The place we know as Devils Tower was not always called by this name. American Indian tribes who live in this region have their own names for the formation. The most common and widely used during the time of United States exploration of the Black Hills (1855-75) was Bear Lodge. Other English translations of names used by Native Americans include Grey Horn Butte, Tree Rock, and The Place Where Bears Live.
A reproduction of Lt. G.K. Warren's map from his 1857 expedition. The label "Bear's Lodge" can be seen in the northwest corner of the Black Hills (near top center of image).
US Library of Congress
Bears Lodge or Devils Tower?
Most maps from 1857 to 1901 mark this feature as Bear Lodge or Bears Lodge (a translation from a common Lakota name for the Tower, Mato Tipila). The name change happened during this time period with information brought back by an expedition led by Colonel Richard Irving Dodge. His expedition sent a small contingent, including geologist and mapmaker Henry Newton, to study the Tower. After Newton's group returned, Dodge wrote that "the Indians call this place 'bad god's tower,' a name adopted with proper modification..." And so the label "Devil's Tower" was created.