On this #TBT, welcome aboard as we paddle to our next stop on the Tongue River Water Trail at NB Avenue.
In 1868, the Crow sold around 30 million acres of their 1851 territory and agreed to live in a reservation. The reservation is in parts of Big Horn, Yellowstone, and Treasure counties in southern Montana. Previously, though, the Crow were in constant conflict with enemy tribes to maintain control of a vast area of the plains they had dominated throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, the era of the fur trade. The area now known as Sheridan County was the heart of this territory.
The Crow name for Goose Creek is Áashkuale meaning Middle River. The Middle River flows from near Cloud Peak in the Bighorns Mountains. This is the center of Crow Country and a sacred spiritual place.
In the 1830s, River Crow leader Eelapuash, also known as Sore Belly, described Crow Country to Mr. Robert Campbell of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. He told of the land surrounding Crow Country and how the other tribes lived there. He went on to praise the creatures and bountiful varied landscapes of Crow Country. He concluded his description by proclaiming, “The Crow Country is exactly in the right place. Everything is good is to be found there. There is no country like Crow Country.”
Special thanks to the Little Big Horn College Library.
Photo credit: 2016 Sheridan Inn Pow Wow. Photos courtesy of Sheridan Travel & Tourism.
