DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT _A History_ _This booklet is published by the DEVILS TOWER NATURAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION, a nonprofit organization dedicated to help preserve the features of outstanding national interest in the Devils Tower area. The association is pledged to aid in the interpretation of the human history and natural history of this area, that the visitor might better enjoy and appreciate more of his natural and historical heritage._ The original reprint (April 1956) was made possible from the periodical Annals of Wyoming through the courtesy of the Wyoming State Historical Society and the Wyoming State Archives and Historical Department. Revised March 1973 with minor corrections and narrative additions. [Illustration: Mateo Tepee or Devils Tower, Crook County, Wyoming. _Courtesy National Park Service._] _Devils Tower National Monument—A History_ _By_ Ray H. Mattison, _Historian_ _National Park Service_ In preparing this article, the writer wishes to acknowledge the assistance given him by Mr. Newell F. Joyner, former Custodian of Devils Tower National Monument. Mr. Joyner, while stationed at the Tower, collected considerable material for a history of the area which was freely used by the author. The year 1956 marked the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of Devils Tower National Monument, the first of our national monuments. The same year was likewise the Golden Anniversary of the enactment of the Antiquities Act which authorized the President, by proclamation, to set aside “historical landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are upon the lands owned or controlled by the United States as National Monuments.” Under this law and subsequent authorizations, 80 national monuments have now been established.