Devils Tower

If you ever seen the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind then you’ve seen the Devils Tower. This distinctive mountain landmark is hard to miss.

Devils Tower

The main character has strange visions that feature Devils Tower. He forms his mashed potatoes into something that looks like it. Needless to say his family is alarmed. Soon the obsession consumes him. He paints it and then really goes nuts. He tries to make a scale replica, which prompts his wife to take the kids to grandmother’s house. Many people remember this scene.

He finally travels to see Devils Tower in person. Authorities try to stop him, but he makes it past them. He becomes witness to something wonderful. A huge alien vessel lands and communicates through music. People who have been lost for years, not aged a day, come out of the huge ship. Richard’s character is amongst those who choose to travel with the aliens back to their home planet. Given the way Hollywood makes sequels, it’s surprising this open ending didn’t spawn a second movie. It still might. Later versions shown on television and released on DVD included scenes inside the ship. It’s rather boring.

Now on to the real Devils Tower. It’s in Wyoming. It’s a volcano neck. This is also known as a lava neck. Magma flowing into a volcanic vent creates it. It’s generally the sign of an active volcano. It’s not certain that this formation is such a plug. But many geologists believe it is.

The Indians made a legend about the formation of Devils Tower. Some bears stumbled on three Indian girls who were picking flowers. The bears chased them. The Great Spirit helpd the girls by raising up the land upon which they stood. But the bears were persistent. They tried to climb up to the girls but as they neared the top slid back down. The distinctive indentations in the sides of the tower come from the bears’ claws.

Another legend, this one told by the Sioux Indians, was of two boys wandering far from their village. A giant bear called Mato came upon them. It had claws the size of tepees, and it wanted to eat the boys for breakfast. They asked the creator to offer some help. He did, raising the ground beneath them. Mato, like the bears in the other story, kept trying and failing to climb. Its huge claw marks remain.

Devils Tower

The Devils Tower is as interesting as the stories that surround it.