dogs. Astounded early observers, accustomed to the lush flora\nof the eastern woodlands, could not imagine how so many animals could\nsurvive in such a parched-looking land.\n\nThe secret is the grass itself. Whether tinder dry in midsummer or dead\nin winter, the grass blades remain highly nutritious. Grass plants can\nwithstand repeated grazing and fires since new growth progresses from\nthe stem joints rather than from the tips.\n\n                                                   _continues on page 32_\n\n\n                      A Glimpse of Life on the Top\n\n    [Illustration: Photographer Galen Rowell and writer Dennis Hanson\n    decided to climb the Tower in October 1978 to find out for\n    themselves what's up there. After a strenuous five-hour climb,\n    interrupted by occasional clouds of rock doves (below), they reached\n    the top and found the surface is not as flat as it appears from down\n    below or even from an airplane. Besides grasses, they found\n    sagebrush, currant, and prickly pear cactus (below). As they were\n    cooking dinner, a wood rat (below) joined them, nibbling at their\n    food packets, peering into a pot, and nosing about their climbing\n    gear. They also saw chipmunks and plenty of birds (See pages 44-45,\n    60-61), but, perhaps because of the coolness of October, they did\n    not see any rattlesnakes, which others have found there sometimes.\n    How did the animals get to the top? Some people have speculated that\n    they were dropped by predatory birds, but that is questionable: they\n    probably would have been killed by the birds' talons or by the\n    plunge to the surface. More than likely they just climbed up the\n    Tower's sides and took up residence. Many climbers, of the human\n    sort, have reported seeing snakes and rodents working their way up\n    fissures.]\n\n    [Illustration: What's on top of the Tower? Most climbers report that\n    the summit is similar to the surrounding landscape. Grasses cover\n    much of the rocky surface, but better than that, a few snakes and\n    mammals live there!]\n\n    [Illustration: Wood rat.]\n\n    [Illustration: Prickly pear cactus.]\n\n    [Illustration: Rock doves.]\n\nIn addition, most plains animals contend with the semi-arid conditions\nof their environment by making efficient use of available moisture.\nPronghorn, prairie dogs, and kangaroo rats, for example, need never take\na drink since they obtain necessary water from the plants they eat. Such\nplant and animal adaptations explain why the shortgrass plains can\nsustain such a vast panorama of life.\n\nFrom a tall pine upslope, a red squirrel chatters with indignation at\ndiscovering my intrusion into its domain. The bell-like song of a rock\nwren answers from an outcrop nearby. The small gray bird appears atop a\nboulder, motionless but for an instant, then hops down to resume its\nsearch for insects among the bright, arid cliffs it claims for its own.\n\nI realize that I am seeing more than scenery here. All around me are\nboundaries--conspicuous where defined by plants, but invisible where\nrespected by animals. No prairie dog has ever traveled across this\nslope, and no red squirrel has ever scurried into the treeless expanse\nof the prairie dog town. On no occasion would a rock wren enter the deep\npine forest. Should its food supply somehow vanish, it would perish\namong the bare earth and gully washes of its own habitat rather than\nhunt the dog town or forest floor.\n\nEach animal species is adapted to the conditions of its preferred\nenvironment. The prairie dog and red squirrel have similar roles in\ntheir respective habitats, as do the meadowlark in the grassland, the\nhouse wren in the deciduous woodlands, the rock wren on barren slopes,\nand the brilliant western tanager of the pine forests that is calling\n\"_pit-ik, pit-ik, pit-ik_\" from a branch overhead.\n\nWhether herbivore, carnivore, scavenger, or decomposer, all of the\ncountless, magnificently varied life-forms of each community share in\nthe endless flow of chemical energy that originates with the touch of\nsun on chlorophyll. Eagle, prairie dog, bacterium, man--we all owe our\nlives, directly or indirectly, to the green leaf's unique ability to\nconvert light energy into chemical energy.\n\nSo does this colony of black ants foraging near my feet. Back and forth\nthe living lines run, each individual obeying its ancient, perfected\nlegacy of instinct. One carries aloft the bright green corpse of a\nlacewing. With a little last-minute help from fellow workers, the ant\ncarries its burden down into the nest hole. With its powerful jaws,\nanother ant tugs the brittle remains of a once formidable foe--a jumping\nspider. So intent is the ant in its labor, it fails to avoid a deadly\ntrap, however. In the soft ground along the margins of the trail is a\ncraterfield of funnel-shaped pits. At the bottom of each, hidden just\nbelow the soil, waits quick death in the form of jaws even stronger than\nthe ant's. These insects, called antlions, are the larval stages of the\nequally voracious tiger-beetle.\n\nHaving tipped its load over the rim of the funnel, the ant disengages\nitself and attempts to crawl up the incline and get to the other side of\nthe spider to pull it out again. But the loose soil particles offer\nlittle traction and the ant begins to slip. Frantic, it works its legs\nfaster, making it slide downward more quickly. Alerted now by vibrations\nfrom the struggling insect, a hidden antlion waits its moment to strike.\nWhen the ant touches bottom, the hooked jaws appear, snapping once,\ntwice, and finally closing shut about the thorax of its prey.\n\nIn a moment, all is over, the ant dragged beneath the soil at the bottom\nof the crater. The corpse of the spider, part way down the incline, is\noccasionally investigated by other passing ants. But the ants at the lip\nof the trap seem to sense the danger and leave the stranded prize alone.\nOther antlions, at the bottom of their expertly engineered traps, lie\nhidden from the passing parade of life above. Obeying their own instinct\nmessages, they need only wait to survive.\n\nA disturbance in the dog town starts the animals to barking and\nscurrying in every direction toward their burrows. Two figures from the\ncampground have appeared up the incline. Their determined stride and the\ncoils of rope at their shoulders suggest that the Tower's summit may\nwell be explored again today.\n\nAlready tall cumulus clouds, the beginnings of thunderheads, are\nbuilding along the eastern horizon. A gust of hot air from the sun-baked\nground below rushes into the pines, making the branches whizz into\nmotion. A pine cone bounds against rock, setting the red squirrel to\nchattering again. I head for the Tower Trail, leaving behind the ant\ncolony's ordered turbulence and the view of the deserted dog town\ndancing in the sun.\n\n\n                           Eye of the Falcon\n\nAt the juncture with the Red Beds Trail, I decide to follow the longer\ncircuit of the Tower. The higher, shorter Tower Trail, which bracelets\nthe rock-strewn base, can be picked up at the Visitor Center, where this\ntrail ends. Folding the map, I hear the climbers approach.\n\n\"Good morning.\"\n\nThe girl's smile does not soften the concentrated expression all\nclimbers wear before ascent.\n\n\"Which way are you going?\" I ask, trying to conceal my lack of knowledge\nabout any of the routes and knowing full well I would never venture what\nthey are about to do.\n\n\"Left arm of the south face this time,\" says the man. He obviously does\nnot desire the delay of conversation but does volunteer that he had made\nseveral climbs the summer he worked here.\n\nI hold them with another question: is there anything interesting on top?\n\n\"Terrific view. Grass on the summit; lots of chipmunks; once a\nrattlesnake was sighted. Well, we better get moving.\"\n\n\"Good luck,\" I call after them. The expression seems a lame wish for\nrock climbers. Soon they are brightly clad specks weaving through the\ntrees. Looking up at the summit that towers above them, I wonder how a\nchipmunk or snake could have possibly gotten there--perhaps only by\nescaping the talons of an eagle or hawk. But could that happen?\n\nMore than 1,000 ascents of Devils Tower are now made each year. The\nalmost casual manner in which experienced climbers regard the\nstructure--often scaling it to keep in shape for \"difficult\"\nclimbs--would have astounded early explorers, who regarded it as\nunscalable.\n\nShrill, rapid cries of a prairie falcon echo from the Tower wall.\nAlthough hidden from my view by the pines, its circling flight is\nrevealed by its bursts of screams. It scolds the climbers who are now\npressing upward and perhaps invading the security of its nest site. But\nthe commotion soon dies away, indicating that the sharp-eyed falcon is\nmore annoyed than threatened. Should the climbers inadvertently come\nclose to the nest, however, the protective bird would repeatedly dive at\nthe intruders in an attempt to drive them away, a distraction I would\nnot relish.\n\nI continue down the trail, which gradually drops toward the river. The\npines yield to communities of deciduous vegetation interspersed with\ngrassy meadows. A whitetail deer stands at the far edge of the narrow\nmeadow the trail is about to enter. Not yet aware of my presence, it\ncontinues to browse the succulent new growth of a chokecherry.\n\nWere it not for the meadows and wooded ravines that surround the higher\nreaches of the pine forest, the Monument could not support as many deer\nas it does. Deer like a mix of woodland and meadow. The dense cover of\nshrub thickets, canopied by closely spaced elm, chokecherry, hawthorn,\nand other trees, offers sanctuary and browse. The nearby meadows provide\nessential diet supplements of grasses and herbs.\n\nAs I move on, the deer dashes away. A cottontail bounds across the trail\nand overhead, on a long, twisted branch of a burr oak, a fox squirrel\nscurries upward to safety. A brown thrasher scolds momentarily but soon\nresumes its complex song. Its music is as various in shading and\nstructure as the many leaf shapes that can be discovered in its habitat.\n\nBefore abruptly reversing itself, the trail makes a long swing\nnorthward. Leaving the pines, it crosses the maroon sediments that give\nthe Red Beds Trail its name. The exposed formation has been cut into\nsteep cliffs by the river. Deposited some 180 million years ago during\nthe Jurassic Period, when the land surface was low and adjacent to a\nsea, this mixture of siltstone and sandstone is poorly cemented\ntogether. As a result, it weathers easily, forming a striking,\nravine-cut outcrop wherever the stratum is exposed. Few plants colonize\nthis handsome formation, making it stand out against the dull,\nigneous-gray Tower and its dark wreath of ponderosa.\n\nAs the sun approaches zenith, I am nearing the end of the trail circuit.\nComing back closer to the Tower, the trail re-enters the pine forest. I\nwelcome the perceptibly cooler air and dimmer surroundings beneath these\nbig, yellow-barked trees. Here, where lichen and moss cap boulders and\nfallen logs, is a good spot for lunch. I sit with my back to the trunk\nof an ancient, fallen giant whose length has collapsed and defines the\ncontours of the ground. Its exposed, rotten heartwood nourishes\nminiature fungi-gardens.\n\nCompared to the sharp shadows and glare of the meadows and thickets I\nhave left behind, the evenly shaded pine forest seems serene. Except for\na diminutive red-breasted nuthatch that patrols up and down a nearby\ntree trunk, gleaning grubs and other insects as it goes, there is no\nperceptible motion. Even the few shafts of sunlight that touch the\nforest floor here seem, like me, to be intruders. Sound itself seems\nunwelcome. No birds sing or squabble or dart their colors to catch the\neye. If anything walks or hops about, no leaves rustle to reveal its\npresence. Years of needle-cast shroud the uneven ground, giving the\ndissimilar shapes of rock and downed trees a sameness of color and\ntexture.\n\nComparatively few life-forms inhabit the pine forest. Fewer kinds of\nplants grow beneath the pines than grow in the deciduous woodland. And\nfewer plant types mean a more limited diet for herbivores such as\ninsects, mice, cottontails, and deer. The scarcity of insects also\nreduces the number of bird species that will find the habitat\nattractive.\n\nThe relative absence of life on the forest floor begins in the soil.\nPines create acid soil conditions which do not promote bacterial growth.\nDecay, therefore, carried on primarily by fungi, takes place very\nslowly. The result is the thick accumulation of discarded needles and\nbranches, the resinous, sweet-smelling \"duff.\"\n\nNot far upslope from the trail a porcupine scuttles toward a stand of\nyoung pines. It moves slowly and silently, its quills making it look\nprehistoric. Again I am struck by the apparent changelessness of the\npine forest.\n\nBut looking around, I find everywhere signs that indicate change and\nstruggle. At the bases of the giant pines--some of which may be more\nthan 200 years old--are fire scars. Most of the mature trees survived\nthe frequent fires that once raced through here. Their bark was thick\nand fire-resistant, and they had few lower branches to pass the flames\nup into the vulnerable upper branches. But that was before the white man\ninterrupted the long reign of wildfire. Ironically, fire had actually\nhelped to maintain the health of the forest. Grass fires, sweeping into\nthe pines, burned off the accumulations of litter and killed many of the\ncrowded younger trees. Tinder was thus removed before it could build to\ndangerous levels.\n\n                                                   _continues on page 40_\n\n\n                          A Home for Wildlife\n\n  Some animals indigenous to the Great Plains find a protected home in\n  Devils Tower National Monument. Gone from this area are the bison that\n  once roamed the prairie grasslands in great numbers, and the fastest\n  plains animal, the pronghorn antelope, is rare. The most noticeable\n  mammals here are the whitetail deer and the prairie dog (See pages\n  48-65 for pictures and text about the prairie dog and its predators),\n  but with careful observation you can spot some of the smaller animals\n  that inhabit the grasslands, woodlands, and rocky areas around the\n  Tower.\n\n    [Illustration: The raccoon, primarily a nocturnal creature, prefers\n    woody or swampy areas and often dens in hollow trees.]\n\n    [Illustration: The porcupine, which has up to 30,000 quills, dwells\n    in the forest and often is seen in the tops of trees.]\n\n    [Illustration: The longtail weasel usually lives in deserted burrows\n    and preys on small mammals, some birds, and other animals.]\n\n    [Illustration: The rare swift fox sometimes enlarges and inhabits an\n    old prairie dog burrow. The red fox is more common here.]\n\n    [Illustration: The pocket gopher is a remarkable burrower, creating\n    up to 150 meters (500 feet) of tunnels close to the surface.]\n\n    [Illustration: The thirteen-lined ground squirrel lives in a burrow\n    in open areas, feeding mostly on seeds.]\n\n    [Illustration: Whitetail deer mostly inhabit wooded areas in the\n    park, though you may see them in clearings. Often they wander into\n    the campground near the Belle Fourche River at dawn and dusk,\n    providing an added treat to those who spend a night or two in the\n    park. Deer usually do not go beyond an area of 4 square kilometers\n    (1.5 square miles) even when their food sources are limited. They\n    are browsers, eating all foliage they can reach standing on their\n    hind legs. So, you may notice most foliage denuded to a 1-meter\n    (3-foot) level, especially where their populations are high.\n\n    Whitetail deer can run 56 kilometers (35 miles) per hour, jump 2.7\n    meters (8.5 feet) high, and leap about 9 meters (30 feet), all quite\n    gracefully.]\n\nNow, after 80 years of fire-prevention management, the forest is ripe\nfor fire. Should it come now, however, the effects might be devastating.\nFed by an abundance of ground fuel, a cool-burning, fast-moving grass\nfire could quickly become \"hot.\" Lifted up into the upper branches of\nthe old pines via the closely spaced younger trees, the ground fire\nwould quickly develop into a crown fire. Few, if any, trees would\nsurvive such a conflagration.\n\nThe role of natural fire has only recently been appreciated. However, in\nthe small area of Devils Tower, where the scenic qualities of the pine\nforest are paramount to visitor enjoyment of the Monument, fire cannot\nbe permitted without virtual destruction of the surrounding forest.\nThus, for esthetic reasons, fire is regarded as unacceptable here.\n\nAfter lunch I walk on beneath the trees. The openness of the mature pine\nforest soon gives way to dense groves of younger ponderosa. Deprived of\nthe separation they require to develop naturally, these \"doghair\" stands\nstrain upward together their trunks toothpick thin--to reach the light.\nMany exhibit long, yellow wounds, from which sap bleeds. This is the\nwork of porcupines. Gnawing through the thin bark of young trees with\nsharp, chisel-shaped teeth, they strip away the tender, living tissue of\nthe tree. Most wounds are not severe, but should the trunk be girdled,\nthe moisture and nutrient transport system of the tree will be severed\nand the pine will die. Thus, even though fire no longer occurs here\nregularly, other agents of control, such as porcupine damage and insect\ninfestation, continue to work.\n\nThe trail emerges from the deep north-slope forest, runs parallel to the\nvisitor center access road for a short distance, and ends at the parking\nlot. The glare of afternoon light and shimmering heat waves is a sharp\ncontrast to the cool, dim surroundings of the deeper forest.\n\nBefore continuing on around the circuit of Tower Trail, I stop at the\nvisitor center for water. Beside the fountain sits an old man, leaning\nhis chin and hands on a cane and staring upward at the broad west face\nof the Tower. An immense mushroom of a towering cumulus cloud billows up\nbehind it.\n\n\"Quite a sight,\" I say.\n\nHe seems to deliberate, then finally answers: \"I can remember seeing a\npicture of this in my school book. I never thought I would live to see\nit. Never thought I would ever sit here like this and see it genuine.\"\n\nI don't know what to say. One does not make idle conversation with a man\nwho has made a pilgrimage. We watch a pair of rock doves, outlined\nagainst the white brilliance of the boiling cloud, ride an updraft near\nthe summit. Wings set and almost touching, they dip and recover, their\nresonant calls clear despite the distance. Nothing more to be said, I\nset out toward the trail. Not once did the man take his eyes off the\nTower.\n\nWith the first dull report of thunder, I hear the chiding call of the\nfalcon again. Its sharp voice momentarily silences the mellow cooings of\nrock doves that filter down from the high crannies and ledges.\n\nThe trail steeply ascends a slope of broken, fallen columns, weaving\namong the immense rock slabs like a mouse-run in a boulder field. I am\nsurprised to see a grove of aspens. Their crooked trunks bend in the\nfreshening wind, their leaves dancing and blinking on and off the dusty\nsilver of their undersides. What a contrast to the rigid stature of the\nsurrounding pines that barely acknowledge the approaching storm.\n\nThe presence of aspen probably means that a fire once swept across this\ndry western shoulder. Quick to invade new territory after a fire, aspens\nplay an important role as a pioneer species of the western and northern\nAmerican coniferous forests. Like the ponderosa, they can grow on dry,\nrocky sites. Since they often reproduce vegetatively--a grove of aspens\nis often produced by sprouting from the roots of a single tree--aspens\nare well suited to unstable or fire-swept sites. Although readily\nconsumed by fire, aspen groves regenerate quickly from their undamaged\nroot systems. Without periodic fire, in fact, aspens are eventually\nexcluded from the forest composition, shaded out by the taller growing\nconifers.\n\nThe growing turbulence spurs me onward. Hugging the steep upper slopes\nof the Tower's circular base, the trail allows a speedy orbit. The\nfalcon continues to scream. Now along the southeastern face, I can hear\nthe climbers shout to one another. The belly of the cloud is overhead\nand angry-black. Lightning flashes are now immediately followed by loud\nreports, sharp as splitting wood. I should turn back and drop to the\nnearby trail that returns to the campground, but the swell of wind in\nthe pines and the occasional crash of falling snags is invigorating. A\nsudden invasion of cold air means the rain will come heavy and soon. I\nwonder if the climbers are as unprepared for this as I am.\n\nIn a rock crevice where the trail passes along a cliff face, an untidy\nring of trash reveals the nest site of a wood rat. Called \"pack rats\"\nbecause of their habit of carrying off unguarded items, these big\nrodents adorn their nest entrances with anything from bottle caps to\nsunglasses. This one has amassed a fine collection of discarded gum and\ncandy wrappers. As the first large raindrops thud down into the trail's\nsoft earth, I envy the animal's protective retreat.\n\nIn ten minutes I am back at the spur that leads to the Visitor Center.\nIf the old man is still there, perhaps I will wait out the storm with\nhim beneath the porch roof. But I cannot see him, so I continue on to\nthe campground. I am already soaked through anyway, so the lashing rain\nis no longer a threat. I retrace the section of trail I had walked an\nhour before. Ten minutes more and I leave the pines and enter the\ndeserted, puddled prairie dog town.\n\nNearing the road, I see a car approaching slowly. As it passes I notice\nthe old man. Leaning forward, he cranes his neck to catch a last glimpse\nof the Tower he had waited so long to see.\n\n\n                        Voice of the Kingfisher\n\nBy late afternoon the storm has passed, and with the return of sunlight\na rainbow arches the Belle Fourche. Taking advantage of the softened\nearth, the prairie dogs busily reshape their mounds, scratching dirt\nloose, bulldozing it up the slopes of entrance mounds, and tamping it.\nAll but the young wear black noses. At the return of the climbers the\ntown suspends its work, rises to alert, and chirps warning.\n\nA meadowlark sings from a fence post near the river. Against the purple\nsouthern sky, its black and yellow vestments seem unnaturally bright,\nand its call in the rain-cleared air seems sharply amplified. It glides\ninto the glistening grass. Soon the female, wearing a duller version of\nits mate's tuxedo, flies up and disappears across the narrow river. When\nshe returns, her bill is crammed with insects for her demanding young in\ntheir grass-lined ground nest.\n\nA red-headed woodpecker, which has been shuttling between a certain\ncottonwood and other trees, also reveals its nest site. High up in the\ntree it has excavated a perfectly round hole. Leaning back on stiff tail\nfeathers, it jerkily climbs up and around the trunk, pauses at the hole,\nthen leans in to deliver the white grub to its squealing young.\n\nSo insatiable are nestling birds, their demands exert a significant\ncontrol on insect populations. A pair of adult house wrens may log more\nthan 1,100 daily trips to feed their young.\n\nThat so many varieties of birds can co-exist in the same area is\npossible because different species generally do not compete with one\nanother for the same food source. Each gleans its food in a slightly\ndifferent manner and locale. Each species vigorously defends its\nterritory from others of its kind but will tolerate neighbors that\noccupy a different niche in the community. A single plum thicket may\ncontain the nests of a pair of catbirds, mourning doves, robins, and\nvireos. Because each bird hunts its food in a slightly different manner\nand place, they do not directly compete.\n\nThe cliff-nesting swifts and swallows have reappeared above the river, a\ntwittering confusion of swirling, darting shapes that manage to survive\nby capturing insects on the wing. Higher up, the booming of nighthawks\nannounces that insects are active in the upper air also.\n\nAfter supper I walk along the river. Now that shadows fill the river\nbed, there might be an opportunity to see a beaver working or a mink\nhunting along the shore. Passing close to where the meadowlarks have\ntheir nest, I cause a panic of concern. Both birds, invisible a second\nago, lift off the ground, scolding and threatening, to distract my\nattention from the location of the nest. The outcry brings a killdeer up\nfrom the shore of the river. Uttering its plaintive, reedy cry, it\ncircles about, lands, runs rapidly along the bank, then crouches down to\ndisplay a \"broken\" wing. It is joined by a mate and both birds take up\nthe act, leading me away from their own eggs or helpless young hiding\nmotionless on the ground. So adept are the killdeer at this diversion,\nit seems incredible that instinct and not intelligence is responsible\nfor their highly specialized behavior.\n\n                                                   _continues on page 46_\n\n\n                         A Sanctuary for Birds\n\n    [Illustration: Among those birds living in the forest at the base of\n    the Tower is the white-breasted nuthatch, which commonly makes its\n    fur- and bark-lined nest in the cavity of a tree. Many a woodland\n    hiker has paused for several minutes to watch this inquisitive,\n    sparrow-sized bird creep head first down the trunk of a tree,\n    stopping now and then to look out at a 90 degree angle. The\n    red-breasted nuthatch also inhabits the park.]\n\n    [Illustration: The intense sky-blue of the male mountain bluebird\n    catches the eye of the most casual of birdwatchers. Its blue breast\n    distinguishes it from the western bluebird. Like the white-breasted\n    nuthatch, this bird nests in a tree cavity, usually a deserted\n    woodpecker hole. It often hovers low over the ground, then darts\n    down to catch insects.]\n\n  Though small in area, Devils Tower National Monument provides a\n  sanctuary for an extensive variety of birds. Because the mountains and\n  the plains converge here, species common to both can be found. More\n  than 90 species have been counted.\n\n  Several large birds may be seen flying around or near the Tower\n  itself, occasionally swooping down to prey upon life in the open\n  grasslands. These include Cooper's and red-tailed hawks; American\n  kestrel; golden and bald eagles; prairie falcon, and turkey vulture.\n  Only the prairie falcon and the rock dove, or pigeon, live on the\n  Tower. (See pages 60-61 for photographs of the golden eagle, prairie\n  falcon, and burrowing owl.)\n\n    [Illustration: Standing still or in flight, the black-billed magpie\n    is distinguished by its white shoulders and belly, by white patches\n    under its wings, and by its long tail.]\n\n    [Illustration: The nighthawk nests in the open grasslands here. This\n    robin-sized bird was mistaken for a hawk by the pioneers because of\n    its long wings and swift flight.]\n\n    [Illustration: The red-headed woodpecker spends most of its time in\n    the open deciduous woods. Its entirely red head and a large white\n    patch on its wings distinguish it from other species.]\n\nThe meadow across the river is a solid yellow of blooming spurge. In\ncontrast, the ground on the Monument side of the river presents only a\nfew isolated plants, and they are limp and pale from the effects of\nherbicide. Because spurge is an exotic plant that invades grasslands and\ndisplaces native flora, it is exterminated, through selective\napplication of herbicide, within the Monument boundaries.\n\nThe rattle of a kingfisher precedes its sudden appearance around the\nsharp bend in the river. Skimming low across the water, the blue and\nwhite bird darts upward to perch on a cottonwood snag that overhangs the\nriver. Its large crest and straight bill make the kingfisher look more\ncaricature than real. Intently studying the river below, it need not\nwait long before plummeting from its observation post straight into the\nwater. Reappearing a second later, it quickly regains its perch, the\nsilver glint of a small fish caught in the parted scissors of its black\nbill. After swallowing the fish with a toss of its head, it shakes the\nwater from its feathers and resumes its patient inspection.\n\nLike a giant, soundless mosquito, a cranefly rises upward from the river\nbank. Another hovers low across the surface of the water, frequently\ndipping its abdomen below the surface to deposit its eggs. The first\nquickly disappears with the banking flight of a nighthawk; the second\nwith the darting intercept of a dragonfly. Like countless other species\nof insects that divide their lives between the water and land, the\ncraneflies are a living link in the food chain that helps bind the\naquatic and terrestrial life communities together.\n\nThe many thousands of insect species requiring an underwater environment\nfor their larval stage help sustain many species of terrestrial\npredators when the insects emerge from the water as adults. The\nkingfisher that nests here and the occasional great blue heron that\nstops during migration also enjoy the fruits of the water community,\ntaking fish and frogs. But the process is not a one-way street.\nNutrients leached from the land help fertilize the aquatic food chain.\nAnd the grasshopper that inadvertently hops into the river, only to\ndisappear quickly into the gullet of a fish, represents another of the\nongoing exchanges between land and water.\n\nAs I round the sharp bend that sends the river flowing north again, a\nmuskrat hurries into the water and submerges. On the steep bank high\nabove the river, I wait until it surfaces in midstream. It floats lazily\nfor a while, its long, naked tail straight with the slow current. Then\nit heads back toward shore. Across the river, the floodplain cottonwoods\nbear the scars of beaver teeth. Some are girdled and dead. Others are in\nfull leaf despite deep but incomplete incisions.\n\nGrowing dusk fills the river valley. In the failing sunlight vanquished\nto a thin, vertical display on the Tower face, it is almost possible to\nimagine what this splendid landscape must have been like as wilderness.\nBison, not cattle, would have grazed nearby. Instead of the howling dog\nthat has escaped the campground and races into the prairie dog town, a\nwolf might be pressing home its attack on an injured pronghorn.\nGrizzlies and cougars knew this valley, and the river was tamed not by a\nnearby reservoir but by a latticework of beaver dams.\n\nThere are no prairie dogs left above ground now to challenge my trespass\nas I head back toward the welcome firelights of the campground. The deer\nhave left their daybeds to graze in the open, and the great horned owl\nagain asserts its dominance in the river timber. With a long rattle,\nbriefly echoed from a cliff, the kingfisher quits the day.\n\nBeneath the expanding population of stars, I return to the comfort of\nhot coffee and the confines of my own world. For now, I am content with\nthe memory of eagle and falcon. In my mind they will continue to soar,\ninspecting the splendid terrain my memory today acquired.\n\n\n                   Prairie Dogs: A Tight-Knit Society\n\n    [Illustration: _A prairie dog family gathers at the entrance to\n    their burrow, watching the activity in the town and keeping an eye\n    out for intruders._]\n\nWhen the long grip of winter's crusted snow relaxes, pasqueflowers burst\nforth in ravines, unplowed pastures, and abandoned cemeteries. Their\ndelicate silvery purple contrasts with the bleak stubble of last year's\nruined grasses. Before plows ever broke the grassland sod, pasqueflowers\nwere so profuse the distant ground seemed veiled in haze. The pioneers\ncalled it \"prairie smoke.\"\n\nWith the appearance of the pasqueflowers, spring begins to renew the\nsun-warmed ground. Gone are the long days of waiting. Perhaps, the few\nprairie-dog sentinels that had stood motionless in the March wind wished\nthat the spring would come. The sharp wind divides the dense fur of\ntheir winter coats while they survey the snow-skiffed ground of their\nsilent town. They almost appear to regard the sun wistfully, wishing it\nstrong, the snow gone, and the grass resurgent once again. But at last\nthe meadowlarks lose their winter-long quiet, and the horned larks now\nlift up with extravagance, unhuddling from their long ordeal. Below\nground, in the deep, secure warmth of their nursery chambers, a new\ngeneration of prairie dogs is developing, part of the ancient ritual of\nreplenishment that spring brings to the Great Plains.\n\nThe breeding season of the prairie dog is determined by geographic\nlocation and weather conditions. On the southern plains of Texas it may\nbe as early as January; on the Canadian plains as late as March. For\nfour or five weeks there is much kissing, grooming, and investigation.\nMales become aggressive and squabble over territory. Besides the older\nfemales, perhaps half of the yearling females will mate.\n\nAfter a month's gestation, the litters are born. In the dark quiet of\nspecially prepared nesting chambers, the babies appear, hairless,\nsightless, uncoordinated, weighing but 14 grams (0.5 ounce). They live\nin grass-lined nests for seven or eight weeks, attended almost\nconstantly by the females as they develop. Growth is rapid. At 28 days\nthey are crawling, and by 32 days the finely furred pups can walk and\nbark. Soon their eyes open and they fully resemble the adults. Until now\nthe pups have known only darkness, blind passageways, and a single\nadult. One day soon they will be led upward.\n\nThat first moment above ground marks for them another birth. Now their\nsenses experience a sudden flood of light and sound, coolness, wind, a\nworld of shape, motion, and perspective, whose staggering brightness\nextends forever beyond their own rim of familiar scent. Huddled together\nand shivering in the wind, they are at first loath to accept this world\nof sight and sun, so different from the soundless wrappings of dark,\nwarm soil. But soon, as with all young animals, curiosity leads them to\ninvestigation and then to boldness.\n\n    [Illustration: _The range of the prairie dog extends from Canada to\n    Mexico and at its widest point from eastern Kansas to western Utah,\n    with the blacktail's range a bit more extensive than that of the\n    whitetail. The range of the rare black-footed ferret, a predator, is\n    nearly identical. The prairie dogs protected at Devils Tower are\n    blacktails._]\n\nEach day the young spend more time above ground. Nearby, the mother\nremains alert for danger and solicitous, accepting the maulings of her\nplayful and increasingly independent pups. Although ranging farther and\nfarther afield, they remain obedient to their mother, and scamper back\nto their burrow when commanded. The first few weeks above ground is a\ntime of weaning, learning, and conditioning.\n\nDuring their first few days in society, pups have the run of the town.\nBoundaries that adults respect do not exist for them, as they wander\nabout, inspecting every feature of their new world. The young have an\ninsatiable need for body contact and much time is spent at play, and in\ngrooming and kissing, activities that seem to reinforce the social\nnature of the prairie dogs. Adult males tolerate the young for a time\nduring this period of general acquaintance. At first the pups attempt to\nnurse from any adult they encounter, and these misguided attempts are\nnot rebuked, even by the males; they are turned into grooming sessions.\n\nLife on this greening land seems too good to be true. Entertainment is\neverywhere. Grasshopper nymphs, which the adult prairie dogs\noccasionally capture and consume unceremoniously, provide them with\nhours of chase and stalk. Food is everywhere and easy to obtain.\nImitating their elders, the pups sample the wide array of grasses and\nforbs surrounding every burrow.\n\nLike the young of all the other animals they see, the pups have no way\nof realizing that their debut coincides with the season most favorable\nto their survival. So they scamper about in witless abandon, uncautious\nand innocent, ignorant as yet of the harsher outlines of their world.\nFor a time, their place in the community is as idyllic as the\nsoft-winded afternoons of spring. But on the Great Plains, spring is at\nbest an uncertain season, its lifespan often breathtakingly short. As\nthe days pass, the dominant males that patrol their territories rapidly\nlose patience with neighboring pups. Those that stray outside the\ninvisible boundaries of their clan's living-space are now met with\nannoyance. Soon the displeasure turns to snarls and bites. More and\nmore, their own mothers refuse them milk. Nipples bleeding from the\nconstant pesterings of their young, the mothers finally move out\naltogether, to establish new burrows of their own.\n\nTo survive predatory perils, the new generation of prairie dogs, like\ncountless previous ones, must master a two-pronged defense system\nevolved over millions of years. First, the pups must learn to engineer a\nburrow system with alternate escape routes. Second, they must learn to\nlive in a highly organized social order, heeding its signals and\nrespecting its boundaries.\n\nPrairie dogs are divided into two general classes, the blacktailed and\nthe whitetailed. Blacktails inhabit the semi-arid regions of the Great\nPlains; whitetails live in the higher elevations of mountain parks and\nfoothills. But it's difficult to generalize, for Devils Tower and Wind\nCave National Park, in South Dakota, are in the Black Hills and the\nprairie dogs at both are blacktails. The dog town at Devils Tower\noccupies a level grassland bench between the Tower's base and the nearby\nmeandering Belle Fourche River. Blacktails are protected in their more\ntypical arid topography at two other National Park System areas:\nBadlands National Park in South Dakota and Theodore Roosevelt National\nPark in North Dakota.\n\nGenerally, as a result of dissimilar habitats, the two species exhibit\nslightly different patterns of behavior. Unlike the blacktails, which\nemerge to forage on sunny winter days, whitetails are confined to their\nburrows by deep mountain snows. Those at high elevations must hibernate\nto survive the long winter.\n\nThe whitetail community is a much less highly developed social structure\nthan the blacktail community. The animals are unable to enjoy the luxury\nof long summers. In the short season they must spend a great amount of\ntime feeding to store up body fat for winter. They have little time for\nsocial rituals--grooming, greeting, or play. Time does not allow them to\nestablish and maintain territories.\n\nThe burrow is to the prairie dog what speed and endurance is to the\npronghorn: its chief means of protection. Yet it is more than just a\nhole in the ground, a temporary refuge from the threat of danger. More\nthan half of a prairie dog's life is spent below ground, so the burrow\nmust accommodate a wide range of needs (See pages 56-57.).\n\nOften old burrow systems are abandoned and new tunnels excavated. The\ndebris from the new tunnel system is dumped into the old burrows. These\nplugged burrows, called cores, may, in time, be more extensive than\nactive tunnels in a long-occupied town. Whether knowingly or\nunknowingly, the prairie dog, by plugging unused passages, is practicing\nsound engineering; if all excavated material were brought to the\nsurface, the weakened sub-surface, riddled with tunnels, would begin to\nsettle and the burrows would eventually collapse.\n\nAs with the beaver--the only North American mammal whose engineering\nfeats surpass the prairie dog's--it is often difficult to distinguish\ninstinctive behavior from actual problem solving. Burrow systems vary\nfrom individual to individual and with local topography. However, as\nearly attempts to \"drown out\" prairie dogs soon proved, the overall\ndesign of their burrow networks minimizes the dangers of flooding. While\nthe lower angle of the tunnel may fill with water, the portion of the\nburrow that culminates in the sealed escape hole serves as an air bell,\npreventing a further rise of water and protecting the animal from being\nflooded out of its sanctuary during periods of heavy rain. Not realizing\nthat prairie dogs can live without water--as can many other plains\nmammals that manufacture metabolic water from foods they\neat--instigators of attempts to drown out the animals concluded that the\nanimals dug down to ground water. The myth of the \"town well\" persisted\nuntil well diggers discovered that the water table in most townsites was\nhundreds of meters down.\n\nMore than once their burrows have saved them from talon and teeth, and\nthey take care to maintain the mounds surrounding the entrances to their\ntunnels. These structures serve not only as watch-towers, but also as\ndikes against downpours that may temporarily turn a town into a lake.\n\nBut even instinctive digging habits and well engineered burrows, by\nthemselves, would not have permitted prairie dogs to achieve their once\nstaggering population levels--estimated to have been about 25 _billion_\nindividuals. Only through the additional benefits of some form of social\norganization and an effective means of communication could such success\nhave been attained.\n\n                                                   _continues on page 58_\n\n\n                    Togetherness--Prairie Dog Style\n\n    [Illustration: Prairie dogs.]\n\n    [Illustration: A prairie dog sounds the alarm, alerting the whole\n    town about an impending danger, such as a coyote, a ferret, or a\n    person. The rest take up the call, and as the danger approaches each\n    burrow the inhabitants duck underground. The others continue to\n    stand erect and sound the warning. By listening carefully, those\n    underground can track the location of the enemy. When two\n    high-pitched notes are sounded, all rush for cover, for that means a\n    hawk is overhead or nearby and there's no time to wait and repeat\n    the signal. After the danger has disappeared, a dog sounds a melodic\n    whistle, and a few others repeat the all-clear before the usual\n    activities of grooming, breeding, eating, and burrow building are\n    resumed. Blacktails make at least seven other calls, but they mostly\n    concern matters of interest to the coterie, or family, instead of to\n    the whole town.]\n\n    [Illustration: After spending a little more than a month below\n    ground, newborn pups warily venture into the daylight, closely\n    watched by their mother. They soon lose their timidness, venturing\n    farther and farther from the burrow but remaining obedient to\n    mother's commands. Most of the first few weeks on the surface are\n    spent mauling, kissing, or grooming each other and their parents. As\n    the weeks go by, the adults tolerate less play and the pups learn\n    more and more day-to-day survival responsibilities.]\n\n    [Illustration: A prairie dog eats a blade of grass sitting on its\n    haunches. After falling over a few times, pups soon learn this\n    dining posture. The dogs eat various grasses and forbs, though for\n    different periods they tend to ignore some plants in favor of\n    others. However, they usually clip off all vegetation around their\n    burrows even if they don't eat it. This habitual grass-cutting\n    apparently is defensive, for predators can conceal themselves better\n    in tall grasses. That is why you don't see prairie dogs in lush\n    grasslands where there is a bountiful rainfall. They satisfy most of\n    their needs for water with the juices of green plants and grass\n    roots.\n\n    Prairie dogs also eat insects that inhabit their towns and sometimes\n    prey upon the eggs or young of animals, such as the burrowing owl,\n    that dwell in homes deserted by prairie dogs.]\n\n\n                          Burrowing Out a Home\n\n    [Illustration: Prairie dog]\n\n    [Illustration: Viewed in a cross-section, a typical prairie dog\n    burrow system reveals a network of tunnels and compartments. The\n    slightly oval entrance, 10 to 15 centimeters (4 to 6 inches) in\n    diameter, leads the prairie dog rapidly downward. This plunge hole\n    soon tapers off into a more gentle slope that may descend another\n    4.5 meters (15 feet). The burrow then turns upward and approaches\n    the surface about 9 meters (30 feet) from the entrance hole. In an\n    emergency this safety hatch can be quickly opened and the prairie\n    dog can escape entrapment. Every burrow contains several rooms to\n    accommodate various needs. The first room the prairie dog encounters\n    as it travels down the plunge hole is known as the antechamber.\n    which is large enough for two animals. It functions as a\n    turn-around, permitting entering and exiting animals to pass one\n    another. But primarily it is used as a listening post. Before\n    venturing out in the morning, a prairie dog pauses here, on the\n    alert for possible danger. From this room it can monitor the\n    situation by listening to alarm calls of neighbors still above\n    ground. The nesting chamber may be found most anywhere in the\n    burrow, but usually it is associated with the main passageway above\n    the lowest point, to protect it from flooding. Lined with grasses\n    and other soft plant fibers, the nest affords a degree of comfort\n    and insulation against cold and dampness. Perhaps because of\n    accumulating litter or parasites, such as lice and fleas, the\n    location of the nest chamber is often changed.]\n\n\n  Safety hatch\n  Plunge hole\n  Listening post and turning bay\n  Nesting chamber\n\n\n    [Illustration: Blacktail prairie dogs build hard-packed ridges\n    around their burrow openings as watchtowers and as dikes against\n    downpours. A prairie dog uses various skills in this work,\n    including, above, scraping dirt with its powerful hind legs.]\n\n    [Illustration: Mound-building also calls for bulldozing earth with\n    the prairie dog's hard, blunt nose. Both excavated subsoil and\n    topsoil are pushed around to build up the mound. Whitetails tend to\n    merely leave an unworked pile of subsoil around the entrance.]\n\n    [Illustration: After tamping the freshly loosened earth with its\n    nose, above, and at other times in the whole process, the prairie\n    dog takes a break and cleans its long claws, page 56, and its nose.]\n\nGregariousness is a common trait of many plains animals. In a land where\nmovement is necessary and concealment difficult to achieve, it provides\na definite survival advantage. Bison calves find protection in the herd,\nwhere their defense is the concern of all adults. Pronghorns take turns\nas sentries, allowing the other members of the group to rest and feed.\nCoyotes are more effective when hunting in pairs. The success of the\nwolf in bringing down large prey and even evicting grizzlies from their\nkills was largely due to their family group or pack organization. But\nlacking physical adaptations for speed and mobility, prairie dogs are\nforced to rely on their burrows for refuge. The need to remain close to\ntheir burrows imposes on the animals a serious problem: how to maintain\nan adequate food supply?\n\nAlthough a dog town might appear to be one big collection of\naffectionate family members, all coming and going at will, the\nimpression is false. Instead, each town is divided up into small groups\nof related animals. These family groups, called coteries, are the basic\nsocial unit, much as human families are in our own society. As the\nprairie dog pups soon learn, each coterie defends its own territory from\nintrusion by others, thus preserving for itself necessary living space\nand an adequate food supply close to the safety of its own burrows. Only\nin times of dire emergency, when the scramble to safety supersedes all\nterritorial claims, will prairie dogs allow other coterie members the\nuse of their burrows. So strong is an offending animal's sense of\ntrespass, it will often brave the hazard of dashing back to its own\nburrow rather than staying long in a neighbor's territory.\n\nThe typical coterie consists of about seven to eight animals, arranged\nin a hierarchical order. Each usually has a dominant male that protects\nthe coterie's territory from invasion by other males and oversees the\nactivities of the females and young. If the coterie is a large one, more\nthan one individual may enjoy dominant status and share the duties of\nleadership. In some cases, females may be dominant in rank; the role\ngenerally falls to the males, however, possibly because of their\nslightly larger size or because they have more time to observe and\npatrol, not being tied to the demands of the young.\n\nNot only their social organization, but also their social behavior makes\nprairie dogs unique among rodents. The function of coterie hierarchy is\ncooperative, rather than oppressive, resulting in a remarkable absence\nof conflict and social stress. Aggressiveness is generally limited to\ninter-coterie contacts along the invisible boundaries. In an established\ntown, infractions are usually accidental and seldom precipitate lasting\ndisputes. The end result of intra-coterie cooperation and inter-coterie\nrespect is a stable and harmonious town. Energies and attention that\nwould otherwise be squandered in conflict can thus be focused on mutual\ndefense.\n\nFor brief periods during spring and fall, the strict laws of\nterritoriality are relaxed. In spring, the period coincides with the\nappearance of pups. Not only does this prevent undue strife in the\ncommunity over the wanderings of the socially ignorant pups; it also\nallows those females seeking new territories to cross established ones.\nIn the fall, the period is also necessary, accommodating the dispersal\nof overcrowded family groups. During autumn, the urge to emigrate is\nstrong, and many animals move out into the \"suburbs\" of the town. Thus\nthe town maintains a degree of flexibility and avoids permanent pockets\nof overpopulation.\n\nCoterie members maintain mutual recognition through an often-repeated\nritual involving mouth contact. Prairie dogs that appear to be \"kissing\"\nor \"talking\" are simply establishing identities. Generally the most\ndominant member will initiate mouth contact, approaching the second\nanimal with head tilted back and presenting its open mouth, to which the\nother responds in like manner. Often the recognition ceremony is\naccompanied by tail wagging and frequently leads to another form of\nsocial reinforcement, the process of grooming. Generally, the prairie\ndog that initiates the mouth contact does the grooming, nibbling, and\ncombing the fur in an effort to dislodge dirt and parasites. The act is\nmore significant for its symbolic value, however, for the animal of\nlower rank will often completely roll over on its back during the\nprocess; by exposing its vulnerable undersides, it is submitting, canine\nfashion, to the dominance of its fellow. Pups that annoy adult males\nwith their attentions are often rather roughly groomed. No doubt the\nprocedure communicates authority as well as affection.\n\n                                                   _continues on page 62_\n\n\n               Dog Town Predators and Fellow Inhabitants\n\n    [Illustration: A shadow races across a prairie dog town, stirring up\n    a sudden panic of alarms and dashes to safety. A shriek stills the\n    community. Overhead, the squeals of an unwary pup rapidly diminish\n    as it is carried off in a clutch of gleaming talons of a golden\n    eagle, above, to a nest of hungry eaglets, below.]\n\n    [Illustration: Nest of hungry eaglets.]\n\n  Many pups and some adults are lost to predators. While small, prairie\n  dogs are fair game for rattlesnakes and burrowing owls. Hawks, like\n  the eagles, ambush pups from the sky. Patrolling coyotes are quick to\n  sense the pups' hesitation and to capitalize on the uncertainty.\n  Badgers excavate with astounding speed; bobcats rush from concealment\n  of any nearby cover. And in some places the most dreaded predator of\n  all is the black-footed ferret, which enters the burrow itself to\n  surprise and trap its prey. But eradication programs against the\n  prairie dog have made the ferret nearly extinct; none has been seen at\n  Devils Tower since the late 1800s. Some of the other predators of the\n  prairie dog also have been nearly eliminated by man. And with the loss\n  of natural predators, prairie dog populations flourish rapidly. Unless\n  these predators are allowed to make a comeback, prairie dog control\n  programs will be inevitable.\n\n    [Illustration: The black-footed ferret, a large weasel, makes its\n    home in prairie dog towns, but it is extremely rare.]\n\n    [Illustration: The coyote frequently prowls prairie dog towns in the\n    early morning and evening.]\n\n    [Illustration: The bullsnake hangs around burrows to prey on pups\n    and other small rodents, killing them by constriction.]\n\n    [Illustration: The prairie falcon nests on the Tower and\n    occasionally feeds on residents of the prairie dog town.]\n\n    [Illustration: The burrowing owl often nests in old burrows and\n    sometimes preys on pups. Prairie dogs eat owl eggs and young.]\n\n    [Illustration: The badger is short, broad, and a formidable digger.\n    It concentrates its preying on new, one-entrance burrows.]\n\nShould the individual invited to mouth contact not reciprocate, an\nimmediate challenge is made. Apparently, mouth contact is the only\npositive means of identification available to prairie dogs, and any\nanimal refusing it is immediately deemed a trespasser and aggressively\nevicted. The wild chase that ensues, accompanied by indignant calling\nand fierce chattering of teeth, sometimes leads the righteous landowner\ndeep inside its neighbor's territory. The roles abruptly reverse and,\nafter a moment of mutual realization, the pursuer suddenly becomes the\npursued.\n\nIn the glare of the early evening sun it is difficult to distinguish the\nindividual prairie dogs as they go about their various activities. A\nsingle warning call, however, and the town instantly sprouts battalions\nof erect postures. For a moment, each motionless, backlit figure shines\nits sun-haloed position. All the disparate activities of the scattered\nanimals become instantaneously fused to a single purpose: identifying\nthe danger.\n\nVocalizations distinguish the prairie dog from all other rodents. At\nleast ten different calls have been identified in the blacktail class of\nprairie dogs. Most of the calls--such as the challenge bark, defense\nbark, disputing \"_churr_,\" fighting snarl, fear scream, muffled bark,\nand tooth chattering--do not involve the entire community. Except for\nthe fear scream, which is immediately noted by all members, these vocal\nsignals are largely ignored by neighboring animals since they usually\ndenote a local disturbance among the prairie dogs themselves. There are\nthree warning calls, however, that are intended for the entire\ncommunity; these constitute the bond that unites all the separate\ncoteries of the town into a single social unit.\n\nAt the sound of the _warning bark_, usually uttered by many animals at\nonce and quickly relayed through the entire town, each prairie dog\nimmediately rises to alert in an attempt to define the immediate danger.\nIf the wave of alarms is particularly intense, the animals usually rush\nto burrow mounds, where they will await further developments. Usually\nonly the prairie dogs in the immediate vicinity of an enemy will retire\nbelow ground. The remainder of the population continues to observe and\nsound the alarm. As an enemy approaches a particular burrow, the\nfrequency and intensity of the occupant's warning bark increases. Only\nat the last moment will the prairie dog cut short its tirade, capping it\nwith an indignant _churk_ as it dives below ground.\n\nAnother, more urgent, signal is the _hawk warning call_. The\nhigh-pitched, musical twin notes of this cry prompt an immediate dash\nfor cover. Unlike the typical reaction to the warning bark, response to\nthe hawk warning call is unhesitating. When this cry is given, seconds\ncount, and visual confirmation of danger is not required to prompt a\nrush to safety.\n\nAfter danger has passed, the all-clear is sounded. Known as the _song\nbark_, this melodic whistle is always associated with a particular body\nposture. Rising up on its haunches, the prairie dog points its nose to\nthe sky, gives the whistle, and promptly falls back on all fours. When\nlearning to execute this call, pups usually topple over backwards. Once\nuttered, the call is repeated sporadically throughout the town.\n\nCommunication is as important to the survival of the prairie dog society\nas is adequate food and shelter. Towns decimated by disease or poisoning\nsoon vanish if the survivors are too few or scattered to communicate\neffectively. Deprived of an efficient warning system (and perhaps of the\npsychological need of social contact, as well), individual animals make\neasy targets for predators. Certainly they are too large and conspicuous\nto blend in well with their sparse surroundings. Unlike their small,\nwell-camouflaged cousins, the thirteen-lined ground squirrels, prairie\ndogs cannot survive as individuals.\n\nAfter the females leave their weaned pups to establish new burrows for\nthemselves, the young will remain together for a while until they, too,\nbegin to split up. No longer do they resemble the playful, romping pups\nof spring, annoying their elders with their ceaseless games, demands for\nattention, and disregard for territorial boundaries. Now full-fledged\nmembers of their clans, they capture grasshoppers in a business-like\nfashion. Like the season, they have matured. With the company of their\nelders they now share a suspicion of the sky and every uninspected plot\nof ground.\n\n\n                      Lessons a Long Time Learning\n\nIn the early days of the cattle range, before sound land management of\nthe plains was understood, cattlemen were perplexed to witness\nmushrooming populations of prairie dogs. Formerly lush grassland often\nbecame a dog town \"wasteland\" following the introduction of cattle.\nBelieving that the prairie dog, and not the cattle, was responsible for\nthis sudden transformation, ranchers rapidly came to despise prairie\ndogs. A massive war of extermination began against these \"varmits\" that\n\"ate the grass down to nothing.\" In reality, the appearance of prairie\ndogs merely indicated that the land was being overgrazed. As the bison\nhad done before them, cattle now began to open up to the prairie dogs\nnew territories that they could not otherwise colonize. Prairie dogs\nwere never found on the eastern prairies simply because they could not\ncontend with the taller growth of the more humid grasslands.\n\nOn their own, prairie dogs cannot easily invade unbroken areas of\nestablished grassland. The grass cover simply rejuvenates faster than\nthe animals can work. But if the land has been disturbed by overgrazing,\nprairie dogs can quickly spread. Once established in an area, the\nanimals wage a constant struggle against the vegetation. Since\ntall-growing plants offer concealment to a predator, the plants are\nroutinely clipped off even if they are not to be eaten.\n\nThe feeding, clearing, and burrowing activities of the dog town tend to\nretard the grasses while encouraging the persistence of forbs--the\nbroadleaf plants that quickly invade disturbed ground but are eventually\ncrowded out by the returning grasses. By arresting the normal process of\nplant succession, an active dog town delays the return of the site to\nits climax vegetation of grasses. In so doing, it inadvertently\nperpetuates a wider variety of plants than would otherwise be found on\nthe site.\n\nSelective feeders, prairie dogs put pressure on a particular plant\nspecies when it becomes most abundant, then ignore it almost entirely in\nfavor of another, and so on. This cyclic feeding allows each species to\nrecover, preventing it from being eliminated.\n\nDry years help the prairie dog maintain control over the vegetation, and\nthus favor town expansion, while wet years speed recovery of the grasses\nand work against the town. Towns that had spread into lush grassland\nduring the favorable conditions of drought may be severely reduced or\neven eliminated with the return of adequate precipitation.\n\nIn some cases, the clearing activities of prairie dogs may actually\nspeed plant succession. As a direct result of overgrazing by domestic\nstock, much of the grassland of the semi-arid West was invaded by\nsagebrush, a tough, drought-resistant plant that tends to perpetuate\nitself indefinitely once introduced. By cutting down the sage, prairie\ndogs eliminate it from the plant community and open the land to grasses.\n\nIn its struggle for control of territory, the prairie dog was aided by\nthe bison. The vast herds that moved across the landscape like a black\nplague of giant locusts left choice tracts of the grasslands devastated\nin their wake. The effects of such a physical force are difficult for us\nto comprehend today. Migrating northward in huge columns that sometimes\nmeasured 80 kilometers (50 miles) across, the bison cropped and trampled\nthe greening spring grasses. Surely when the bison and the prairie dog\nwere finally replaced by cattle, the grasslands, free at last from such\npunishment, would flourish. But no, instead the grasses languished. How\ncould this be so?\n\nNature is always more complex than our perception of it. For countless\ncenturies the Great Plains had survived its many moods of drought, dust\nstorm, and wildfire, its scattered plagues of bison and grasshopper.\nNature knows no \"varmits,\" and change is not catastrophe, but\nopportunity. But to the settler who shot hawks, owls, and eagles to\nprotect his calves, poultry, and children, the lesson was a long time\ndawning.\n\nIronically, the grasslands needed the periodic despoilment of bison and\nburrow. When the bison herd moved on, it left behind tons of fertilizer,\nkey to the area's future rejuvenation. But the millions of hoofs also\nleft the ground compacted. Were it not for the ceaseless activities of\ncountless burrowing animals, including the industrious prairie dogs,\nloosening the soil and undoing the damage, the bison would have\neventually destroyed much of their range.\n\nFor an animal so successfully adapted to life on the unrelieved expanses\nof the open plains, it is ironic that today prairie dogs survive in\nisolated colonies at the very margins of its desirable habitat.\n\n\n\n\n                         3    Guide and Adviser\n\n\n                              Regional Map\n\n                     [Illustration: National Parks]\n\n    [Illustration: _The map comes from the \"Guide and Map, National\n    Parks of the United States,\" a brochure that may be purchased from\n    the U. S. Government Printing Office. For information on roads\n    leading to Devils Tower, see the next page._]\n\n\n                           Visiting the Park\n\n\n                                Location\n\nOn the fringe of the Black Hills in northeastern Wyoming, northwest of\nSundance, northeast of Moorcroft, and southwest of Hulett.\n\n\n                                  Area\n\n545 hectares (1,347 acres).\n\n\n                               Elevation\n\nThe park is about 1,290 meters (4,250 feet) above sea level. The Tower\nrises another 264 meters (867 feet) to the top.\n\n\n                                Climate\n\nSummer temperatures cover a wide range from daily highs of 29\u00b0C (83\u00b0F)\nto lows of 10\u00b0C (50\u00b0F). Winter temperatures plunge below freezing for\nlong periods of time. Spring arrives usually sometime in April, but the\ntemperature drops quickly at night and stays cold during the day if it's\ncloudy. About the end of September, fall begins, and with it the golden\ncolor of changing cottonwood leaves along the Belle Fourche River.\n\n\n                          Best times to visit\n\nSpring is short in the Rocky Mountain West and can be a time of violent\nshifts in weather: summerlike days alternating with cold, always the\npossibility of late heavy snowfalls, and no inbetweens. These extremes\nseem to be tempered somewhat at Devils Tower, and the fun of watching\ndeer can more than make up for any inconvenience due to the weather.\nWhitetail deer, followed by their spotted fawns, are rubbing off winter\ncoats. They seem to be browsing the park hungrily everywhere you look.\n\nSummer heat, because of elevation and dry air, radiates quickly but\nnever becomes stifling. Winds are strong and steady and there is always\na danger of exposure for those unprepared for sudden thunder and\nlightning storms, or for the sudden cooling after sunset. Most visits to\nDevils Tower are made in the summer when the surrounding rangelands are\ngreen and the sparkling watercourses invite refreshment under shade of\ncottonwoods.\n\nEarly fall, just as the range begins to brown, is perhaps a perfect time\nto be at Devils Tower. The park is uncrowded after Labor Day. Protected\nmeadows are still green. Animals are in their prime and ready for the\nrigors of winter. The faint odor of decaying vegetation and the\nforetaste of winter on a particularly bracing chill wind--these are the\npleasures of a long Wyoming fall.\n\nWinter brings an air of enforced isolation to Devils Tower. Heavy snows\nand frequent blizzard conditions on the highways discourage most\ntravelers. A rare treat awaits those who do come here in winter,\nhowever. Bald eagles migrate down from the north. You might see them\nwheeling in pairs over an otherwise frozen landscape, or making a feast\nof carrion on the ground.\n\n\n                                 Access\n\nHighways--From Rapid City, S. Dak., take I-90 west to Sundance. Wyo.;\nthen U.S. 14 to Devils Tower Junction; then Wyo. 24 to park. From\nGillette, Wyo., take I-90 east to Moorcroft, then U.S. 14 to Wyo. 24.\nFrom Newcastle, Wyo. take U.S. 16 to Moorcroft. From Belle Fourche, S.\nDak., take S. Dak. 34 to Wyoming line, then Wyo. 24 via Hulett to park.\nBuses--Nearest regularly scheduled buses serve Moorcroft; no service to\npark. Railroads--Nearest rail passenger service is in Cheyenne.\nAirport--Rapid City Airport is served by a few commercial airlines. Cars\nmay be rented.\n\n\n                             Visitor Center\n\nFor a general introduction to Devils Tower, the visitor center has\nexhibits, an audio/visual program, trail guides and plant and animal\nchecklists, a publications sales outlet, and an information counter with\na ranger on duty to answer questions. This is also the place where\nclimbers must register to climb Devils Tower. The visitor center is open\nfrom about May 1 to October 31. In winter information requests are\nanswered in the headquarters administration building.\n\n\n                                Camping\n\nThe park has one campground for which a campsite fee is charged from\nabout May 20 through September 10. Opening and closing dates depend on\nweather conditions. It has about 50 camping sites which will accommodate\nboth tent and trailer camping equipment. A water tap, restrooms, fire\ngrills, and picnic tables are provided, but there are no utility\nhook-ups for trailers. Campsites are taken on a first-come, first-served\nbasis. After September 10, or later at the first sign of freezing, the\nwater is shut off and the road is not snowplowed. Winter camping is\nallowed, however.\n\n\n                          Scheduled Activities\n\nThe featured program at Devils Tower is presented every evening during\nthe visitor season in the campground amphitheater. The story of the\nnation's first national monument is told with projected slide\nphotographs by a park ranger who embellishes the story with colorful\nanecdotes about rangering experiences.\n\n\n                                 Hiking\n\nEven if you have only time for a half-day visit to Devils Tower, it's\ntime enough for a hike around the tower. Tower Trail is only 2\nkilometers (1.25 miles) long and traverses fairly level ground. It stays\nin forest shade while it skirts the jumbled mass of boulders lying at\nthe base of the Tower. It is the only trail in the park with formal\nwayside markers and benches where you can stop and look at the Tower\nfrom close up.\n\nThe park has three other designated hiking trails, all of them longer\nthan Tower Trail and generally uncrowded. Devils Tower is never out of\nsight for long though, so it's not easy to get lost. The longer trails\noffer a chance to see different plant and animal environments; open\nmeadows, prairie dog towns, bluffs overlooking the Belle Fourche River,\nthe riverside habitat itself, as well as the pine forest, all of which\nare described in Part 2 of this handbook.\n\n\n                          Other accommodations\n\nMotels, trailer courts, camping supply stores, and service stations are\nin the nearby town of Hulett. Just outside the park boundary is a post\noffice, general store, and commercial campground with a few extra\nrecreational offerings.\n\n\n                         Establishment of park\n\nProclaimed September 24, 1906. Boundary changes, August 9, 1955.\n\n\n                            Mailing address\n\nDevils Tower, Wyoming 82714.\n\n\n                            Park Regulations\n\n\n                            Natural Features\n\nIt is unlawful to disturb, injure, destroy, or remove any vegetation or\nrocks. This basic rule is made not only to protect the natural resources\nbut out of consideration for others who will be here in the future.\n\n\n                                Wildlife\n\nDo not feed the prairie dogs or let them get close to you; they carry\nfleas and they can bite you. Do not chase, harass, attempt to catch, or\nfeed any park animals. Rattlesnakes usually don't strike unless provoked\nor mistreated. Watch out for them! Hunting is not permitted in the park.\nIf firearms and other weapons are carried, they must be unloaded and\ncased so as to prevent their use.\n\n\n                                  Pets\n\nAll pets must be kept in vehicles, or caged or leashed when in the park.\nThey are not permitted in public buildings.\n\n\n                                Traffic\n\nDrive carefully to protect yourself, others, and wildlife. Do not\nobstruct traffic by stopping on the road; pull over and let other\nvehicles pass. Driving off roadways is prohibited. Park on road\nshoulders or at parking areas only.\n\n\n                               Sanitation\n\nCamp only at the campground. Dump wastes and wash water in special sinks\nat the restrooms, not on the ground. Littering is both irresponsible and\nunlawful. Trash cans are provided at convenient places throughout the\npark; please use them.\n\n\n                            Fire Prevention\n\nFires are permitted only in the fireplaces found in the campground and\nmust not be left unattended. Thoroughly drown all campfires with water\nafter use.\n\n\n                           Climbing the Tower\n\nAll climbers must register by name, address, and telephone number with a\npark ranger before going up.\n\nAnd you must check out when you return. This is the only safety\nprecaution on climbing required by the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations.\nDepending on your mountain climbing experience here and elsewhere,\nhowever, you might want to ask the rangers for safety hints, different\nclimbing routes, and conditions on the face of the Tower at the time of\nyour climb.\n\nMore than 80 separate routes to the top have been taken and described in\nthe literature. No one has been killed climbing the Tower, a remarkable\nrecord. The most difficult pitches come first while there is still\nplenty of time to turn back or take an easier route. Also, compared to\nother mountains, Devils Tower can be conquered in a short time, less\nthan an hour for the most skilled if they use an easy route. This means\nless chance of exhaustion from exposure. In sudden bad weather, one can\neasily rappel off in 40 to 60 minutes.\n\n    [Illustration: _George Willig, in red shirt, and Steve Matous\n    prepare to climb Devils Tower in 1979._]\n\n    [Illustration: _Their climb was witnessed by a national audience on\n    a televised all-day sport show and by a large crowd in the park\n    using telescopes and binoculars._]\n\nRecords of climbs have been kept at the park since 1937. In 1963 the one\nthousandth climber checked in and in 1970 the two thousandth. Since 1977\nmore than 1,000 make the climb every year. The Tower has been climbed\nwith the direct aid of ropes and pitons and with a technique known as\n\"free climbing\" without the use of ropes except as backup to catch a\nfall. It has been climbed from all sides and in all seasons, even on\nChristmas Day and on New Year's Day. Some people, of course, prefer to\nclimb the Tower in snow and ice. One might conclude that all the\n\"firsts\" have been taken at Devils Tower, but, as long as the personal\nchallenge of the sport continues to attract newcomers, there are certain\nto be more new records.\n\n    [Illustration: _From the ground a member of the Willig party looks\n    minute._]\n\n    [Illustration: _Up close, another climber ponders his next move._]\n\nAugust has been the most active climbing month in recent years. The heat\non the south-facing side of the Tower presents serious problems though.\nClimbers usually try to start as early as possible before the sun has a\nchance to heat the rock blazing hot.\n\nClimbers rightfully take interest in the geology of the Tower. Worming\ntheir fingers into cracks and fissures, depending for their lives on the\nringing-hard igneous mass that supports them, rock climbers develop a\nfamiliarity with various origins and kinds of rock. They, of course,\ncontribute to the ongoing process of erosion which, over eons of time,\nhas left Devils Tower in its present form. The amount of loose rock that\nbreaks off under their feet, however, is far less than the amount lost\nevery season from frost-heave, the effect of water seeping behind the\nsurface rock and expanding into ice. The boulder field at the base of\nthe Tower tells the rest of the erosion story. By studying lichen\ngrowing on the last slab to fall off the side, it has been estimated\nthat this event occurred more than 10,000 years ago.\n\n\n                         Nearby National Parks\n\n\n                    Mount Rushmore National Memorial\n\nis 40 kilometers (25 miles) southwest of Rapid City, South Dakota.\nPatriotic ideals representing the birth of the Nation through its entry\ninto 20th Century world affairs are symbolized in massive stone carvings\nof George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore\nRoosevelt. The scale and difficulty of sculptor Gutzon Borglum's\nachievement perhaps can only be appreciated in person. From June 1 to\nLabor Day the faces are illuminated at night and evening programs are\npresented in the amphitheater. Mailing address: Keystone, South Dakota\n57751.\n\n\n                        Wind Cave National Park\n\nis located on U.S. 385, 16 kilometers (10 miles) north of Hot Springs,\nSouth Dakota. Wind whistling from the entrance attracted attention to\nthe cave, hence its name. Jesse McDonald developed the cave as a tourist\nattraction in 1890. His son, Alvin, explored its passageways and named\nmany of the fancy formations. Above ground the park preserves a natural\nprairie environment and a remnant bison herd, as poignant a scene as you\nwill find anywhere in the West. Tours of the cave are conducted by park\nrangers throughout the year except on December 25 and January 1. A\ncampground is open from mid-May through mid-September on a first-come,\nfirst-served basis. Mailing address: Hot Springs, South Dakota 57747.\n\n    [Illustration: _Mount Rushmore is one of the most grandiose\n    monuments of patriotism in the United States, attracting travelers\n    from across the Nation and around the world._]\n\n    [Illustration: _The bison herd at Wind Cave National Park conjures\n    up images of days gone by when as many as 60 million of these\n    animals roamed a 30-state area between the Rockies and the eastern\n    woodlands._]\n\n\n                      Jewel Cave National Monument\n\nis located on U.S. 16, 24 kilometers (15 miles) west of Custer, South\nDakota. Glittering arrays of mineral formations--jewel-like calcite\ncrystals, calcite \"popcorn,\" crystalline gypsum \"flowers\"--give this\npark its name. On the four levels seemingly endless passageways wind on\nand on, and the end is still not in sight. On the surface in the\nponderosa pine forest, you can tell from the dark bark of the young\ntrees why, as one approaches, the Black Hills appear black. Cave tours\nare conducted daily from mid-May through September. The park does not\nhave overnight accommodations or campgrounds. Mailing address: Custer,\nSouth Dakota 57730.\n\n    [Illustration: _Calcite crystals glisten and sparkle on the walls of\n    Jewel Cave._]\n\n    [Illustration: _East of Rapid City a different light show can be\n    enjoyed as sunrises and sunsets heighten the natural colors of the\n    eroded rock in Badlands National Park._]\n\n\n                         Badlands National Park\n\nis 97 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Rapid City, South Dakota.\nBadlands generally describes any deeply eroded and weather-beaten\nlandscape. The play of light and shadow over endless naturally sculpted\nshapes and the colors of naked rock give these badlands their special\nbeauty. In 1976 a major portion of Badlands National Park was designated\nwilderness and a new south unit extended the boundaries into the Pine\nRidge Indian Reservation. The park has paleontology exhibits, a program\non the history of the Oglala Sioux, a variety of nature trails, and a\nlong road system with wayside exhibits at many scenic overlooks. The\npark has a herd of about 300 bison and some prairie dog towns. It is\nopen all year. Mailing address: Interior, South Dakota 57750.\n\n\n                      Not So Nearby National Parks\n\nA considerable distance from Devils Tower, yet related by geography and\neven history, is a band of national parks not to be overlooked.\nYellowstone and Grand Teton in northwestern Wyoming, may, in fact, be\nyour ultimate destination. The snow-capped peaks of the Bighorn\nMountains in Wyoming, where Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area is\nlocated, can be seen from several places along the approach road to\nDevils Tower. Custer Battlefield, adjoining the Crow Indian Reservation,\nis on the northern route to Yellowstone through Billings, Montana.\nTheodore Roosevelt National Park celebrates the man and the ideals of\nthe American conservation movement which he accelerated by proclaiming\nDevils Tower the first national monument.\n\n\n                       Yellowstone National Park\n\nis on U.S. 89, 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of Livingston, Montana.\nThis first and reigning queen of all national parks, established more\nthan a century ago, draws travelers as if it were a place of pilgrimage.\nIndeed, there is spiritual enchantment beyond measuring in the lively\nanimation of Yellowstone--its exploding geysers, steaming hot pools, and\ndashing waters draining both sides of the continent. Between October 31\nand May 1, park roads and entrances, except the North Entrance, are\nordinarily closed by snow. Winter activities include snowmobiling and\ncross-country skiing. Campgrounds usually open about June. A host of\npark-sponsored and concessioner services are offered. Mailing address:\nYellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190.\n\n\n                       Grand Teton National Park\n\nis located just north of Jackson, Wyoming, on U.S. 187, and 90\nkilometers (56 miles) south of Yellowstone via the John D. Rockefeller,\nJr., Memorial Parkway. The Tetons, among the noblest creations in the\nAmerican West, are a congregation of blue-gray pyramids soaring above\nthe sagebrush flats and morainal lakes in Jackson Hole. The valley, a\nhunting ground of prehistoric Indians for centuries, became a fur trade\ncrossroads in the early 19th Century. Geology, wildlife, plains Indian\nculture, all share leading roles in the story of this park. Visitor\nfacilities are open all year, though curtailed somewhat in winter.\nMailing address: Moose, Wyoming 83021.\n\n\n                  Custer Battlefield National Monument\n\nis on Interstate 90, 24 kilometers (15 miles) south of Hardin, Montana.\nOn Sunday, June 25, 1876, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and five\ncompanies of the 7th Calvary under his immediate command were surrounded\nand killed by Indians. The defeat shocked the nation and still\nreverberates with questions about what exactly happened in this clash of\ncultures. Memorials spread across the hills soberly tell what little is\nknown. The park, open all year, has exhibits but no campgrounds. Mailing\naddress: Crow Agency, Montana 59022.\n\n\n                Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area\n\nstraddles the Montana-Wyoming boundary, 67 kilometers (42 miles) from\nHardin, Montana, on the north: and at Lovell, Wyoming, on the south.\nAccess to boat launching ramps and campgrounds is from either end of the\nlong narrow reservoir backed up behind Yellowtail Dam on the Bighorn\nRiver, which here flows north. Boating and fishing enthusiasts enjoy a\nlong season from mid-April to late October. Tours of the dam and\npowerhouse are given daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and the\nvisitor centers are open all year. Mailing address: P.O. Box 458, Fort\nSmith, Montana 59035.\n\n    [Illustration: _Jackson Lake sits below Mount Moran. This major peak\n    in Grand Teton National Park bears a small permanent glacier._]\n\n    [Illustration: _Another celebrated view is the Lower Falls of the\n    Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, in Yellowstone National Park._]\n\n\n                    Theodore Roosevelt National Park\n\nis on Interstate 94, at Medora, North Dakota. A north unit is 90\nkilometers (56 miles) north on US. 85. TR's Maltese Cross Cabin is in\nthe south unit, but the park celebrates more than the 26th President's\nenergetic protection of public lands. Magnificently colored and worn\nbadlands lie on both sides of the Little Missouri River interspersed\nwith grassy ranges where adventurous men, Roosevelt among them,\nenterprised in the open-range cattle business. Populations of bighorn\nsheep, bison, and antelope, among the large game animals once hunted to\nextinction, have been restored. The visiting season is May through\nOctober. The park has campgrounds in both north and south units. Mailing\naddress: Medora, North Dakota 58645.\n\n\n                         Armchair Explorations\n\nBooks:\n\nAllen, Durward L. _The Life of Prairies and Plains._ Our Living World of\nNature series. McGraw-Hill, 1967.\n\nEverhart, William C. _The National Park Service._ Praeger Publishers,\n1972.\n\nLamb, Russell, photos by. _Wyoming._ Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co.,\n1978.\n\nLarson, T. A. _Wyoming--A Bicentennial History._ Norton, 1977.\n\nRobbins, Royal. _Basic Rockcraft._ La Siesta Press, 1971.\n\nRobbins, Royal. _Advanced Rockcraft._ La Siesta Press, 1973.\n\nTilden, Freeman. _The National Parks._ Alfred A. Knopf, 1978.\n\nTilden, Freeman. _Interpreting Our Heritage._ University of North\nCarolina Press, 1977.\n\nWetmore, Clifford M. _Lichens of the Black Hills._ Vol. 3, No. 4.\nMichigan State University, 1968.\n\n_Wind Cave._ National Park Handbook series, 104. National Park Service,\n1979.\n\n\nBooklets:\n\nCunningham, Robert. _It's a Dog's Life._ Theodore Roosevelt Nature and\nHistory Association, n.d.\n\nHorning, Dennis, and Marriott, Hollis. _Free Climbs of Devils Tower._\n1980.\n\nMattison, Ray H. _Devils Tower National Monument--A History._ Devils\nTower Natural History Association, 1981.\n\nRobinson, Charles S. _Geology of Devils Tower National Monument,\nWyoming._ Devils Tower Natural History Association, n.d.\n\nVan Bruggen, Theodore. _Wildflowers of the Northern Plains and Black\nHills._ Badlands Natural History Association, 1976.\n\n\n                                 Index\n\nNumbers in italics refer to photographs, illustrations, or maps.\n\n\n                                   A\n  Animal life 24, 29, 35, 47, 58, 69, 71;\n      photos _31_, _37_, _60_-61.\n      _See also_ Birds; Deer; Prairie Dogs\n  Antiquities Act of 1906 17\n\n\n                                      B\n  Badlands National Park 52, _75_\n  Badger _61_\n  Belle Fourche River 9, 11, 17, _22_-23, 24, 27, 42\n  Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area 76-77\n  Birds 24, 32, 34, 35, 36, 42-43, 46;\n      photos _31_, _44_, _45_, _60_, _61_\n  Black Hills 9, 10-11, 29\n  Bluebird, mountain _45_\n  Bullsnake _61_\n\n\n                                      C\n  Climbers 12, _14_-15, 16, _30_, 31, _72_, _73_\n  Conn, Herb 15\n  Conn, Jan _15_\n  Coyote _61_\n  Custer, George Armstrong 9, 10, 76\n  Custer Battlefield National Monument 76\n\n\n                                      D\n  Deer, whitetail 35, 37, _38_-39\n  Devils Tower National Monument 29, 69;\n      climbers 12, _14_-15, 16, _30_, 31, _72_, _73_;\n      established 12, 17, 71;\n      geological origins 11, _25_-27, 35;\n      Indian names 10-11, 26;\n      photos _6_-7, _17_, _18_;\n      size 27, 69;\n      tourism 19, 34, 69-71\n  Dodge, Richard I. 10-11\n  Doves, rock _31_\n  Durrance, Jack 15, 16\n\n\n                                      E\n  Eagle, golden _60_, _61_\n\n\n                                      F\n  Falcon, prairie 34, _61_\n  Ferrett, black-footed _51_, _61_\n  Fox _37_\n\n\n                                      G\n  Geology 11, 25-_27_, 35\n  Gopher, pocket _37_\n  Grand Teton National Park 76, _77_\n  Grasslands 29, _31_, 35, 46, _64_-65\n\n\n                                      H\n  Hanson, Dennis 31\n  Hopkins, George _15_, 16\n\n\n                                      I\n  Indians 10, 26\n  Insects 32-33, 46\n\n\n                                      J\n  Jackson, William H. 12\n  Jewel Cave National Monument 74-_75_\n  Joyner, Newell F. _15_\n\n\n                                      M\n  Magpie, black-billed _45_\n  Map _51_, _68_\n  Mateo Tepee 10, 11\n  Matous, Steve _72_\n  Missouri Buttes 26, _27_\n  Mondell, Frank W. 17\n  Moran, Thomas 12\n  Mount Rushmore National Memorial _74_\n\n\n                                      N\n  National parks _74_-77\n  Nighthawk _45_\n  Nuthatch, white-breasted _44_, 45\n\n\n                                      O\n  Owl, screech _13_;\n      burrowing, 55, 61\n\n\n                                      P\n  Porcupine _37_\n  Prairie dogs 28, 29, 50-65 _passim_, 71;\n      photos _12_, _48_-49, _54_, _55_, _56_, _57_\n\n\n                                      R\n  Raccoon _37_\n  Ripley, Willard 12, 14, 16\n  Rogers, William 12, _14_, 16\n  Roosevelt, Theodore 17\n  Roosevelt National Park, Theodore 52, 77\n  Rowell, Galen _30_, 31\n\n\n                                      S\n  Showacre, Joan _15_\n  Squirrel, ground _37_\n\n\n                                      T\n  Trees _9_, 29, 36, 40, 41\n\n\n                                      W\n  Warren, Francis E. 12\n  Weasel, longtail _37_\n  Wiessner, Fritz 15\n  Willig, George 16, _72_\n  Wind Cave National Park 52, _74_\n  Woodpecker, red-headed _45_\n  Wyoming 9-10, 11-12\n\n\n                                      Y\n  Yellowstone National Park 76, _77_\n\n  For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing\n  Office, Washington, DC 20402.\n\n  Stock Number 024-005-00810-1.\n\n  *GPO: 1981--341-611/2\n\n\n\n\n                         National Park Service\n\n\nThe National Park Service expresses its appreciation to all those\npersons who made the preparation and production of this handbook\npossible. The Service also gratefully acknowledges the financial support\ngiven this handbook project by the Devils Tower Natural History\nAssociation a nonprofit group that assists interpretive efforts at\nDevils Tower National Monument.\n\n\n                                 Texts\n\nGreg Beaumont, who wrote Part 2, is a wildlife photographer and\nnaturalist who lives in Muscatine, Iowa.\n\n\n                                  Map\n\nR.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. 68.\n\n\n                             Illustrations\n\nThe prairie dog burrow diagram on page 57 is from the August 1979 issue\nof \"National Geographic\" and is used with the permission of the National\nGeographic Society.\n\nRussell Lamb cover, 6-7, and 22-23.\n\nGreg Beaumont 8, 9, 12, 13, 17, 31 top of Tower, 37-39 except raccoon,\n44-45, 54-57, 60, and 61 golden eaglets, coyote, bullsnake, prairie\nfalcon, burrowing owl.\n\nJaime Quintero 27.\n\nGalen Rowell, Visualeyes Photographic Agency 18, 30, and 31 wood rat,\ncactus, doves.\n\nTom Bean 48-49, and 61 badger.\n\nAll other illustrations come from the files of Devils Tower National\nMonument and the National Park Service.\n\n\n\n\n                    U.S. Department of the Interior\n\n\nAs the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the\nInterior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public\nlands and natural resources. This includes fostering the wisest use of\nour land and water resources, protecting our fish and wildlife,\npreserving the environmental and cultural values of our national parks\nand historical places, and providing for the enjoyment of these through\noutdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy and mineral\nresources to assure that their development is in the best interest of\nall our people. The Department also has a major responsibility for\nAmerican Indian reservation communities and for people who live in\nisland territories under U.S. administration.\n\n\n                          Transcriber's Notes\n\n\n--Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook\n  is public-domain in the country of publication.\n\n--Relocated all image captions to be immediately under the corresponding\n  images, removing references like \"preceding page\".\n\n--Silently corrected a few palpable typos.\n\n--In the text versions only, text in italic font is delimited by\n  _underscores_.","title":"Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming (1984)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":19837}