This is the 10th cache from Team Family Affair, which has now been revised, and changed into a virtual cache. There are 80 National Monuments in the United States and Devils Tower National Monument was our Nations first. Devils Tower is located about 30 miles north west of Sundance Wyoming just outside the Black Hills.
History: This distinctive landmark was first discovered by the Indians, and then later in 1859 by the white men (by The Captain W.F. Raynolds Yellowstone Expedition). At that time it was named “Bear lodge” (taken from the Indian name Mateo Teepee). In 1875 it was renamed Devils Tower after the US Geological Survey of the Black Hills and surrounding area was conducted. Several years later in 1892 Senator Francis Warren (of Wyoming) introduced a bill in the US senate for the establishment of Devils Tower National Park. Not much happened until 14 years later with the passage of the Antiquities Act in June of 1906. Within several months (September 1906), with the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt- It became our Nations first National Monument.
Early Visitors and Events: During those early years there were no roads or bridges across the Belle Fourche River, so it was quite a trek just to visit Devils Tower. The best known early event at the tower was on the 4th of July 1893. The handbill circulated around the surrounding states stated there will be plenty to eat and drink, lots of hay and grain for the horses as well as dancing day and night. The feature attraction of this event was the first climbing of the tower. A couple of local ranchers, through elaborate preparations built a wooden ladder into the side of one of the cracks to reach the 800-foot summit. You can still see remnants of that ladder today on the 1.3 mile hike around the base of the tower. Other interesting events at the tower- it was first climbed (with out the use of the ladder) by the American Alpine Club of New York City in 1937. Several years later in 1941 a skydiver named George Hopkins parachuted to the flat top of the tower (it’s about a football field in size complete with grasses and chipmunks). George ended up making the front page and National Headlines when he was stuck up there for 6 days and had to be rescued to get down. If you’re a Steven Spielberg fan, the movie “Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind” was filmed at Devils Tower in the late 1970s. There is hiking, camping and a nice visitor’s center at the parking lot at the base.
The original cache was the normal green ammo box with Geocaching.com stenciled on the side. It was hidden in a vertical crack at N 44° 35.409 W 104° 42.831 just a little ways off the trail, and was marked with a bent tree branch in the crack. It is reported the branch is still there but the cache is missing (it was picked up by the Park Service as Geocaches are not allowed in National Parks)
To complete and successfully log this cache you must:
- Post a selfie photo of you and your team with the sign at the cache location in the background.