Morgan gives history of Devils Tower at meeting

A sanctuary created to save children from a giant bear, a landing site for alien visitors or the remains of an extinct volcano, Devils Tower certainly has its share of lore over the years along with references in popular culture.

The February meeting of the Hot Springs County Historical Society will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at Hot Springs County Museum. The program for afternoon will be “History of Devils Tower, and the story of George Hopkins: the parachutist who got stranded on top” presented by Racine Morgan.

Morgan, a Wyoming native, is currently employed at the museum. She spent the majority of her working career in the aviation industry. From 1999-2001 she worked at Devil’s Tower as a history interpreter and conducted campfire programs.

Morgan and her husband had a ranch north of Hulett, and she was the station manager for Continental Express from 1990 until 1995 when the Denver hub closed. She ran the family business for a while, but living close to the national monument she started working for the Historical Association. As part of her work, she had to choose a campfire program to present and the story of Hopkins and other Devils Tower tales interested her.

Morgan said she presented the programs twice a week, but noted it’s been about 15 years since she did them. Also during her time at the tower, she would often walk around and talk with visitors.

On a side note, she once had the “honor” of entering in all the climbing data from 1937-95, a task that took her a whole winter. She further explained climbers who want to tackle the tower fill out cards with information such as who they are, where they’re climbing and who with.

Morgan will discuss the history of the people involved with Devils Tower, including the building of the old ladder, the climbers and Hopkins who spent six days on top. Devils Tower has a lot of history, Morgan said, and it continues to change. Her program will center on the time period of 1890 until around 1999.

The meeting is free and open to everyone. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact Barb Vietti at 921-1551.