Just across the border from South Dakota into Wyoming is the Mathó Thípila (Lakota for 'Bear Lodge') or Ptehé Gí (brown buffalo horn). According to one source, in 1875 Col. Richard Irving led an expedition that encountered the 1,267 feet (386 m) monolith. Irving's interpreter misinterpreted the name to mean Bad God's Tower... which was later shortened to Devils Tower. Although there are several theories on how Devils Tower formed, most researchers are convinced the tower is all that remains of what once was a large explosive volcano.
The 1977 movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, used the tower in its climactic scenes. The night we stayed in the adjacent campground was also the night the movie was shown at an outside amphitheater. As I watched the alien ships flying from behind the tower on the big screen, I couldn't help but glance up apprehensively at the actual Devils Tower against the many stars of the night sky and wonder...