This 1,267-foot bulwark - declared the first national monument 100 year ago by President Theodore Roosevelt - has long inspired Native Americans, rock climbers, moviemakers and writers to fervent fascination.

For many Plains Indians tribes, the monolith is a sacred place known as Bear's Lodge or Bear's Tipi. Legends surround its creation. One of the most evocative stories, from the Kiowa tradition, tells of seven little girls who were chased by a bear. As the girls leapt onto a small rock, it began to grow toward the sky. The bear tried to catch the girls, but it fell short, its claw marks scratching the tower. And the girls? They became the stars of the Black Hills sky - the Big Dipper, some say, or the Pleiades.

For most of its 400,000 or so annual visitors, Devils Tower is a stopover on the way to or from Yellowstone National Park to the west or Mt. Rushmore National Monument to the east. For some, Devils Tower is a destination in itself. Native Americans still visit, and you may see signs of their pilgrimages in colorful bits of prayer cloth tied to trees. Devils Tower is a magnet for rock climbers, too. Each year, between 4,000 and 5,000 people ascend the tower - less than half make it all the way to the summit. Other favorite visitor activities include camping, watching the black-tailed prairie dogs at play in their town near the Belle Fourche River, and hiking around the monument's base.