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.” [Illustration: Visitor Center built in 1935. _Courtesy National Park Service._]