We left South Dakota en route for the famous Devil’s Tower. This national monument was made even more famous by the movie, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (which we watched in its (LONG) entirety the night before our visit). On our way to Wyoming, we made a stop in Deadwood. This town is pretty cool on the exterior and it has a lot of history. We saw the bar where “Wild Bill Hicock” was shot dead. I am sure other bar brawls took place in this town but that was the most famous. Most of the buildings house casinos now which was a bit of a bummer. We hoped to experience a bit more of the authentic wild west as opposed to something more like Vegas! We then drove by Sturgis which is home to the biggest motorcycle rally in the world. One week out of the year (this year the rally is at the beginning of August), the town of Sturgis welcomes over 500,000 people on motorcycles. It must be quite the party! The town is completey DEAD for the other 51 weeks out of the year. We figured the businesses in town probably make enough in one week to last them all year!
When we arrived at Devil’s Tower, we were really blown away. We drove by rolling hills, prairies and small rock formations. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, this amazing huge formation appears known as Devil’s Tower. We camped at the national campground near the Tower and when we awoke, it was as if the Tower was in our backyard. We took the 2 mile hike around the Tower and got to view it from all different angles. It really reminded us of a HUGE tree truck! Indian folklore tells the story of 7 young sisters who had wandered towards the area where the tower now “towers!” They were chased by a large bear and ran to a rock which was only 3 feet tall and stood on top of it. They asked the rock to help them. The rock heard them and started growing towards the sky. The bear clawed at the rock, making big long claw marks on the tower’s walls. The bear’s claws fell off and it died at the base. There are seven stars above the Tower and these stars are said to be the seven sisters. The kids just loved hearing this story and enjoyed retelling it to each other.
Andrew’s friend Austen was with us which added to our fun. Andrew and Austen went tubing down the nearby river and caught a snapping turtle along the way! Glad the turtle didn’t snap off their swimshorts (or one of their toes!) We left Devil’s Tower with great memories. Montana here we come!
