Fun Fact Friday: Devils Tower

Did you know that Devils Tower was the first United States National Monument? President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt designated this site a national monument on September 24, 1906. Our 26th president, President Roosevelt, was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed visiting the West. He was passionate about protecting public lands against the exploitation of lumber, minerals, and waterpower and made conservation a priority during his presidency.

Devils Tower is a formation of igneous rock located in the northeast corner of the state of Wyoming near the town of Sundance. Devils Tower stands 867 feet high from the base to summit and is just over a mile wide at the base.

Here’s a photograph from when I visited back in 2002 (clearly it’s time to go visit again and take lots more, better pictures). Despite the southeast corner of Wyoming being my home for 9 years, I’ve only visited Devils Tower once. The entire state is so beautiful and such a great place to visit in the summertime (winters get really cold).

If you haven’t been to Wyoming but this landmark looks familiar, maybe you’ve seen the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind released back in 1977 which features this rock formation as the site of UFO activity. (Just writing this post kind of makes me want to eat some mashed potatoes.)