National Monuments * * * # 165 



The Devils Tower played an important part in the lives of the Indians, 

 not only as a landmark, but also in their legends. The origin of the rock is 

 explained by the Indians very easily. One day, so the legend goes, three 

 Sioux maidens, gathering wild flowers, were beset by three bears. The 

 maidens took refuge on a rock, but the bears, having sharp claws, also began 

 climbing the rock. The Great Spirit, seeing the predicament of the maidens, 

 caused the rock to grow higher and higher out of the ground. The bears 

 climbed and climbed until they were exhausted, and then fell hundreds of 

 feet to their death on the ground below. Saved from the ferocious animals, 

 the Indian maidens made a rope of their flowers and safely lowered them 

 selves to the ground below. 



Believe it or not, it appears as though that, or a phenomenon of similar 

 nature, must have happened to project this great rock so high above the 

 plain. The Indians also claimed that the Thunder God beat his tom-tom on 

 the top of the tower, thus causing thunder. The tower also served the white 

 pioneers in their Indian wars, being a direction point. The reservation is 

 1,152 acres in extent and is reached by the Custer Battlefield Highway and 

 the Black and Yellow Trail, or by the Burlington Railroad from Moorcroft 

 station. A fine campsite is available for motorists. 



SHOSHONE CAVERN 



The Shoshone Cavern is a regular story-book robbers' cave, its secret 

 entrance located high up a mountain cliff among the trees. The cavern is 

 about four miles from Cody and on the Cody Road, one of the main 

 entrances to Yellowstone Park. The entrance is about twenty feet wide and 

 six feet high. Once inside, the cave a large fault in the mountains extends 

 back for more than half a mile. Off it are numerous side caverns, many of 

 which are not yet explored. Guides are needed to find the entrance of the 

 cave, reached after a trail climb of a mile, and a further climb up precipitous 

 ladders. Inside the cavern are interesting and beautiful formations. 



FOSSIL CYCAD MONUMENT 



In a picturesque part of the Black Hills of South Dakota is found the 

 Fossil Cycad National Monument, an area of 320 acres wherein are found 

 deposits of ancient fern-like plants of the Mesozoic period. It is the most 

 interesting fossil-plant bed yet discovered. In it have been unearthed plants 

 of enormous size, some with unexpanded buds, enabling scientists to piece 

 together models of ancient flowers and fruits. This monument is reached 

 from the Denver-Deadwood Highway, or via the Chicago & Northwestern 

 Railroad from Hot Springs, South Dakota, or the Burlington Route from 

 Minnekahta or Edgemont. 



VERENDRYE MONUMENT 



Verendrye National Monument commemorates the explorations of the 

 celebrated French explorer and his sons, who first pushed into the Montana 



