Road to Devils Tower, Wyoming

The Devils Tower in the Black Hills of northeastern Wyoming is our nation's first National Monument. It was established in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The name of the monument was based on an incorrect translation of an Indian name, which should have been translated into "Bear Lodge" instead of "Bad Gods Tower." Col. Richard Dodge, who named the Tower in 1875, modified "Bad Gods Tower" to a better English form, calling it "Devils Tower." How ironic that a monument held sacred by Native Americans should be named Devils Tower. In any case, Native Americans still revere and hold ceremonies at the Tower leaving prayer cloths behind, which you will see in the video. Steven Spielberg's 1977 movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" used Devils Tower as a plot element. The 5 tones "decCG" were used with hand symbols in the movie. Composer John Williams chose them after trying hundreds of 5-tone combinations. Today, the 5 tones are as identifiable as the movie.