The Legend of How Devil’s Tower Was Created By Giant Bears
Devil's Tower National Monument sometimes plays second fiddle to Wyoming's more famous national parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton, but the legend about how it came to be is second to none.
Devil's Tower gained modern fame when it was the centerpiece of Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
How did this magnificent display of nature actually happen? Scientists will tell you the honest truth is they really don't know as mentioned on the National Park Service website. They believe that the tower was magma under the surface, but are not certain about what kind of uplift made it a tower.
A University of Wyoming video shared the Native American legend about how Devil's Tower was created by a giant bear clawing the rock from the sides.
The Devil's Tower Wikipedia page explains this legend in even more depth:
According to the Native American tribes of the Kiowa and Lakota, a group of girls went out to play and were spotted by several giant bears, who began to chase them. In an effort to escape the bears, the girls climbed atop a rock, fell to their knees, and prayed to the Great Spirit to save them.
There is a reason why Thrillist recently named Devil's Tower National Monument as one of the hidden gems in America. It's legendary even if you don't believe that giant bears created it. Definitely worth a day trip if you haven't witnessed it before.