Read carefully
Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Not far from Denver there is an acoustically perfect amphitheatre
— a circular theatre where sounds are heard loudly and clearly
throughout. This theatre was created by nature; it is a group of red
rocks, 400 feet high. All that humans had to do was to add the stage
and seats.
When it opened in 1941, Red Rocks filled with the sounds of opera
and classical music. In 1964 the Beatles gave a concert there. Soon
rock musicians considered the amphitheatre the place to play. Today
you can hear any type of music at Red Rocks.
The amphitheatre’s sights are as impressive as its sounds. Spectators
have a great view of Denver and can watch the sun set in the mountains.
Devil’s Tower National Monument
Devil’s Tower is located on the plains of Wyoming. It looks like
a gigantic tree stump turned to stone. Actually, it’s phonolite, a volcanic
rock that rings when struck. The strangest thing about Devil’s
Tower is the deep vertical lines going down its sides.
The Indian name for Devil’s Tower is Mateo Teepee, or ‘Bear
Lodge’. An Indian legend says that three girls who were picking flowers
were chased by bears. The girls scrambled onto a rock, but the
bears followed. To protect the girls, the Great Spirit raised the rock
high into the sky. The bears tumbled off, and as they did, their claws
scratched the sides of the rock.
More recently, Devil’s Tower figured in another legend. For his
film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, director Stephen Spielberg
wanted a special place for a meeting between humans and beings from
another planet. Fascinated by its shape, and by the way it glows at sunrise
and sunset, Spielberg chose Devil’s Tower.