Recently, SCLT installed signs along the Tongue River Water Trail which highlight historic events, themes, and figures nearby. On this #TBT, take care as we navigate through the Goose Creek culverts under Interstate 90.
Traditionally, the Bighorn Mountains marked the western edge of the seven bands of the Lakota nations’ territory. While most Lakota bands activities centered around the Black Hills, many Lakota established camps in this western area to counter the travelers on the Bozeman Trail.
After the Sand Creek Massacre on November 29, 1864, when a peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho village was destroyed, several Lakota headmen made efforts to halt the newcomers.
Intermarriage between the Cheyenne and Lakota was common. Lakota bands who now resided along the Tongue River with the Cheyenne included the Miniconjou, Oglala, Brulé, and Sans Arc.
Many important battles for the Lakota and Cheyenne took place around Sheridan. There were also lesser-known sites of interest to the Lakota and Cheyenne such as locations of skirmishes with the Apsaalooke (Crow), ceremonial and burial areas, and petroglyphs.
By the time of the reservation era, all Lakota were removed from the Bighorns and eastern Wyoming to five reservations in present-day South Dakota: Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, and Lower Brule. This removed their presence in Wyoming, and smaller tribes became more identified with Wyoming history such as the Apsaalooke (Crow), Shoshone, Arapaho, and Cheyenne.
Special thanks to Donovan Sprague.
PHOTO: Flags of Plains Indian Tribes (L – R) Top Row: Arapahoe Tribe of the Wind River Reservation; Blackfeet Tribe; Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe; Crow Tribe of Montana; Crow Creek Sioux Tribe; Eastern Shoshone Tribe; Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. Middle Row: Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation; Fort Belknap Indian Community (Assiniboine and Gros Ventre); Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation; Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma; Lower Brulé Sioux Tribe; Northern Cheyenne Tribe. Bottom Row: Oglala Sioux Tribe; Rosebud Sioux Tribe; Santee Sioux Tribe; Sisseton and Wahpeton Sioux Tribe; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota; Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation; Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.
