Part 2

With the popularizing of the automobile, the need for visitors’ facilities on the area increased. In 1916, the National Park Service was organized and the monument was placed under its jurisdiction. Prior to 1917, Congress made no general appropriations for the protection and maintenance of the national monuments. Until the 1930’s the amounts allotted for this purpose continued to be very small. Various groups continued to urge for a satisfactory access road to the area and for a bridge across the Belle Fourche River near the monument. Early in 1915, Mondell transmitted a request to the Secretary of the Interior from the three legislators from Crook County asking Congress for funds to build a road to the Tower. At a picnic held at the monument on July 4, 1916, which was attended by some 500 people, a petition was drafted and signed by 153 persons and sent to Congressman Mondell. The petitioners complained that they had been compelled to walk a mile and a half that day over a trail which was “washed out and filled with logs” in order to reach the Tower. They asked Congress for an appropriation of $20,000 to convert the giant formation into a public resort and to build a bridge across the Belle Fourche. Pressure from the various groups through Congressman Mondell was soon to bring some results. In 1917 the National Park Service, with the assistance of Crook County, built a 12 to 16-foot road three miles in length and with a grade of eight percent leading to the giant formation. In the following year, this road was improved so that it could be reached more easily by automobile. The spring at the base of the Tower was also made more serviceable.

It was some time, however, before pressure was sufficiently strong to compel the Federal Government to build a bridge across the Belle Fourche near the monument. For many years, it had been necessary for those entering the area from the east to ford the river. During the summer months, the river was subject to sudden and unpredictable rises which frequently made it impossible for people visiting the area to return to the east bank until the water subsided. In many instances, those so stranded were compelled to camp out one, and in some cases, several nights. Pressure from local people and travel organizations to build the bridge continued to be strong throughout the early 1920’s. In 1923, a petition, containing seven pages of signatures of people from Wyoming and South Dakota, was submitted to the Secretary of the Interior asking that the Belle Fourche near the monument be bridged. Both Senators Warren and John B. Kendrick lent their support to the movement. It was not until 1928 that the bridge was built.

During the 1920’s the National Park Service was able to provide only the most minimum accommodations for visitors at Devils Tower. Some work continued to be done in maintaining the roads. In 1921 John M. Thorn, County Commissioner of Crook County, of Hulett, was appointed custodian at an annual salary of $12 a year. Thorn served primarily as foreman of maintenance work and performed the minimum paper work necessary in preparing payrolls and making purchases. In 1922 the Service built a log shelter to protect the visitors from inclement weather, cleaned the spring next to the Tower and improved the road within the monument boundaries. However, in spite of the improvements the Government was able to make, the maintenance at the monument must have been very inadequate. Trespassing stock continued to graze on the area and occupy the log shelter erected for visitors. The Secretary of Custer Battlefield Highway Association complained to the Director in 1929 that the road to the Tower the previous year “was a disgrace, many people turned back because of the terrible road conditions.” He also pointed out that the area needed a full-time custodian.

Despite the hardships in reaching the Tower and the lack of accommodations after reaching there, visitation to the area continued to rise during the 1920’s. “The monument is receiving an increasing number of visitors who like to camp on the ground,” reported the Director in 1922. From 1921 to 1930 the estimated number of visitors rose from 7,000 to 14,720, the average being 9,100. After 1925 a register was kept at Grenier’s Store which was located near the east entrance to the monument.

During this period the National Park Service was under continued pressure to authorize concessions at the Tower. Numerous applications were made by individuals and companies to erect restaurants, gasoline stations, hotels and recreational facilities there. The Service consistently maintained that such developments of a permanent character should be made outside the monument boundaries and not within the area itself.

It has only been since 1930 that Devils Tower National Monument has become a national tourist attraction. This has been the result of several factors. During the latter part of the 1920’s, the Custer Battlefield Highway (U.S. Highway 14) was built between Spearfish, South Dakota, and Gillette, Wyoming, and came within only seven miles of the Tower. The State also built improved roads into Sundance from U.S. Highways 85 and 16. A paved highway was also constructed from U.S. Highway 14 to Alva making the area from the south entirely accessible by paved roads. Local and state Chambers of Commerce, travel associations, newspapers and periodicals gave the Tower wide publicity as one of the natural “wonders of the world.”

The decade of the 1930’s was one of extensive development for the monument. Although the Nation was in the throes of the Great Depression, considerable sums of money as well as manpower were made available for public works through the various relief agencies. Working under the supervision of the National Park Service, these agencies, particularly the Civilian Conservation Corps, inaugurated an extensive development program at the monument. Practically all of the improvements prior to 1956 were the results of their efforts. New roads were built, modern water and electrical systems installed, footpaths were laid out, picnic areas were established with tables and comfortable benches, and trailer and overnight camping areas were provided the visitors. Residences for employees, workshops and machine shops were erected. In 1938 a museum of sturdy log construction was completed.

The result of the improved roads and visitor facilities at the monument is reflected in travel records. During the ten-year period from 1931 to 1941, in spite of the Great Depression, the number of visitors practically tripled. In 1931 the count was 11,000; in 1936, 26,503; in 1941, 32,951.

In the early 1930’s, the first full-time custodian was stationed at the monument. This was George C. Crowe, who previously had been a Ranger-Naturalist at Yosemite National Park in California. Crowe served from April or May 1931 until March 1932 when he was transferred to Yellowstone National Park as Assistant Park Naturalist. Newell F. Joyner, who earlier had seen service at Yellowstone as Ranger and Naturalist succeeded Crowe as Custodian. Joyner served in this capacity for 15 years.

The big annual event each year at the monument, the Pioneers’ Picnic, had its origin at this time. Although old-timers frequently met at the Tower prior to that time, it was not until 1932 that they formally organized. In that year, the Northern Black Hills Pioneer Association came into being. Its membership was limited to people who had resided in that section for at least 35 years. On one day each year, usually in June, an open house is held in remembrance of this occasion.

In the late 1930’s, professional mountain climbers gave their attention to Devils Tower. Although the summit of the giant formation had by then been reached a number of times by means of the ladder which Rogers had built in 1893, no one had reached the top without this device. With the consent of the National Park Service, three mountain climbers, all members of the American Alpine Club of New York City, led by Fritz Wiessner, in 1937 made the first ascent of the Tower solely by rock-climbing techniques. They reached the top in four hours and forty-six minutes. This party made many scientific observations and brought down samples of the rock as well as vegetation found there. Eleven years later 16 members of the Iowa Mountain Climbers Club, after reaching the summit, hoisted bedding and food and spent the night. As of December 31, 1975, there have been 4,051 individual ascents of the formation by skilled climbers. It was not until 1955 that James McCarthy and John Rupley made the first ascent on the west face. At the present time, there are 49 different routes and all sides of the tower have now been climbed.

In the fall of 1941 the Tower made the headlines of the Nation’s leading newspapers. This was brought about through the foolhardy stunt of a professional parachutist named George Hopkins. Without the consent or knowledge of National Park Service officials, Hopkins, who held a number of United States and world’s records for spectacular jumps, on October 1 parachuted from an airplane to the top of the Tower. His plan was to make his descent by means of a one-half inch 1,000-foot rope which was dropped from the plane. However, this rope landed on the side of the Tower and Hopkins was unable to get it. The Park Service was confronted with a serious problem, and newspapers throughout the country made the most of the predicament. Telegrams and letters offering advice on how to rescue Hopkins came from all over the United States. Meanwhile, food and blankets were dropped to him while Service officials considered how to get the man down from the giant formation.

After weighing carefully various methods, the Service, on October 3, decided to accept the offer of Jack Durrance, a student at Dartmouth College, skier and mountain climber who had led the second mountain-climbing ascent of the Tower in 1938, to lead the rescue party. More food, water, and blankets were dropped to Hopkins and assurances were given him that help was coming. Advice and offers of assistance continued. The Goodyear Company offered to loan the use of a blimp to effect the rescue. The Navy offered the use of a helicopter. Bad weather, meanwhile, grounded Durrance’s plane, so the mountain climber had to travel to Denver by train. On October 5, Durrance and his party arrived at the monument. Working closely with Service officials, they laid out a safe climbing route for rescue operations. On the following day, Durrance led seven other climbers to the summit of the tower where they found Hopkins who, in spite of his ordeal, was in excellent physical condition and in good spirits. The descent was made with little difficulty. The stranded stunt man and the rescue operations which received wide publicity attracted many spectators from all parts of the Nation. During the six-day period, some 7,000 visitors came to the monument to see him and witness rescue operations.

Within a few months following the Hopkins episode, the United States entered World War II. Travel to the National Park Service areas, except by members of the Armed Forces, was not encouraged. Personnel, as well as appropriations, needed to maintain the areas, were reduced to a minimum. Gas and tire rationing, together with reduced vacation time resulting from the War effort, was soon to be reflected in reduced travel figures. In 1942 the visitors at the monument numbered 20,874; in 1943, 5,114; 1944, 6,024; 1945, 7,315.

In 1947 Raymond W. McIntyre succeeded Joyner as Superintendent of the monument. McIntyre, a native of North Dakota, was Park Ranger at Glacier National Park immediately prior to entering on duty at the Tower. He had previously served in the capacity of Ranger at Mount McKinley National Park in Alaska and a Ranger with the U.S. Forest Service.

James F. Hartzell replaced Raymond W. McIntyre as Superintendent of the Monument in January of 1958. Hartzell, a native of Minnesota was a Park Ranger at Olympic National Park in Washington prior to his entering on duty as Superintendent.

In April 1963, Robert J. Murphy succeeded James F. Hartzell as Superintendent of the Monument. Murphy is a native of Montana, and started his career with the National Park Service as a park ranger at Yellowstone National Park in 1942. Successive assignments included Glacier National Park in Montana, Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park in North Dakota; Rocky Mountain National Park and Shadow Mountain National Recreation Area in Colorado and Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota.

Richard T. Hart replaced Robert J. Murphy in May, 1966 as the Monument’s Superintendent. Hart, a native of South Dakota and former teacher, served first as a Park Ranger and later as Park Naturalist at Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota. He was assigned to Yosemite National Park in California as Assistant Park Naturalist in 1960 and to the Mather Training Center in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia as an Instructor (Interpretation) in 1963.

In December 1968, Elvin T. Aaberg was appointed Acting Superintendent of the monument. Aaberg, a native of South Dakota, first served as a Park Ranger at Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota and later at Glacier National Park in Montana.

In June 1970, Homer A. Robinson was appointed Superintendent. A native of Oregon, Robinson began his career as a Park Ranger at Montezuma Castle National Monument in Arizona in 1959. Successive assignments included Canyon De Chelly National Monument in Arizona; Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota; Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Arizona and Nevada; Port Jefferson National Monument and Everglades National Park in Florida.

Increased visitation following World War II brought about new problems of protection, public use, interpretation, development and all other phases of park operations. A long range planning program known as MISSION 66 was inaugurated. Improvements to each of the areas were programmed and many completed. Improvements that were completed at Devils Tower included the enlargement of camping facilities, additional housing, improvement of the trail around the Tower, additional water and sewer developments, administration and equipment buildings and the enlargement of the visitor center.

CHRONOLOGY OF DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT

1859 — Members of Capt. W. F. Raynolds’ Yellowstone Expedition visit Bear Lodge (Devils Tower). 1875 — U.S. Geological Survey visits formation. Name changed from Bear Lodge to Devils Tower. 1892 — Area established as forest reserve. Senator Warren introduces bill to establish Devils Tower National Park. 1893 — William Rogers and Willard Ripley make first ascent of Tower by ladder. 1906 — President Theodore Roosevelt establishes Devils Tower as the first national monument. 1930 — First full-time custodian appointed for monument. 1933-41— Area developed by Civilian Conservation Corps and other agencies in cooperation with the National Park Service. 1937 — Fritz Wiessner and party first ascent of Tower by mountain-climbing techniques. 1954 — Monument visitation passes 100,000 mark. 1956 — Golden Anniversary of Devils Tower National Monument observed. 1956 — 100th Anniversary of birth of Theodore Roosevelt. 1963 — 1000th ascent of the Tower. 1970 — 2000th ascent of the Tower. 1973 — 3000th ascent of the Tower. 1975 — 4000th ascent of the Tower. 1975-76— Reenactment of 1893 Flag Raising.

Transcriber’s Notes

—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.