Historians have identified more than 20 Native American tribes with important cultural ties to Devils Tower, among them several bands of the Lakota, Blackfeet, Crow and Northern Arapaho. Natural forces continue to shape Devils Tower as wind and water keep eroding the pillar-it's rare, but sometimes entire columns break away and fall to the ground around the tower. Other scientists even think the tower comes from an extinct volcano, though there's no other evidence of volcanic activity in the area. Some think the magma that formed Devils Tower intruded all the way to the surface, while others think erosion wore away the softer sedimentary rock to eventually expose the tower. As the magma cooled, it contracted to create a series of hexagon-shaped columns made of a rock called phonolite porphyry, which give the tower its textured, striped look. Geologists do know that an intrusion-or the forcible movement of magma into or between other types of rock-of igneous rock formed the tower. How did such an unusual rock tower get here? Scientists aren't entirely sure. It's Devils Tower, a 867-foot pillar beckoning everyone from Native Americans to geology buffs to rock climbers to come closer, drink in the sights and sounds, and learn more about the remarkable cultural and natural history surrounding the monument. Travelers roaming through the northeastern Wyoming prairie will be treated to a strange and wonderful sight: a striking stone column rising seemingly out of nowhere.
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