Tongue River (Montana)
Encyclopedia
The Tongue River is a tributary
of the Yellowstone River
, approximately 265 mi (426 km) long, in the U.S. state
s of Wyoming
and Montana
. The Tongue rises in Wyoming in the Big Horn Mountains
, flows through northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana and empties into the Yellowstone River
at Miles City, Montana
. Most of the course of the river is through the beautiful and varied landscapes of eastern Montana
, including the Tongue River Canyon, the Tongue River breaks, the pine hills of southern Montana, and the buttes and grasslands that were formerly the home of vast migratory herds of American Bison
.
The river's name corresponds to Cheyenne
/vetanoveo'he/, where /vetanove/ means "tongue" and /o'he'e/ means "river".
pack from the higher elevations of the Big Horn Mountains
, early snow
runoff of the lower elevations in the drainage basin
, and ground water from springs
in the drainage basin
. The river rises in March and April due to snowmelt
in the lower elevations, and again in June as summer weather
melts the higher elevation
snow
pack. The flow of water
in the upper river during the summer is generally steady, but in the later months of a dry summer, irrigation
will reduce the lower river
to a few pools of water
connected by a small trickle. The river
is generally frozen during the winter months.
The Tongue River rises in the highlands
of the Big Horn Mountains
in north central Wyoming
descends the eastern side of mountains, emerging from Tongue River's mountain
canyon
near Dayton, Wyoming
. The river
then flows eastward, past Ranchester, Wyoming
and merges with Goose Greek, after which the Tongue turns to flow northeast into Montana
where it is dammed, forming the Tongue River reservoir
. Continuing northeast from the reservoir, the river flows through Tongue River's prairie
canyon
, and the Tongue River breaks passing Birney, Montana
. The river forms the eastern boundary of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation
from about 4.5 miles north of the reservoir
to a point 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Ashland, Montana
, after which the river continues to flow in a broad valley to its mouth on the Yellowstone River
near Miles City, Montana
. The Tongue River Valley near Decker, Montana also contains the southeast corner of the large Crow Indian Reservation
.
Tongue River Canyon can refer to either the river
's mountain
canyon
in the Big Horn Mountains
of Wyoming, or the river
's prairie
canyon
in Montana, located downstream from the Tongue River Dam and Reservoir.
The major tributaries of the Tongue are Pumpkin Creek, Otter Creek, Hanging Woman Creek, Prairie Dog Creek and Goose Creek
. All these tributaries enter on the right hand side of the river
, and all flow in a northerly direction. Pumpkin Creek enters the Tongue about 13 miles (20.9 km) above the mouth of the river
, and extends for 71 miles (114.3 km) into the Custer National Forest
; the small community of Sonnette, Montana
is at the headwaters. Otter Creek enters the Tongue River near Ashland, Montana
, about 68 miles (109.4 km) miles upstream of the mouth of the river, and its headwaters are near the Wyoming
-Montana
state line
about 40 miles (64.4 km) to the south. Hanging Woman Creek empties into the Tongue at Birney, Montana
, about 91 miles (146.4 km) above the mouth of the Tongue, and its headwaters are 35 miles (56.3 km) away in northern Wyoming. Prairie Dog Creek and Goose Creek flow into the Tongue at the point where the Tongue turns from an eastward direction to flow toward the north east. Goose Creek
drains a scenic, well watered basin
in Wyoming
, on the eastern edge of the Big Horn Mountains
where Sheridan
and Big Horn, Wyoming
are located.
The drainage basin
to the west is the Rosebud Creek basin. The drainage basin
to the east is the Powder River
basin. Both rivers, like the Tongue, flow in a northerly direction into the Yellowstone River
.
The Tongue and its tributaries flow through parts of Custer County
, Powder River County, Rosebud County and Big Horn County
in Montana
, and Sheridan County in Wyoming
.
. The term Powder River basin
can refer to the topographic drainage basin
lying to the east of the Tongue River drainage basin, but the term is used in this part to denote the larger geological structure which stretches from the Black Hills to the Big Horn Mountains and which includes the Tongue River drainage area.
The Powder River basin is shaped like a large shallow bowl, with its westernmost rock formations lying against the Big Horn Mountains. As these mountains uplifted over eons of geologic time they lifted and tilted the sedimentary rocks from the Powder River basin, which were then eroded away, creating the plains that stretch eastward from the mountains into the basin. Generally there are older sedimentary layers closer to the mountains and younger layers farther away.
As the Tongue flows out from the Big Horn Mountains it passes over the uplifted layers of increasingly younger sedimentary rocks. In the Big Horn Mountains the Tongue flows in its mountain canyon of Madison Limestone, which was deposited during Early to Middle Mississippian time, about 359 to 326 million years ago. As the Tongue leaves the mountains it flows through younger formations, including the distinctive thick red Chugwater formation, deposited during the Triassic time, 250 to 199 million years ago. Shortly after leaving the mountains, the Tongue River enters an area dominated by a thick layer of buff colored sandstones and silty clay. This sedmintary layer is named the Tongue River sandstone, because its outcrops are so predominant in the Tongue River basin. The Tongue River sandstone is the youngest of three "members" which form the Fort Union formation, the other two members being the Lebo shale member and the Tullock member.
The buff colored sandstones and shales of the Tongue River sandstone are visible all along the greater part of the Tongue River from Dayton,Wyoming to a point north of Ashland,Montana.
In this stetch, the sandstone layers of the Tongue River member hold ground water so that the highlands on each side of the Tongue River valley are often covered with pines. As the river approaches Miles City the valley changes appearance to grassy rolling hills, as the river leaves the Tongue River formation and flows through the Lebo shale and the Tullock sedimentary formations.
The Tongue River sandstone member outcrops widely over portions of southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming and it is best known for its coal. The Tongue River member has approximately 32 coal seams with a combined thickness in excess of 300 ft. The thickness of the separate coal seams varies radically from place to place—in some places the beds are thick but over a relatively short distance the seam can pinch out to nothing. Where these coal beds are thick and also close to the surface in the Powder river Basin in northern Wyoming and southern Montana they are mined in large open pit mines, like the mines along the Tongue in the vicinity of the Decker, Montana. Tongue River coal is low in sulpher content and when burned it produces an exhaust gas that is not as noxious and destructive to the environment as the exhaust from other coal sources. Thus coal fired electric generating places throughout the United States demand Tongue River coal so they can meet federal emission standards. Because of this demand, about 40% of the coal now used to generate electricity in the United States is mined from the Tongue River sandstone coal seams in the Powder River Basin.
Where the Tongue River now flows in Montana and Wyoming, the sedimentary rock formation that is today known as the Tongue River sandstone began to form about 60 million years ago, when mountain uplifts began rising from a shallow sea. The Black Hills uplift on the east, the Hartville uplift on the southeast, and the Big Horn Block on the west created a flat, swampy low lying plain, with slow moving rivers flowing northwest to deltas along a shallow sea. At this time the climate in the area was subtropical, averaging about 120 inches (3,000 mm) of rainfall a year. For some 25 million years, the floor of this plain was made up of thick deposits of sandy silt from the surrounding mountains, with many rivers, deltas, backwaters and swamps, all covered by forests and vegetation. At that time, from 35 to 60 million years ago, the area where the Tongue River now flows would have appeared as a dense swampy jungle. Over long periods of time, the heavy plant growth died and accumulated as peaty layers in the large backwaters and swamps all across the basin. Periodically more sandy silt deposits would wash in from the mountains, completely burying the layers of organic peaty materials. Eventually the climate became drier and cooler. The area passed through more long periods of geologic time, during which new sedimentary layers buried this entire sandy silty layer along with its deposits of peat, under thousands of feet of newer sediments, compressing the sandy silty deposits into the Tongue River sandstone of today, and also compressing and changing the layers of peaty organic material into thinner layers of lignite coal. Over the last several million years, much of the overlying sediment has eroded away, bringing the sandstone layer with its seams of coal to the surface again in the Tongue River area.
The Tongue River sandstone forms cliffs, hills, buttes and bluffs along the river and throughout the basin. From the Decker area downstream to about Birney the river flows through the prairie in a canyon carved from the Tongue River sandstone. The upper part of this canyon is dammed to form the Tongue River reservoir.
The sandstone hillsides and bluffs along the Tongue and its tributaries often have reddish bands running through them or they are capped with resistant reddish layer. These red layers were formed millions of years ago. Coal seams outcropping in the Tongue River sandstone caught fire, probably from prairie fires that started by lightening. The fires burned from the outcropo back into the coal seams, and the fire finally went out when they burned so deeply into the coal seam that the fire was smothered. These fires burned for a long time and they were extremely hot, and they baked and changed the structure of the sedimentary rocks that lay just over the coal seam until it became a hard "clinker" substance and turned a reddish brick color. These red "clinker" beds are often more resistant to erosion than the silty sandstone, so they appear on the higher parts of bluffs, and buttes on either side of the valleys of the Tongue River basin are often capped by beds of this baked and fused rock that are five to twenty feet thick. Besides the beds of reddish "clinker" larger concretions can be found that appear at first glance to be similar to melted glass or even pieces of volcanic rock. Although of a different appearance than the clinker these odd looking concretions are also formed by the burning coal beds, with the difference in appearance being due to the difference in content of the material in the overlying bed that was heated to very high temperatures. The reddish "clinker" is crushed and used to surface roads roads throughout the Tongue River basin.
North of the Yellowstone, dinosaur
fossil
s have been found in Cretaceous
era
rock formation
s, but dinosaur
fossil
s have not been found in any members of the Paleozoic
Fort Union Formation
, including the Tongue River sandstone. However plant
fossil
s are common in the Tongue River sandstone
, and many imprints of leaves
and fronds have been found and collected by scientist
s and fossil
hunters.
leader No Intestines received a vision and separated from the ancestral tribe
, which remained along the Missouri River
as sedentary farmers known as Hidatsa
. No Intestines led his band on a long migratory
search for sacred tobacco, finally settling in southeastern Montana
, where they became known as the Many Lodges or Mountain Crow. By 1490, the Crow
were firmly established in a homeland
that included the Tongue River valley
–in south central/southeastern Montana
, and northern Wyoming
. To acquire control of this area, the Crow
warred against Shoshone
bands, and drove them westward, but allied themselves with local Kiowa
and Kiowa Apache bands.
The Crow
were a high plains, nomadic, bison
hunting culture based on the dog travois, but in about 1700 they acquired horses and swiftly evolved a horse based nomadic hunting culture. The Kiowa
bands migrated southward, and the Crow
remained dominant in an extensive area, including the Tongue River, in south central Montana
through the 18th century, 19th century and the era of the fur trade.
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 confirmed a large area centered on the Big Horn Mountains as Crow
lands—the area ran from the Big Horn Basin on the west, to the Musselshell River
on the north, and east to the Powder River
, and included the Tongue River basin
. However, for two centuries, the Cheyenne and the many bands of the Lakota-Sioux tribes had been steadily migrating westward across the plains, and by 1851 they were established just to the south and east of Crow territory in Montana. The Lakota-Sioux along with their Cheyenne allies coveted the fine hunting lands where the Crow
lived and after 1851 the Lakota-Sioux and Cheyenne conducted tribal warfare with the Crow
and boldly appropriated their eastern hunting lands, including the Powder and Tongue River valleys, pushing the less numerous Crow
to the west and northwest along the Yellowstone
.
After about 1860 these Lakota-Sioux bands claimed all the lands lying east of the Big Horn Mountains
and required the whites to deal with them regarding any intrusion into these areas. Red Cloud's War
(1866 to 1868) was a challenge by the Lakota-Sioux to the military presence on the Bozeman Trail
, which went to the Montana
gold fields along the eastern edge of the Big Horn Mountains
. Red Cloud's War
ended in a complete victory for the Lakota-Sioux, and the 1868 Treaty of Ft. Laramie confirmed their control over all the high plains from the crest of the Big Horn Mountains
eastward across the Powder River Basin
to the Black Hills
. Thereafter bands of Lakota-Sioux led by Sitting Bull
, Crazy Horse
and others, along with their Northern Cheyenne allies, hunted and raided throughout the length and breadth of eastern Montana
and northeastern Wyoming
, including the area of the Tongue River Valley, until the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877. Although early in the war on June 25, 1876 the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne enjoyed a major victory over army forces under General George A. Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the Great Sioux War ended in the defeat of the Sioux and their Cheyenne allies, and their exodus from eastern Montana and Wyoming, either in flight to Canada
or by forced removal to distant reservations.
In 1877, Cheyenne bands allied with the Sioux, known as the Northern Cheyenne, were ordered south to a reservation in Oklahoma with the related but separate Southern Cheyenne tribes. Plagued with disease and malnutrition, in 1878 a group of 279 Northern Cheyenne made a desperate attempt to return to the northern plains. After a running battle from Oklahoma
to Montana
, the battered remnants of this group arrived at Ft. Keogh, at the mouth of the Tongue, where a Northern Cheyenne band under Two Moons remained which had yet not been sent south. General Miles allowed Ft. Keogh to become a gathering point for the scattered Northern Cheyenne people. Over time Cheyenne families began to migrate south from the fort and establish homesteads up the Tongue River and on the Rosebud. By executive orders in 1884 and 1900, the federal government carved out a reservation for the Northern Cheyenne on Rosebud Creek, with the Tongue River as its eastern boundary.
(RMF) and the American Fur Company
(AFC). Tom Fitzpatrick
, a mountain man and fur trader with the RMF, rode to Crow camps on Tongue River with a band of about 30 other trappers to trade for furs and to ask permission of the chiefs to make his fall hunt in their country. The Crows invited Tom to camp with them. He cautiously declined and pitched his camp three miles off. Then he rode over with a few men to visit the chief, who received and entertained him cordially. The AFC was a rival of Tom Fitzpatrick's RMF Company and they had agents in the Crow villages including the notorious James Beckwourth
, who was an adopted member of the tribe. While Fitzpatrick was visiting the Crow camp, young Crow braves, probably instigated by AFC agents, rode to Fitzpatrick's camp and proceeded to steal all of his horses, rifles, traps, and equipment, as well as his beaver pelts and trade goods. Fitzpatrick's camp was being guarded by 25 of his men under Captain William Drummond Stewart
, a former British officer (and veteran of Waterloo) and no pushover. Upon entering the trappers camp, the collection of Crow braves probably first affected an excessive cordiality and when their demonstrations of friendship and claims of affection had literally and figuratively disarmed the trappers, "then the knives, clubs, bows and guns were out, and a Crow was attached to everything of value." The braves even took Capt. Stewart's watch. Upon meeting Tom Fitzpatrick as he returned from the village, the young braves completed their work by robbing him of his capote coat. The next day, Fitzpatrick, always a realist, returned to the Crow camp and begged his former friend, the Crow Chief for help and received back some of his horses, rifles, traps and other equipment, and a small amount of ammunition per man, but no furs or trade goods.
In 1835 Samuel Tullock of the American Fur Company (AFC) built Fort Van Buren on the right bank of the Yellowstone, near the mouth of the Tongue River. At the fort, AFC agents traded for furs with Indians from the surrounding area. The fort was abandoned in 1842, and later burned.
was opened to the Montana
gold
fields. A portion of the trail
entered the Tongue River Basin at Prairie Dog Creek and crossed over to Goose Creek and went on to the Tongue River beyond present day Ranchester, Wyoming
then up the Tongue River to the Pass Creek divide. After the Sand Creek Massacre
in Colorado
in November 1864, depredations by Cheyenne
, Arapahoe and Sioux
increased along the Oregon Trail
and the Bozeman Trail
, which was then closed to civilian traffic. The army
launched a punitive campaign, and Brigadier General
Patrick Edward Connor
led a column up the Bozeman Trail
. On August 29, 1865, General Conner, with a force variously estimated at about 300 soldiers, surprised an Arapahoe village of about 500 to 700 under Chiefs Old David and Black Bear camped on the Bozeman Trail
, on the south side of the Tongue near present day Ranchester, Wyoming. In what is now known as the Battle of the Tongue River
the soldiers charged into the Indian
camp firing indiscriminately, surprising the Indians who were breaking camp. The Indians first fled up Wolf Creek, but then regrouped and counter-attacked. The soldiers destroyed about 250 lodges, then retreated down the Tongue River Valley driving from 700 to 1000 captured horses, repulsing attacks of Arapahoe warrior
s seeking to get back some of their horses.
Two days after the battle
with Conner, on August 31, 1865, warrior
s from the same Arapahoe village attacked
a large wagon train
of road-builders led by "Colonel" James A. Sawyers, who were traveling on the Bozeman Trail
, improving it as they went. The wagon train
was besieged for 13 days at the Bozeman Trail
ford on the Tongue River about half way between Ranchester, Wyoming and Dayton, Wyoming
. As the siege
dragged on and a number of men were killed, Sawyers faced mutiny
from his employees. Sawyers had started to retreat
down the trail
, when he met a contingent of army
cavalry
moving up the trail
, who agreed to escort them to the Big Horn River, after which the wagon train
proceeded on to the Montana
gold
fields.
In 1866, the army
determined to erect a series of forts along the Bozeman Trail
. The scout Jim Bridger
recommended a fort site in the Tongue River Valley, near Ranchester, Wyoming
. Col. Henry B. Carrington
rejected the Tongue River site for a site to the south on Little Piney Creek, in the Powder River
drainage, where Fort Phil Kearny
was erected.
From 1865 through 1868 during Red Cloud's War
, Cheyenne
and Lakota Sioux
bands harassed, attacked
and killed travelers on the Bozeman Trail
and soldiers at Fort Phil Kearny
and Fort C. F. Smith. These bands often located their base camps on the Tongue River because they could camp far enough down the river from the forts to be secure from counter attack, and the lower Tongue River Valley afforded a wide variety of camp sites with the three necessities of the nomadic Indians -- wood
for fires, abundant water
, and adequate grass
for grazing their large horse
herds.
on August 4, 1873 about 7 miles (11.3 km) above the mouth of the Tongue on the Yellowstone River. Custer's command was part of the Stanley military column which was accompanying and protecting Northern Pacific Railroad survey parties in the summer months of 1873. Many of the Indian leaders and army officers who participated in the Battle of Honsinger Bluff
were present at the more famous Battle of the Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876, three years later.
General George Crook
was camped on the Tongue near the mouth of Prairie Dog Creek with about 950 soldiers, when Sioux fired into his camp from a bluff across the Tongue. A battalion under Captain Anson Mills responded, crossing the river and driving the Sioux force from the bluffs. As a consequence of this engagement, on June 11, General Crook moved his base camp to the junction of Big and Little Goose Creeks, some 7 miles south of the junction of Goose Creek and the Tongue River, where Sheridan, Wyoming
is now located. On June 16, after being joined on the Tongue by some 260 Crow and Shoshone scouts, Crook moved his forces north, across the Tongue, and on June 17, 1876 engaged a large Sioux and Cheyenne force at the Battle of the Rosebud
. After the battle Crook returned south of the Tongue River to the base camp on Goose Creek, and he was still there on June 25, 1876 when General George A. Custer was defeated at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, some 65 miles to the north.
After remaining idle for more than two weeks on Goose Creek, on July 6, 1876 General George Crook
ordered Lt. Frederick W. Sibley to take 25 men and two scouts, Big Bat Pourier and Frank Grouard, and make a reconnaissance
to the north to locate the hostile Indian forces. While traveling up the Tongue River in the vicinity of (present day) Dayton, Wyoming, the patrol discovered a large party of Sioux
and Cheyenne
warriors moving south and very close to them. The only chance was to turn aside and take a trail near Dayton that led up into the adjacent Big Horn Mountains
. The war party followed closely, and after surviving attacks by pursuing Indians, the patrol abandoned their horses and traveled deep into the rough steep terraine of the Tongue River Canyon system on foot. Over several days the group was able to evade the Indian force, after which they walked over thirty miles out of the mountains and back to the Goose Creek camp, arriving worn out and fatigued but with no casualties. The "Sibley Scout" became another incident of the Great Sioux War of 1876 that took place along the Tongue River.
In the fall of 1876 following the defeat of Custer
at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
, the army
determined to garrison
the area, and Colonel Nelson A. Miles
and elements of infantry
units constructed the Tongue River Cantonment
at the mouth of the Tongue River. A community
formed nearby named "Milestown" after Col. Miles
who banished the settlement to a point three miles away from the cantonment
. In the following year, after a vigorous winter campaign, the army increased the commitment of forces and Col. Miles constructed Fort Keogh
about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the Tongue. After the fort was finished, Miles permitted civilians to settle on the eastern bank of the Tongue. Immediately, Milestown moved 3 miles (4.8 km) miles west forming Miles City
. Today, the Tongue joins with the Yellowstone within the city limits of Miles City.
On December 16, 1876 five Sioux
chiefs
from Crazy Horse
's village approached the Tongue River Cantonment to discuss terms of surrender
for their bands. The Sioux
were the herditary enemies of the Crow, and the five Sioux
were suddenly attacked and killed by some of the army
's Crow scouts. The attack occurred within sight of the Cantonment, but was so swift and unexpected that the army could not intervene to save the chiefs
. The Crow scouts involved immediately fled from the area. This episode delayed surrender
of Sioux
and Cheyenne
bands, and extended the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877.
On January 8, 1877 Colonel Miles and infantry units engaged in one of the last battles of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77
near Birney, Montana in the Tongue River Valley. Colonel Miles, leading elements of the 5th and 22nd infantry
, avoided an ambush by Oglala Sioux under Crazy Horse
, and segments of Cheyenne
Indians under White Bull
and Two Moons
, and then engaged the Indian forces driving them back up the Tongue River
. The battle is officially referred to as the Battle of the Wolf Mountains, although this is a misnomer. The battle is also referred to by various other names, including the Battle of Pyramid Butte, the Battle of the Butte, and Miles Battle on the Tongue River. The Wolf Mountains are actually several drainages to the west from the battle site, but General Miles' report stated the battle was in the Wolf Mountains, and that name has stuck. The battle site is about 4.5 road miles west of the town of Birney, on the Tongue River road.
Cattle ranches in the Tongue River Basin are predominantly "cow calf" instead of “yearling” operations. The yearly cycle of a “cow calf” operation begins with the birth of calves from February to May. At spring roundup the calves are branded. Bulls are put with the cows to start the nine month gestation cycle to produce next year’s calf crop on the month chosen by the rancher, after which the bulls are again separated from the herds. The herds are moved to summer pasture, and in June and July attention focuses on cutting and storing hay for the next winter. Feed crops are harvested in late summer or fall. The late fall roundup separates the calves which are sold to cattle buyers and shipped by truck. The herd is moved to the pasture where they will be fed for the winter, and in about the first week of December enough snow accumulates to start the process of feeding hay to carry the herd through the winter. Ranch chores, repairs and maintenance, work on building projects, doctoring cattle and the like go on all year round.
One of the oldest irrigation projects on the Tongue River is the T&Y Ditch, which dates from 1886. The diversion dam from the T&Y ditch was recently altered to include a fish ladder, which now allows fish from the Tongue and Yellowstone Rivers below the dam to migrate upriver, for the first time in 125 years.
An experimental vineyard, Tongue River Vineyard, is located on the Tongue, a mile upriver from Miles City, Montana. This is the only Montana vineyard east of Missoula, which is 600 miles away, and the only vineyard in the vast but scenic area known as eastern Montana. The vineyard keeper is primarily growing Univ. of Minnesota hardy hybrids, and seedless table grape and juice varietals, using some unusual techniques to resist the colder temperatures of the eastern Montana winter. Tongue River Winery will open in September, 2010. As of July 2010, the building is finished. The first release is likely to be a sweet, sandcherry wine, and will likely be named "Sand Cherry Kiss." The Vineyard & Winery are owned and operated by Bob and Marilyn Thaden of Miles City and may be seen at www.tongueriverwinery.com or on Facebook at "Tongue River Winery". Visitors are welcome.
The same coal seams that used to be mined by underground tunnels are now accessed for mining by large open surface excavations. Several large coal strip mines are presently operating in the area around the Tongue River Reservoir, near the small town of Decker, Montana about 20 to 23 miles northeast from Sheridan, Wyoming. These mines are operated by the Kiewit Corporation and produce subbituminous low sulfur Powder River basin coal. There are no electrical generating facilities at this site. A rail spur line extends to the mine sites from the BNSF main line near Sheridan, Wyoming allows this coal to be shipped by rail to coal fired electric generating plants all over the United States.
Large undeveloped private and federally owned coal deposits are located along Otter Creek, a tributary of the Tongue River. These coal deposits are located south of Ashland, which is at the junction of the Tongue River and Otter Creek. These coal deposits are sufficiently thick, and are located under sufficiently thin overburden, as to be economically viable. Drawbacks for production are the lack of a rail spur to transport the coal, and the lack of an established community of sufficient size in the area to support the work force needed to develop the coal mines. A railroad spur line, if built, would have to come up the Tongue River from Miles City, a distance of some 65 to 70 miles. Extensive infrastructure improvements would have to be added to the community of Ashland before it could support the number of worker's families that the mine would draw to the area. These deposits on Otter Creek are the source of much debate over the future of energy development in southeastern Montana.
Undeveloped but extensive coal deposits exist along Youngs Creek and adjacent creeks, which flow into the Tongue River just upstream from the Tongue River reservoir. This large and (as yet) untapped deposit of coal is just a few miles south of the large open pit coal mines already being operated by Kiewit. The upper 15 miles of Youngs Creek lies on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, and the Crow Tribe owns the coal beds underlying this portion of the creek. The last 3 miles of the creek lie between the reservation boundary and the Tongue River, in Wyoming. As to the coal beds on the Crow reservation, the Secretary of the Interior approved a coal lease negotiated by the Crow Tribe with Shell Oil Company in 1983 to develop this coal resource. The lease had extensive long term benefits for the Crow tribe, and required payments to the tribe to start at a future point of time even in the event the coal was not mined. Shell paid the tribe a bonus to cancel this lease in 1985, because of poor market conditions, and because of Shell's uncertainties on how Montana's severance tax would be applied to coal owned by the Crow Tribe. Compared to Otter Creek these coal resources are easier to develop—the coal resources of Young's creek lies within five to ten miles of the railroad spur line which is used to ship coal from the nearby open pit mines being operated by Kiewit in the Decker, Montana area, and the communities of Sheridan and Ranchester already exist to serve as a base for the work force needed to develop coal mines at Youngs Creek.
The Tongue River has a road running along almost all of its length, as do the major tributaries, but the predominance of gravel roads over paved roads is a testament to the remoteness of the region. In the Tongue River valley, starting from Miles City and going up the river there are about 30 miles of pavement to the community of Garland, then 35 miles of gravel, followed by about 7 miles of paved road into Ashland, where U.S. Highway 212 is encountered. South of Ashland, continuing up the valley, there is another 20 miles of paved road, then another 38 miles of gravel roads to the pavement above the Tongue River Reservoir, followed by 10 miles of pavement to the Montana/Wyoming state line. In Wyoming a network of paved roads follow the Tongue river westward to Ranchester and Dayton, where the Tongue comes out of the Big Horn Mountains. A road from Dayton goes up the Tongue for a short distance into the mountains, after which contact with the Tongue River and its mountain branches is by hiking trail.
The lower major tributaries of the Tongue (Pumpkin Creek, Ottor Creek, Hanging Woman Creek, Prairie Dog Creek) all have gravel roads branching off the Tongue River Road and running along their length, providing access to local ranches. In Wyoming, the major tributary is Goose Creek, which flows out of a basin with Sheridan, Wyoming at its center, and so this entire basin area has well-developed paved and gravel roads. In addition to the roads that run along the Tongue and its major tributaries, there is a network of gravel roads that cross the highlands between the stream valleys.
During the winter, travel along the roads in the basin can become difficult to impossible depending on snow accumulation, particularly on the more remote gravel roads that are not regularly plowed. If road conditions or car trouble strand a motorist in the more remote areas of the basin, during the pulses of intense winter cold common to this area, there is a real risk of death or injury by freezing. The Tongue River basin does not have the "gumbo" type mud that affects road travel in wet weather on the north side of the Yellowstone River. Traffic on the gravel and dirt roads of the Tongue River basin is a problem at sharp corners, blind hilltops, concealed entrances to side roads, and when suddenly encountering oversized slow ranch/farm vehicles. In warm weather it is a good idea to keep an eye out ahead for dust clouds indicating approaching vehicles. The motorist traveling in the Tongue River basin should keep a constant look out for livestock on the road, and especially for deer (particularly at dawn, dusk and at night).
There are good roadside services at Miles City, Montana at the mouth of the Tongue River basin, and also in the upper reaches of the basin at Dayton and Ranchester and in the vicinity of Sheridan, Wyoming. There are limited roadside services in Ashland, located about the center of the basin, where U.S. 212 goes east and west. For the rest of the Tongue River basin, the motorist is on his or her own.
From 1923 to 1935 the North and South Railway
promoted a rail line south from Miles City, Montana through Sheridan to Casper, Wyoming. The northern segment was to run along the Tongue between Miles City, Montana and Sheridan, Wyoming. The southern segment was to run from Casper to Sheridan, Wyoming. Track was only laid on a portion of the southern segment. However, grading was done on the northern segment, and cuts and embankments can still be seen approximately 7 miles south of Miles City on the east side of the Tongue River. Financial problems caused the entire railroad project to be abandoned in 1935.
The current venture is the Tongue River Railroad, cussed and discussed over the past 25 years. Despite frequent press releases of imminent construction, not a single cubic foot of dirt has been disturbed in those 25 years. The impetus for the current venture is the prospect of hauling coal from strip mines which are existing and to be developed along the proposed route. Along the same proposed route, ranchers fear the effect of the proposed right of way upon their holdings in the Tongue River Valley, and the effect of newly developed strip mines and coalbed methane
gas wells on the quality of water, since strip mines and coalbed methane wells can increase sodium content in surrounding water sources. Proposed construction of the Tongue River Railroad is a divisive issue between energy developers, landowners, and inhabitants, and is sure to spark spirited debate anywhere in Southeastern Montana.
The BNSF railroad operating between Sheridan, Wyoming and Billings, Montana runs along the Tongue for a distance of about 10 miles, starting from a point about 7 miles north of Sheridan, Wyoming. Though this segment of rail line along the Tongue was limited, from 1900 to 1940 coal was shipped by the railroad from underground coal mines located in the Tongue River valley, along this stretch of track. This railroad was a part of the former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q, or "Burlington") railroad system, which has now been merged in the present Burlington, Northern, Sante Fe (BNSF) railroad system.
The Northern Pacific Railroad built track to Miles City, crossing the Tongue River in 1881, about a mile from the junction of the Tongue and the Yellowstone. This construction was part of the mainline from St. Paul, Minnesota to the Pacific port of Tacoma, Washington completed in 1883, and it is still in operation today as part of the BNSF (Burlington Northern Sante Fe) railroad.
The Milwaukee Road (the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway) completed its mainline from the midwest to Puget Sound in 1909. This line also passed through Miles City and crossed the Tongue River between the existing NP tracks and the Yellowstone River. This line failed in the early 1980s and is no longer in use today.
, many of trophy quality. Antelope are found throughout this area. On the more southern tributaries, particularly in the Custer National Forest area, there are growing herds of prairie elk
, an animal originally native to the plains of eastern Montana. Throughout the area are upland game birds, notably pheasant and grouse, and increasingly abundant flocks of wild turkeys.
The headwaters of the Tongue located in the Big Horn National Forest, in the Big Horn Mountains provide resources for deer, elk, bear and mountain lion hunting.
The grey wolf is an issue if not yet a reality in the Tongue River Basin, and there have been unconfirmed sightings of wolves in the more remote areas of the basin. Livestock, particularly sheep and calves, are vulnerable to wolves and, according to reports, livestock suffered significant depredations by wolves and coyotes in the last part of the 19th and the first part of the 20th century. This led to a war on these predators, with bounties paid by livestock associations and state agencies. By the mid 1930's wolves had been exterminated completely in the Tongue River basin (and indeed throughout the stockgrowing west). Times changed, and sympathy grew for the wolf, as well as his cousin the coyote. Since the release of wolves in Yellowstone Park in 1995, there has been increasing concern by stockgrowers in surrounding areas that wolf packs would migrate out of the Park to cattle country and re-establish themselves where the pickings were better. In cattle and sheep country like the Tongue River basin, the debate about wolf reintroduction
is ongoing and far from resolved.
The Tongue River Reservoir is popular among fishermen for a variety of fish. Very large catfish have been caught at the reservoir. In its upper reaches above the Tongue River Reservoir, and extending into the Big Horn Mountains, the Tongue River is fished for trout.
The Tongue is a Class I river from Tongue River Dam to its confluence with the Yellowstone River for public access and for recreational purposes.
Ernest Hemingway wrote a short story, "Wine of Wyoming" that references coal miners living at Sheridan, Wyoming during the era of prohibition, who worked at the underground coal mines in the Tongue River valley, a few miles north of Sheridan. The story "Wine of Wyoming" was published in 1933 as part of a collection of Ernest Hemingway's short stories entitled "Winner Take Nothing".
The Tongue River valley and surrounding area is the setting for "A Bride Goes West", an autobiography of Nannie Alderson, which relates her life as a ranch wife in the late 19th century in south central Montana.
Edmund Randolph wrote a book "Hell Among the Yearlings" about his experiences living on a ranch on the Tongue River in the 1920s, and getting into the cattle business.
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Yellowstone River
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
, approximately 265 mi (426 km) long, in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
. The Tongue rises in Wyoming in the Big Horn Mountains
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
, flows through northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana and empties into the Yellowstone River
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
at Miles City, Montana
Miles City, Montana
Miles City is a city in and the county seat of Custer County, Montana, United States. The population was 8,123 at the 2010 census.- History :...
. Most of the course of the river is through the beautiful and varied landscapes of eastern Montana
Eastern Montana
Eastern Montana is a loosely-defined region of Montana. Some definitions are more or less inclusive than others, ranging from the most inclusive, which would include the entire part of the state east of the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains...
, including the Tongue River Canyon, the Tongue River breaks, the pine hills of southern Montana, and the buttes and grasslands that were formerly the home of vast migratory herds of American Bison
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
.
The river's name corresponds to Cheyenne
Cheyenne language
The Cheyenne language is a Native American language spoken by the Cheyenne people, predominantly in present-day Montana and Oklahoma in the United States. It is part of the Algonquian language family...
/vetanoveo'he/, where /vetanove/ means "tongue" and /o'he'e/ means "river".
Geography
The Tongue River is fed by winter snowSnow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
pack from the higher elevations of the Big Horn Mountains
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
, early snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
runoff of the lower elevations in the drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
, and ground water from springs
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
in the drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
. The river rises in March and April due to snowmelt
Snowmelt
In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many parts of the world, in some cases contributing high...
in the lower elevations, and again in June as summer weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...
melts the higher elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
pack. The flow of water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
in the upper river during the summer is generally steady, but in the later months of a dry summer, irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
will reduce the lower river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
to a few pools of water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
connected by a small trickle. The river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
is generally frozen during the winter months.
The Tongue River rises in the highlands
Highland (geography)
The term highland or upland is used to denote any mountainous region or elevated mountainous plateau. Generally speaking, the term upland tends to be used for ranges of hills, typically up to 500-600m, and highland for ranges of low mountains.The Scottish Highlands refers to the mountainous...
of the Big Horn Mountains
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
in north central Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
descends the eastern side of mountains, emerging from Tongue River's mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
near Dayton, Wyoming
Dayton, Wyoming
Dayton is a town in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 678 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Dayton is located at the confluence of the Tongue River and The Little Tongue River. It is on US Highway 14, just east of the Big Horn Mountains.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000,...
. The river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
then flows eastward, past Ranchester, Wyoming
Ranchester, Wyoming
Ranchester is a town in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 701 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ranchester is located at ....
and merges with Goose Greek, after which the Tongue turns to flow northeast into Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
where it is dammed, forming the Tongue River reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
. Continuing northeast from the reservoir, the river flows through Tongue River's prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
, and the Tongue River breaks passing Birney, Montana
Birney, Montana
Birney is a census-designated place in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 108 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Birney is located at ....
. The river forms the eastern boundary of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation
Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation
The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, formerly named the Tongue River Indian Reservation, is an Indian reservation that is home to the Northern Cheyenne tribe of the Native Americans. It is located around the small towns of Lame Deer and Ashland, Montana, in parts of Rosebud and Big Horn...
from about 4.5 miles north of the reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
to a point 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Ashland, Montana
Ashland, Montana
Ashland is a census-designated place in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 464 at the 2000 census. Ashland is immediately east of the boundary of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and the location of the St...
, after which the river continues to flow in a broad valley to its mouth on the Yellowstone River
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
near Miles City, Montana
Miles City, Montana
Miles City is a city in and the county seat of Custer County, Montana, United States. The population was 8,123 at the 2010 census.- History :...
. The Tongue River Valley near Decker, Montana also contains the southeast corner of the large Crow Indian Reservation
Crow Indian Reservation
The Crow Indian Reservation is the homeland of the Crow Tribe of Indians of the State of Montana in the United States. The reservation is located in parts of Big Horn, Yellowstone, and Treasure counties in southern Montana...
.
Tongue River Canyon can refer to either the river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
's mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
in the Big Horn Mountains
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
of Wyoming, or the river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
's prairie
Prairie
Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...
canyon
Canyon
A canyon or gorge is a deep ravine between cliffs often carved from the landscape by a river. Rivers have a natural tendency to reach a baseline elevation, which is the same elevation as the body of water it will eventually drain into. This forms a canyon. Most canyons were formed by a process of...
in Montana, located downstream from the Tongue River Dam and Reservoir.
The major tributaries of the Tongue are Pumpkin Creek, Otter Creek, Hanging Woman Creek, Prairie Dog Creek and Goose Creek
Little Goose Creek
Little Goose Creek originates on the east slope of the Big Horn Mountains in north-central Wyoming. After dropping over 4,000 feet and entering a steep canyon, the creek flows out of the Big Horn Mountains and into the Powder River Basin. Passing by the Bradford Brinton Memorial Museum and Art...
. All these tributaries enter on the right hand side of the river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
, and all flow in a northerly direction. Pumpkin Creek enters the Tongue about 13 miles (20.9 km) above the mouth of the river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
, and extends for 71 miles (114.3 km) into the Custer National Forest
Custer National Forest
Custer National Forest is located primarily in the southern part of the U.S. state of Montana but also has separate sections in northwestern South Dakota. With a total area of 1,278,279 acres , the forest comprises over 10 separate sections...
; the small community of Sonnette, Montana
Sonnette, Montana
Sonnette is an unincorporated community in west central Powder River County, Montana, United States. The community is situated near the headwaters of Pumpkin Creek, just west of the Custer National Forest. It lies along local roads northwest of the town of Broadus, the county seat of Powder River...
is at the headwaters. Otter Creek enters the Tongue River near Ashland, Montana
Ashland, Montana
Ashland is a census-designated place in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 464 at the 2000 census. Ashland is immediately east of the boundary of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and the location of the St...
, about 68 miles (109.4 km) miles upstream of the mouth of the river, and its headwaters are near the Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
-Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
state line
Border
Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions, such as governments, sovereign states, federated states and other subnational entities. Some borders—such as a state's internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and...
about 40 miles (64.4 km) to the south. Hanging Woman Creek empties into the Tongue at Birney, Montana
Birney, Montana
Birney is a census-designated place in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 108 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Birney is located at ....
, about 91 miles (146.4 km) above the mouth of the Tongue, and its headwaters are 35 miles (56.3 km) away in northern Wyoming. Prairie Dog Creek and Goose Creek flow into the Tongue at the point where the Tongue turns from an eastward direction to flow toward the north east. Goose Creek
Little Goose Creek
Little Goose Creek originates on the east slope of the Big Horn Mountains in north-central Wyoming. After dropping over 4,000 feet and entering a steep canyon, the creek flows out of the Big Horn Mountains and into the Powder River Basin. Passing by the Bradford Brinton Memorial Museum and Art...
drains a scenic, well watered basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
in Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, on the eastern edge of the Big Horn Mountains
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
where Sheridan
Sheridan, Wyoming
Sheridan is a city in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The 2010 census put the population at 17,444 and a Micropolitan Statistical Area of 29,116...
and Big Horn, Wyoming
Big Horn, Wyoming
Big Horn is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 198 at the 2000 census and 490 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
are located.
The drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
to the west is the Rosebud Creek basin. The drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
to the east is the Powder River
Powder River (Montana)
Powder River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately long in the southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming in the United States. It drains an area historically known as the Powder River Country on the high plains east of the Bighorn Mountains.It rises in three forks in eastern...
basin. Both rivers, like the Tongue, flow in a northerly direction into the Yellowstone River
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
.
The Tongue and its tributaries flow through parts of Custer County
Custer County, Montana
-Economy:The main source of income for Custer County has largely come from cattle ranching and dryland farming. Miles City serves as the center of commerce in an area extending for 100 miles in every direction...
, Powder River County, Rosebud County and Big Horn County
Big Horn County, Montana
- National protected areas :* Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area * Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument- Economy :Coal Mining and Agriculture both play major roles in Big Horn County’s economy...
in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, and Sheridan County in Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
.
Geology
The Tongue River basin is part of the larger geologic structure known as the Powder River basinPowder River Basin
The Powder River Basin is a geologic region in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its coal deposits. The region supplies about 40 percent of coal in the United States. It is both a topographic drainage and geologic structural basin...
. The term Powder River basin
Powder River Basin
The Powder River Basin is a geologic region in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its coal deposits. The region supplies about 40 percent of coal in the United States. It is both a topographic drainage and geologic structural basin...
can refer to the topographic drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
lying to the east of the Tongue River drainage basin, but the term is used in this part to denote the larger geological structure which stretches from the Black Hills to the Big Horn Mountains and which includes the Tongue River drainage area.
The Powder River basin is shaped like a large shallow bowl, with its westernmost rock formations lying against the Big Horn Mountains. As these mountains uplifted over eons of geologic time they lifted and tilted the sedimentary rocks from the Powder River basin, which were then eroded away, creating the plains that stretch eastward from the mountains into the basin. Generally there are older sedimentary layers closer to the mountains and younger layers farther away.
As the Tongue flows out from the Big Horn Mountains it passes over the uplifted layers of increasingly younger sedimentary rocks. In the Big Horn Mountains the Tongue flows in its mountain canyon of Madison Limestone, which was deposited during Early to Middle Mississippian time, about 359 to 326 million years ago. As the Tongue leaves the mountains it flows through younger formations, including the distinctive thick red Chugwater formation, deposited during the Triassic time, 250 to 199 million years ago. Shortly after leaving the mountains, the Tongue River enters an area dominated by a thick layer of buff colored sandstones and silty clay. This sedmintary layer is named the Tongue River sandstone, because its outcrops are so predominant in the Tongue River basin. The Tongue River sandstone is the youngest of three "members" which form the Fort Union formation, the other two members being the Lebo shale member and the Tullock member.
The buff colored sandstones and shales of the Tongue River sandstone are visible all along the greater part of the Tongue River from Dayton,Wyoming to a point north of Ashland,Montana.
In this stetch, the sandstone layers of the Tongue River member hold ground water so that the highlands on each side of the Tongue River valley are often covered with pines. As the river approaches Miles City the valley changes appearance to grassy rolling hills, as the river leaves the Tongue River formation and flows through the Lebo shale and the Tullock sedimentary formations.
The Tongue River sandstone member outcrops widely over portions of southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming and it is best known for its coal. The Tongue River member has approximately 32 coal seams with a combined thickness in excess of 300 ft. The thickness of the separate coal seams varies radically from place to place—in some places the beds are thick but over a relatively short distance the seam can pinch out to nothing. Where these coal beds are thick and also close to the surface in the Powder river Basin in northern Wyoming and southern Montana they are mined in large open pit mines, like the mines along the Tongue in the vicinity of the Decker, Montana. Tongue River coal is low in sulpher content and when burned it produces an exhaust gas that is not as noxious and destructive to the environment as the exhaust from other coal sources. Thus coal fired electric generating places throughout the United States demand Tongue River coal so they can meet federal emission standards. Because of this demand, about 40% of the coal now used to generate electricity in the United States is mined from the Tongue River sandstone coal seams in the Powder River Basin.
Where the Tongue River now flows in Montana and Wyoming, the sedimentary rock formation that is today known as the Tongue River sandstone began to form about 60 million years ago, when mountain uplifts began rising from a shallow sea. The Black Hills uplift on the east, the Hartville uplift on the southeast, and the Big Horn Block on the west created a flat, swampy low lying plain, with slow moving rivers flowing northwest to deltas along a shallow sea. At this time the climate in the area was subtropical, averaging about 120 inches (3,000 mm) of rainfall a year. For some 25 million years, the floor of this plain was made up of thick deposits of sandy silt from the surrounding mountains, with many rivers, deltas, backwaters and swamps, all covered by forests and vegetation. At that time, from 35 to 60 million years ago, the area where the Tongue River now flows would have appeared as a dense swampy jungle. Over long periods of time, the heavy plant growth died and accumulated as peaty layers in the large backwaters and swamps all across the basin. Periodically more sandy silt deposits would wash in from the mountains, completely burying the layers of organic peaty materials. Eventually the climate became drier and cooler. The area passed through more long periods of geologic time, during which new sedimentary layers buried this entire sandy silty layer along with its deposits of peat, under thousands of feet of newer sediments, compressing the sandy silty deposits into the Tongue River sandstone of today, and also compressing and changing the layers of peaty organic material into thinner layers of lignite coal. Over the last several million years, much of the overlying sediment has eroded away, bringing the sandstone layer with its seams of coal to the surface again in the Tongue River area.
The Tongue River sandstone forms cliffs, hills, buttes and bluffs along the river and throughout the basin. From the Decker area downstream to about Birney the river flows through the prairie in a canyon carved from the Tongue River sandstone. The upper part of this canyon is dammed to form the Tongue River reservoir.
The sandstone hillsides and bluffs along the Tongue and its tributaries often have reddish bands running through them or they are capped with resistant reddish layer. These red layers were formed millions of years ago. Coal seams outcropping in the Tongue River sandstone caught fire, probably from prairie fires that started by lightening. The fires burned from the outcropo back into the coal seams, and the fire finally went out when they burned so deeply into the coal seam that the fire was smothered. These fires burned for a long time and they were extremely hot, and they baked and changed the structure of the sedimentary rocks that lay just over the coal seam until it became a hard "clinker" substance and turned a reddish brick color. These red "clinker" beds are often more resistant to erosion than the silty sandstone, so they appear on the higher parts of bluffs, and buttes on either side of the valleys of the Tongue River basin are often capped by beds of this baked and fused rock that are five to twenty feet thick. Besides the beds of reddish "clinker" larger concretions can be found that appear at first glance to be similar to melted glass or even pieces of volcanic rock. Although of a different appearance than the clinker these odd looking concretions are also formed by the burning coal beds, with the difference in appearance being due to the difference in content of the material in the overlying bed that was heated to very high temperatures. The reddish "clinker" is crushed and used to surface roads roads throughout the Tongue River basin.
North of the Yellowstone, dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s have been found in Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
era
Era
An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in...
rock formation
Rock formation
This is a list of rock formations that include isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrops. These formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock...
s, but dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s have not been found in any members of the Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
Fort Union Formation
Fort Union Formation
The Fort Union Formation is a geologic unit containing sandstones, shales, and coal beds in Wyoming, Montana, and parts of adjacent states. In the Powder River Basin, it contains important economic deposits of coal, uranium, and coalbed methane....
, including the Tongue River sandstone. However plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s are common in the Tongue River sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, and many imprints of leaves
Leaves
-History:Vocalist Arnar Gudjonsson was formerly the guitarist with Mower, and he was joined by Hallur Hallsson , Arnar Ólafsson , Bjarni Grímsson , and Andri Ásgrímsson . Late in 2001 they played with Emiliana Torrini and drew early praise from the New York Times...
and fronds have been found and collected by scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
s and fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
hunters.
Early Native American ethnic occupation
In about 1450, the CrowCrow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
leader No Intestines received a vision and separated from the ancestral tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
, which remained along the Missouri River
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...
as sedentary farmers known as Hidatsa
Hidatsa
The Hidatsa are a Siouan people, a part of the Three Affiliated Tribes. The Hidatsa's autonym is Hiraacá. According to the tribal tradition, the word hiraacá derives from the word "willow"; however, the etymology is not transparent and the similarity to mirahací ‘willows’ inconclusive...
. No Intestines led his band on a long migratory
Human migration
Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
search for sacred tobacco, finally settling in southeastern Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, where they became known as the Many Lodges or Mountain Crow. By 1490, the Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
were firmly established in a homeland
Homeland
A homeland is the concept of the place to which an ethnic group holds a long history and a deep cultural association with —the country in which a particular national identity began. As a common noun, it simply connotes the country of one's origin...
that included the Tongue River valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
–in south central/southeastern Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, and northern Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. To acquire control of this area, the Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
warred against Shoshone
Shoshone
The Shoshone or Shoshoni are a Native American tribe in the United States with three large divisions: the Northern, the Western and the Eastern....
bands, and drove them westward, but allied themselves with local Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
and Kiowa Apache bands.
The Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
were a high plains, nomadic, bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
hunting culture based on the dog travois, but in about 1700 they acquired horses and swiftly evolved a horse based nomadic hunting culture. The Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
bands migrated southward, and the Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
remained dominant in an extensive area, including the Tongue River, in south central Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
through the 18th century, 19th century and the era of the fur trade.
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 confirmed a large area centered on the Big Horn Mountains as Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
lands—the area ran from the Big Horn Basin on the west, to the Musselshell River
Musselshell River
The Musselshell River is a tributary of the Missouri River, long from its origins at the confluence of its North and South Forks near Martinsdale, Montana to its mouth on the Missouri River. It is located east of the Continental divide entirely within Montana in the United States...
on the north, and east to the Powder River
Powder River (Montana)
Powder River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately long in the southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming in the United States. It drains an area historically known as the Powder River Country on the high plains east of the Bighorn Mountains.It rises in three forks in eastern...
, and included the Tongue River basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
. However, for two centuries, the Cheyenne and the many bands of the Lakota-Sioux tribes had been steadily migrating westward across the plains, and by 1851 they were established just to the south and east of Crow territory in Montana. The Lakota-Sioux along with their Cheyenne allies coveted the fine hunting lands where the Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
lived and after 1851 the Lakota-Sioux and Cheyenne conducted tribal warfare with the Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
and boldly appropriated their eastern hunting lands, including the Powder and Tongue River valleys, pushing the less numerous Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
to the west and northwest along the Yellowstone
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
.
After about 1860 these Lakota-Sioux bands claimed all the lands lying east of the Big Horn Mountains
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
and required the whites to deal with them regarding any intrusion into these areas. Red Cloud's War
Red Cloud's War
Red Cloud's War was an armed conflict between the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho and the United States in the Wyoming Territory and the Montana Territory from 1866 to 1868. The war was fought over control of the Powder River Country in north central present day Wyoming...
(1866 to 1868) was a challenge by the Lakota-Sioux to the military presence on the Bozeman Trail
Bozeman Trail
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route connecting the gold rush territory of Montana to the Oregon Trail. Its most important period was from 1863-1868. The flow of pioneers and settlers through territory of American Indians provoked their resentment and caused attacks. The U.S. Army undertook...
, which went to the Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
gold fields along the eastern edge of the Big Horn Mountains
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
. Red Cloud's War
Red Cloud's War
Red Cloud's War was an armed conflict between the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho and the United States in the Wyoming Territory and the Montana Territory from 1866 to 1868. The war was fought over control of the Powder River Country in north central present day Wyoming...
ended in a complete victory for the Lakota-Sioux, and the 1868 Treaty of Ft. Laramie confirmed their control over all the high plains from the crest of the Big Horn Mountains
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
eastward across the Powder River Basin
Powder River Basin
The Powder River Basin is a geologic region in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its coal deposits. The region supplies about 40 percent of coal in the United States. It is both a topographic drainage and geologic structural basin...
to the Black Hills
Black Hills
The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...
. Thereafter bands of Lakota-Sioux led by Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull Sitting Bull (Lakota: Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (in Standard Lakota Orthography), also nicknamed Slon-he or "Slow"; (c. 1831 – December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux holy man who led his people as a tribal chief during years of resistance to United States government policies...
, Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
and others, along with their Northern Cheyenne allies, hunted and raided throughout the length and breadth of eastern Montana
Eastern Montana
Eastern Montana is a loosely-defined region of Montana. Some definitions are more or less inclusive than others, ranging from the most inclusive, which would include the entire part of the state east of the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains...
and northeastern Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, including the area of the Tongue River Valley, until the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877. Although early in the war on June 25, 1876 the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne enjoyed a major victory over army forces under General George A. Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, the Great Sioux War ended in the defeat of the Sioux and their Cheyenne allies, and their exodus from eastern Montana and Wyoming, either in flight to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
or by forced removal to distant reservations.
In 1877, Cheyenne bands allied with the Sioux, known as the Northern Cheyenne, were ordered south to a reservation in Oklahoma with the related but separate Southern Cheyenne tribes. Plagued with disease and malnutrition, in 1878 a group of 279 Northern Cheyenne made a desperate attempt to return to the northern plains. After a running battle from Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
to Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, the battered remnants of this group arrived at Ft. Keogh, at the mouth of the Tongue, where a Northern Cheyenne band under Two Moons remained which had yet not been sent south. General Miles allowed Ft. Keogh to become a gathering point for the scattered Northern Cheyenne people. Over time Cheyenne families began to migrate south from the fort and establish homesteads up the Tongue River and on the Rosebud. By executive orders in 1884 and 1900, the federal government carved out a reservation for the Northern Cheyenne on Rosebud Creek, with the Tongue River as its eastern boundary.
The fur trading era
In September 1833 on the Tongue River, a chapter was written in the rivalry between the Rocky Mountain Fur CompanyRocky Mountain Fur Company
The Rocky Mountain Fur Company, sometimes called Ashley's Hundred, was organized in St. Louis, Missouri in 1823 by General William H. Ashley and Major Andrew Henry . They posted advertisements in St. Louis newspapers seeking "One Hundred enterprising young men . ....
(RMF) and the American Fur Company
American Fur Company
The American Fur Company was founded by John Jacob Astor in 1808. The company grew to monopolize the fur trade in the United States by 1830, and became one of the largest businesses in the country. The company was one the first great trusts in American business...
(AFC). Tom Fitzpatrick
Thomas Fitzpatrick (trapper)
Thomas Fitzpatrick, known as "Broken Hand", was a trapper and a trailblazer who became the head of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. With Jedediah Smith, he led a trapper band that discovered South Pass, Wyoming....
, a mountain man and fur trader with the RMF, rode to Crow camps on Tongue River with a band of about 30 other trappers to trade for furs and to ask permission of the chiefs to make his fall hunt in their country. The Crows invited Tom to camp with them. He cautiously declined and pitched his camp three miles off. Then he rode over with a few men to visit the chief, who received and entertained him cordially. The AFC was a rival of Tom Fitzpatrick's RMF Company and they had agents in the Crow villages including the notorious James Beckwourth
James Beckwourth
James Pierson Beckwourth was an American mountain man, fur trader, and explorer. An African American mulatto born into slavery in Virginia, he later moved to the American West. As a fur trapper, he lived with the Crow for years...
, who was an adopted member of the tribe. While Fitzpatrick was visiting the Crow camp, young Crow braves, probably instigated by AFC agents, rode to Fitzpatrick's camp and proceeded to steal all of his horses, rifles, traps, and equipment, as well as his beaver pelts and trade goods. Fitzpatrick's camp was being guarded by 25 of his men under Captain William Drummond Stewart
William Drummond Stewart
William Drummond Stewart was a Scottish adventurer and British military officer. He traveled extensively in the American West for nearly six years in the 1830s, wintering in New Orleans, where he speculated in the cotton market, and Cuba. In 1837 he took along the American artist, Alfred Jacob...
, a former British officer (and veteran of Waterloo) and no pushover. Upon entering the trappers camp, the collection of Crow braves probably first affected an excessive cordiality and when their demonstrations of friendship and claims of affection had literally and figuratively disarmed the trappers, "then the knives, clubs, bows and guns were out, and a Crow was attached to everything of value." The braves even took Capt. Stewart's watch. Upon meeting Tom Fitzpatrick as he returned from the village, the young braves completed their work by robbing him of his capote coat. The next day, Fitzpatrick, always a realist, returned to the Crow camp and begged his former friend, the Crow Chief for help and received back some of his horses, rifles, traps and other equipment, and a small amount of ammunition per man, but no furs or trade goods.
In 1835 Samuel Tullock of the American Fur Company (AFC) built Fort Van Buren on the right bank of the Yellowstone, near the mouth of the Tongue River. At the fort, AFC agents traded for furs with Indians from the surrounding area. The fort was abandoned in 1842, and later burned.
The Bozeman Trail and Red Cloud's War
In 1864, the Bozeman TrailBozeman Trail
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route connecting the gold rush territory of Montana to the Oregon Trail. Its most important period was from 1863-1868. The flow of pioneers and settlers through territory of American Indians provoked their resentment and caused attacks. The U.S. Army undertook...
was opened to the Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
fields. A portion of the trail
Trail
A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...
entered the Tongue River Basin at Prairie Dog Creek and crossed over to Goose Creek and went on to the Tongue River beyond present day Ranchester, Wyoming
Ranchester, Wyoming
Ranchester is a town in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 701 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ranchester is located at ....
then up the Tongue River to the Pass Creek divide. After the Sand Creek Massacre
Sand Creek Massacre
As conflict between Indians and white settlers and soldiers in Colorado continued, many of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, including bands under Cheyenne chiefs Black Kettle and White Antelope, were resigned to negotiate peace. The chiefs had sought to maintain peace in spite of pressures from whites...
in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
in November 1864, depredations by Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
, Arapahoe and Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
increased along the Oregon Trail
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
and the Bozeman Trail
Bozeman Trail
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route connecting the gold rush territory of Montana to the Oregon Trail. Its most important period was from 1863-1868. The flow of pioneers and settlers through territory of American Indians provoked their resentment and caused attacks. The U.S. Army undertook...
, which was then closed to civilian traffic. The army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
launched a punitive campaign, and Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
Patrick Edward Connor
Patrick Edward Connor
Patrick Edward Connor was a Union General during the American Civil War. He was most famous for his campaigns against Native Americans in the American Old West.-Early life and career:...
led a column up the Bozeman Trail
Bozeman Trail
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route connecting the gold rush territory of Montana to the Oregon Trail. Its most important period was from 1863-1868. The flow of pioneers and settlers through territory of American Indians provoked their resentment and caused attacks. The U.S. Army undertook...
. On August 29, 1865, General Conner, with a force variously estimated at about 300 soldiers, surprised an Arapahoe village of about 500 to 700 under Chiefs Old David and Black Bear camped on the Bozeman Trail
Bozeman Trail
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route connecting the gold rush territory of Montana to the Oregon Trail. Its most important period was from 1863-1868. The flow of pioneers and settlers through territory of American Indians provoked their resentment and caused attacks. The U.S. Army undertook...
, on the south side of the Tongue near present day Ranchester, Wyoming. In what is now known as the Battle of the Tongue River
Battle of the Tongue River
The Battle of the Tongue River, sometimes referred to as the Connor Battle, was the major engagement of the Powder River Expedition of 1865, directed against the Southern Cheyenne, Arapaho and Lakota Sioux. It destroyed for a time the Arapaho capability to raid the Bozeman Trail and overland mail...
the soldiers charged into the Indian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
camp firing indiscriminately, surprising the Indians who were breaking camp. The Indians first fled up Wolf Creek, but then regrouped and counter-attacked. The soldiers destroyed about 250 lodges, then retreated down the Tongue River Valley driving from 700 to 1000 captured horses, repulsing attacks of Arapahoe warrior
Warrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
s seeking to get back some of their horses.
Two days after the battle
Battle
Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...
with Conner, on August 31, 1865, warrior
Warrior
A warrior is a person skilled in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based society that recognizes a separate warrior class.-Warrior classes in tribal culture:...
s from the same Arapahoe village attacked
Strike (attack)
A strike is an attack with an inanimate object, such as a weapon, or with a part of the human body intended to cause an effect upon an opponent or to simply cause harm to an opponent. There are many different varieties of strikes...
a large wagon train
Wagon train
A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
of road-builders led by "Colonel" James A. Sawyers, who were traveling on the Bozeman Trail
Bozeman Trail
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route connecting the gold rush territory of Montana to the Oregon Trail. Its most important period was from 1863-1868. The flow of pioneers and settlers through territory of American Indians provoked their resentment and caused attacks. The U.S. Army undertook...
, improving it as they went. The wagon train
Wagon train
A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
was besieged for 13 days at the Bozeman Trail
Bozeman Trail
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route connecting the gold rush territory of Montana to the Oregon Trail. Its most important period was from 1863-1868. The flow of pioneers and settlers through territory of American Indians provoked their resentment and caused attacks. The U.S. Army undertook...
ford on the Tongue River about half way between Ranchester, Wyoming and Dayton, Wyoming
Dayton, Wyoming
Dayton is a town in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 678 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Dayton is located at the confluence of the Tongue River and The Little Tongue River. It is on US Highway 14, just east of the Big Horn Mountains.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000,...
. As the siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
dragged on and a number of men were killed, Sawyers faced mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
from his employees. Sawyers had started to retreat
Withdrawal (military)
A withdrawal is a type of military operation, generally meaning retreating forces back while maintaining contact with the enemy. A withdrawal may be undertaken as part of a general retreat, to consolidate forces, to occupy ground that is more easily defended, or to lead the enemy into an ambush...
down the trail
Trail
A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...
, when he met a contingent of army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
moving up the trail
Trail
A trail is a path with a rough beaten or dirt/stone surface used for travel. Trails may be for use only by walkers and in some places are the main access route to remote settlements...
, who agreed to escort them to the Big Horn River, after which the wagon train
Wagon train
A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond...
proceeded on to the Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
fields.
In 1866, the army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
determined to erect a series of forts along the Bozeman Trail
Bozeman Trail
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route connecting the gold rush territory of Montana to the Oregon Trail. Its most important period was from 1863-1868. The flow of pioneers and settlers through territory of American Indians provoked their resentment and caused attacks. The U.S. Army undertook...
. The scout Jim Bridger
Jim Bridger
James Felix "Jim" Bridger was among the foremost mountain men, trappers, scouts and guides who explored and trapped the Western United States during the decades of 1820-1850, as well as mediating between native tribes and encroaching whites...
recommended a fort site in the Tongue River Valley, near Ranchester, Wyoming
Ranchester, Wyoming
Ranchester is a town in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 701 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ranchester is located at ....
. Col. Henry B. Carrington
Henry B. Carrington
Henry Beebee Carrington was a lawyer, professor, prolific author, and an officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War and in the Old West during Red Cloud's War...
rejected the Tongue River site for a site to the south on Little Piney Creek, in the Powder River
Powder River (Montana)
Powder River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately long in the southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming in the United States. It drains an area historically known as the Powder River Country on the high plains east of the Bighorn Mountains.It rises in three forks in eastern...
drainage, where Fort Phil Kearny
Fort Phil Kearny
Fort Phil Kearny was an outpost of the United States Army that existed in the late 1860s in present-day northeastern Wyoming along the Bozeman Trail. Construction began Friday July 13, 1866 by Companies A, C, E and H of the 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry, under the direction of the regimental...
was erected.
From 1865 through 1868 during Red Cloud's War
Red Cloud's War
Red Cloud's War was an armed conflict between the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho and the United States in the Wyoming Territory and the Montana Territory from 1866 to 1868. The war was fought over control of the Powder River Country in north central present day Wyoming...
, Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
and Lakota Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
bands harassed, attacked
Strike (attack)
A strike is an attack with an inanimate object, such as a weapon, or with a part of the human body intended to cause an effect upon an opponent or to simply cause harm to an opponent. There are many different varieties of strikes...
and killed travelers on the Bozeman Trail
Bozeman Trail
The Bozeman Trail was an overland route connecting the gold rush territory of Montana to the Oregon Trail. Its most important period was from 1863-1868. The flow of pioneers and settlers through territory of American Indians provoked their resentment and caused attacks. The U.S. Army undertook...
and soldiers at Fort Phil Kearny
Fort Phil Kearny
Fort Phil Kearny was an outpost of the United States Army that existed in the late 1860s in present-day northeastern Wyoming along the Bozeman Trail. Construction began Friday July 13, 1866 by Companies A, C, E and H of the 2nd Battalion, 18th Infantry, under the direction of the regimental...
and Fort C. F. Smith. These bands often located their base camps on the Tongue River because they could camp far enough down the river from the forts to be secure from counter attack, and the lower Tongue River Valley afforded a wide variety of camp sites with the three necessities of the nomadic Indians -- wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
for fires, abundant water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
, and adequate grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
for grazing their large horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
herds.
1873 Yellowstone Expedition (1873 Northern Pacific railroad survey)
Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer, with Companies A and B of the Seventh Cavalry, engaged and held off a larger Indian force of Sioux Indians, including Hunkpapas, Oglalas, Miniconjous and Cheyennes at the Battle of Honsinger BluffBattle of Honsinger Bluff
The Battle of Honsinger Bluff is of historic significance in that the main combatants were units of the U.S. 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, and Native American warriors from the village of the Hunkpapa medicine man, Sitting Bull, many of whom would clash with Custer again...
on August 4, 1873 about 7 miles (11.3 km) above the mouth of the Tongue on the Yellowstone River. Custer's command was part of the Stanley military column which was accompanying and protecting Northern Pacific Railroad survey parties in the summer months of 1873. Many of the Indian leaders and army officers who participated in the Battle of Honsinger Bluff
Battle of Honsinger Bluff
The Battle of Honsinger Bluff is of historic significance in that the main combatants were units of the U.S. 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer, and Native American warriors from the village of the Hunkpapa medicine man, Sitting Bull, many of whom would clash with Custer again...
were present at the more famous Battle of the Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876, three years later.
Great Sioux War of 1876-1877
In a June 9, 1876 engagement called the Skirmish at Tongue River Heights, during the Great Sioux War of 1876-77Great Sioux War of 1876-77
The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations which occurred between 1876 and 1877 involving the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne, against the United States...
General George Crook
George Crook
George R. Crook was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...
was camped on the Tongue near the mouth of Prairie Dog Creek with about 950 soldiers, when Sioux fired into his camp from a bluff across the Tongue. A battalion under Captain Anson Mills responded, crossing the river and driving the Sioux force from the bluffs. As a consequence of this engagement, on June 11, General Crook moved his base camp to the junction of Big and Little Goose Creeks, some 7 miles south of the junction of Goose Creek and the Tongue River, where Sheridan, Wyoming
Sheridan, Wyoming
Sheridan is a city in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The 2010 census put the population at 17,444 and a Micropolitan Statistical Area of 29,116...
is now located. On June 16, after being joined on the Tongue by some 260 Crow and Shoshone scouts, Crook moved his forces north, across the Tongue, and on June 17, 1876 engaged a large Sioux and Cheyenne force at the Battle of the Rosebud
Battle of the Rosebud
The Battle of the Rosebud occurred June 17, 1876, in the Montana Territory between the United States Army and a force of Lakota Native Americans during the Black Hills War...
. After the battle Crook returned south of the Tongue River to the base camp on Goose Creek, and he was still there on June 25, 1876 when General George A. Custer was defeated at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, some 65 miles to the north.
After remaining idle for more than two weeks on Goose Creek, on July 6, 1876 General George Crook
George Crook
George R. Crook was a career United States Army officer, most noted for his distinguished service during the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...
ordered Lt. Frederick W. Sibley to take 25 men and two scouts, Big Bat Pourier and Frank Grouard, and make a reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
to the north to locate the hostile Indian forces. While traveling up the Tongue River in the vicinity of (present day) Dayton, Wyoming, the patrol discovered a large party of Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
and Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
warriors moving south and very close to them. The only chance was to turn aside and take a trail near Dayton that led up into the adjacent Big Horn Mountains
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
. The war party followed closely, and after surviving attacks by pursuing Indians, the patrol abandoned their horses and traveled deep into the rough steep terraine of the Tongue River Canyon system on foot. Over several days the group was able to evade the Indian force, after which they walked over thirty miles out of the mountains and back to the Goose Creek camp, arriving worn out and fatigued but with no casualties. The "Sibley Scout" became another incident of the Great Sioux War of 1876 that took place along the Tongue River.
In the fall of 1876 following the defeat of Custer
George Armstrong Custer
George Armstrong Custer was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars. Raised in Michigan and Ohio, Custer was admitted to West Point in 1858, where he graduated last in his class...
at the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
, the army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
determined to garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
the area, and Colonel Nelson A. Miles
Nelson A. Miles
Nelson Appleton Miles was a United States soldier who served in the American Civil War, Indian Wars, and the Spanish-American War.-Early life:Miles was born in Westminster, Massachusetts, on his family's farm...
and elements of infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
units constructed the Tongue River Cantonment
Cantonment
A cantonment is a temporary or semi-permanent military or police quarters. The word cantonment is derived from the French word canton meaning corner or district, as is the name of the Cantons of Switzerland. In South Asia, the term cantonment also describes permanent military stations...
at the mouth of the Tongue River. A community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
formed nearby named "Milestown" after Col. Miles
Nelson A. Miles
Nelson Appleton Miles was a United States soldier who served in the American Civil War, Indian Wars, and the Spanish-American War.-Early life:Miles was born in Westminster, Massachusetts, on his family's farm...
who banished the settlement to a point three miles away from the cantonment
Cantonment
A cantonment is a temporary or semi-permanent military or police quarters. The word cantonment is derived from the French word canton meaning corner or district, as is the name of the Cantons of Switzerland. In South Asia, the term cantonment also describes permanent military stations...
. In the following year, after a vigorous winter campaign, the army increased the commitment of forces and Col. Miles constructed Fort Keogh
Fort Keogh
Fort Keogh is located on the western edge of Miles City, Montana. Occasionally spelled Fort Keough. Originally a military post, today it is a United States Department of Agriculture livestock and range research station. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places...
about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the Tongue. After the fort was finished, Miles permitted civilians to settle on the eastern bank of the Tongue. Immediately, Milestown moved 3 miles (4.8 km) miles west forming Miles City
Miles City, Montana
Miles City is a city in and the county seat of Custer County, Montana, United States. The population was 8,123 at the 2010 census.- History :...
. Today, the Tongue joins with the Yellowstone within the city limits of Miles City.
On December 16, 1876 five Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
chiefs
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
from Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
's village approached the Tongue River Cantonment to discuss terms of surrender
Surrender (military)
Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.When the...
for their bands. The Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
were the herditary enemies of the Crow, and the five Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
were suddenly attacked and killed by some of the army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
's Crow scouts. The attack occurred within sight of the Cantonment, but was so swift and unexpected that the army could not intervene to save the chiefs
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
. The Crow scouts involved immediately fled from the area. This episode delayed surrender
Surrender (military)
Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.When the...
of Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
and Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
bands, and extended the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877.
On January 8, 1877 Colonel Miles and infantry units engaged in one of the last battles of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77
Great Sioux War of 1876-77
The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations which occurred between 1876 and 1877 involving the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne, against the United States...
near Birney, Montana in the Tongue River Valley. Colonel Miles, leading elements of the 5th and 22nd infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
, avoided an ambush by Oglala Sioux under Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
, and segments of Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
Indians under White Bull
White Bull
White Bull was the nephew of Sitting Bull, and a famous warrior in his own right. White Bull participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876. For years it was said White Bull boasted of killing Lt. George Armstrong Custer at the famous battle...
and Two Moons
Two Moons
Two Moons , pronounced ‘Ishaynishus’ was the son of Carries the Otter, an Arikara captive who married into the Cheyenne tribe...
, and then engaged the Indian forces driving them back up the Tongue River
Tongue River
The Tongue River may refer to:*The Tongue River , a tributary of the Red River of the North in North Dakota in the United States.*The Tongue River , a tributary of the Yellowstone in Wyoming and Montana in the United States....
. The battle is officially referred to as the Battle of the Wolf Mountains, although this is a misnomer. The battle is also referred to by various other names, including the Battle of Pyramid Butte, the Battle of the Butte, and Miles Battle on the Tongue River. The Wolf Mountains are actually several drainages to the west from the battle site, but General Miles' report stated the battle was in the Wolf Mountains, and that name has stuck. The battle site is about 4.5 road miles west of the town of Birney, on the Tongue River road.
Lumber
A sawmill operates at Ashland, cutting timber which is harvested from the broken highlands, between the stream valleys in the surrounding area.Agriculture and irrigation
The Tongue River basin is prime livestock country. Limited farm lands that exist along flowing streams in the basin are usually irrigated from diversion dams, and produce crops which support the livestock industry—hay and feed stocks (corn, barley, alfalfa). Dry land wheat farming, which is prevalent elsewhere in eastern Montana, occurs only in limited and scattered acreages in the Tongue River basin. Cattle represent the great bulk of the total livestock production from the Tongue River basin with sheep a distant second.Cattle ranches in the Tongue River Basin are predominantly "cow calf" instead of “yearling” operations. The yearly cycle of a “cow calf” operation begins with the birth of calves from February to May. At spring roundup the calves are branded. Bulls are put with the cows to start the nine month gestation cycle to produce next year’s calf crop on the month chosen by the rancher, after which the bulls are again separated from the herds. The herds are moved to summer pasture, and in June and July attention focuses on cutting and storing hay for the next winter. Feed crops are harvested in late summer or fall. The late fall roundup separates the calves which are sold to cattle buyers and shipped by truck. The herd is moved to the pasture where they will be fed for the winter, and in about the first week of December enough snow accumulates to start the process of feeding hay to carry the herd through the winter. Ranch chores, repairs and maintenance, work on building projects, doctoring cattle and the like go on all year round.
One of the oldest irrigation projects on the Tongue River is the T&Y Ditch, which dates from 1886. The diversion dam from the T&Y ditch was recently altered to include a fish ladder, which now allows fish from the Tongue and Yellowstone Rivers below the dam to migrate upriver, for the first time in 125 years.
An experimental vineyard, Tongue River Vineyard, is located on the Tongue, a mile upriver from Miles City, Montana. This is the only Montana vineyard east of Missoula, which is 600 miles away, and the only vineyard in the vast but scenic area known as eastern Montana. The vineyard keeper is primarily growing Univ. of Minnesota hardy hybrids, and seedless table grape and juice varietals, using some unusual techniques to resist the colder temperatures of the eastern Montana winter. Tongue River Winery will open in September, 2010. As of July 2010, the building is finished. The first release is likely to be a sweet, sandcherry wine, and will likely be named "Sand Cherry Kiss." The Vineyard & Winery are owned and operated by Bob and Marilyn Thaden of Miles City and may be seen at www.tongueriverwinery.com or on Facebook at "Tongue River Winery". Visitors are welcome.
Coal deposits and coal mines
Historically, underground coal mines existed along the Tongue River at the communities of Monarch, Kleenburn and Acme, about 7 to 10 miles north of Sheridan, Wyoming. These mines were based on seams of coal that outcropped in this area, in the Tongue River valley or on small tributaries off the valley. The CB&Q railroad ran from Sheridan, Wyoming past these mines and on to Billings, Montana, allowing for easy shipment of coal. These underground mines were economically operated from about 1900 to the late 1940s. Miners lived in these communities or in Sheridan, Wyoming. Miners in Sheridan commuted the 7 to 10 miles to reach the mines by trolly.The same coal seams that used to be mined by underground tunnels are now accessed for mining by large open surface excavations. Several large coal strip mines are presently operating in the area around the Tongue River Reservoir, near the small town of Decker, Montana about 20 to 23 miles northeast from Sheridan, Wyoming. These mines are operated by the Kiewit Corporation and produce subbituminous low sulfur Powder River basin coal. There are no electrical generating facilities at this site. A rail spur line extends to the mine sites from the BNSF main line near Sheridan, Wyoming allows this coal to be shipped by rail to coal fired electric generating plants all over the United States.
Large undeveloped private and federally owned coal deposits are located along Otter Creek, a tributary of the Tongue River. These coal deposits are located south of Ashland, which is at the junction of the Tongue River and Otter Creek. These coal deposits are sufficiently thick, and are located under sufficiently thin overburden, as to be economically viable. Drawbacks for production are the lack of a rail spur to transport the coal, and the lack of an established community of sufficient size in the area to support the work force needed to develop the coal mines. A railroad spur line, if built, would have to come up the Tongue River from Miles City, a distance of some 65 to 70 miles. Extensive infrastructure improvements would have to be added to the community of Ashland before it could support the number of worker's families that the mine would draw to the area. These deposits on Otter Creek are the source of much debate over the future of energy development in southeastern Montana.
Undeveloped but extensive coal deposits exist along Youngs Creek and adjacent creeks, which flow into the Tongue River just upstream from the Tongue River reservoir. This large and (as yet) untapped deposit of coal is just a few miles south of the large open pit coal mines already being operated by Kiewit. The upper 15 miles of Youngs Creek lies on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana, and the Crow Tribe owns the coal beds underlying this portion of the creek. The last 3 miles of the creek lie between the reservation boundary and the Tongue River, in Wyoming. As to the coal beds on the Crow reservation, the Secretary of the Interior approved a coal lease negotiated by the Crow Tribe with Shell Oil Company in 1983 to develop this coal resource. The lease had extensive long term benefits for the Crow tribe, and required payments to the tribe to start at a future point of time even in the event the coal was not mined. Shell paid the tribe a bonus to cancel this lease in 1985, because of poor market conditions, and because of Shell's uncertainties on how Montana's severance tax would be applied to coal owned by the Crow Tribe. Compared to Otter Creek these coal resources are easier to develop—the coal resources of Young's creek lies within five to ten miles of the railroad spur line which is used to ship coal from the nearby open pit mines being operated by Kiewit in the Decker, Montana area, and the communities of Sheridan and Ranchester already exist to serve as a base for the work force needed to develop coal mines at Youngs Creek.
Roads and travel conditions
I-94, an east-west interstate artery carrying U.S. Highway 12, crosses the Tongue at its mouth at Miles City. I-90, also an east-west interstate artery carrying U.S. Highway 87 and U.S. Highway 14, crosses the upper reaches of the Tongue between Ranchester and Dayton, and continues to Sheridan. U.S. Highway 212 extends east and west from Ashland bisecting the middle of the Tongue River basin from side to side.The Tongue River has a road running along almost all of its length, as do the major tributaries, but the predominance of gravel roads over paved roads is a testament to the remoteness of the region. In the Tongue River valley, starting from Miles City and going up the river there are about 30 miles of pavement to the community of Garland, then 35 miles of gravel, followed by about 7 miles of paved road into Ashland, where U.S. Highway 212 is encountered. South of Ashland, continuing up the valley, there is another 20 miles of paved road, then another 38 miles of gravel roads to the pavement above the Tongue River Reservoir, followed by 10 miles of pavement to the Montana/Wyoming state line. In Wyoming a network of paved roads follow the Tongue river westward to Ranchester and Dayton, where the Tongue comes out of the Big Horn Mountains. A road from Dayton goes up the Tongue for a short distance into the mountains, after which contact with the Tongue River and its mountain branches is by hiking trail.
The lower major tributaries of the Tongue (Pumpkin Creek, Ottor Creek, Hanging Woman Creek, Prairie Dog Creek) all have gravel roads branching off the Tongue River Road and running along their length, providing access to local ranches. In Wyoming, the major tributary is Goose Creek, which flows out of a basin with Sheridan, Wyoming at its center, and so this entire basin area has well-developed paved and gravel roads. In addition to the roads that run along the Tongue and its major tributaries, there is a network of gravel roads that cross the highlands between the stream valleys.
During the winter, travel along the roads in the basin can become difficult to impossible depending on snow accumulation, particularly on the more remote gravel roads that are not regularly plowed. If road conditions or car trouble strand a motorist in the more remote areas of the basin, during the pulses of intense winter cold common to this area, there is a real risk of death or injury by freezing. The Tongue River basin does not have the "gumbo" type mud that affects road travel in wet weather on the north side of the Yellowstone River. Traffic on the gravel and dirt roads of the Tongue River basin is a problem at sharp corners, blind hilltops, concealed entrances to side roads, and when suddenly encountering oversized slow ranch/farm vehicles. In warm weather it is a good idea to keep an eye out ahead for dust clouds indicating approaching vehicles. The motorist traveling in the Tongue River basin should keep a constant look out for livestock on the road, and especially for deer (particularly at dawn, dusk and at night).
There are good roadside services at Miles City, Montana at the mouth of the Tongue River basin, and also in the upper reaches of the basin at Dayton and Ranchester and in the vicinity of Sheridan, Wyoming. There are limited roadside services in Ashland, located about the center of the basin, where U.S. 212 goes east and west. For the rest of the Tongue River basin, the motorist is on his or her own.
Railroads
Since the settlement of Miles City, at the mouth of the Tongue, and the related settlement of Sheridan, Wyoming, located approximately 125 air miles to the south there has been much discussion of a north-south railroad connecting the cities and corridored along the Tongue River valley. This has been the subject of many promotional business ventures over the years.From 1923 to 1935 the North and South Railway
North and South Railway
The North and South Railway , now defunct, was an American railroad planned for construction between Casper, Wyoming and Miles City, Montana, via Sheridan, Wyoming...
promoted a rail line south from Miles City, Montana through Sheridan to Casper, Wyoming. The northern segment was to run along the Tongue between Miles City, Montana and Sheridan, Wyoming. The southern segment was to run from Casper to Sheridan, Wyoming. Track was only laid on a portion of the southern segment. However, grading was done on the northern segment, and cuts and embankments can still be seen approximately 7 miles south of Miles City on the east side of the Tongue River. Financial problems caused the entire railroad project to be abandoned in 1935.
The current venture is the Tongue River Railroad, cussed and discussed over the past 25 years. Despite frequent press releases of imminent construction, not a single cubic foot of dirt has been disturbed in those 25 years. The impetus for the current venture is the prospect of hauling coal from strip mines which are existing and to be developed along the proposed route. Along the same proposed route, ranchers fear the effect of the proposed right of way upon their holdings in the Tongue River Valley, and the effect of newly developed strip mines and coalbed methane
Coalbed methane
Coalbed methane or Coal Bed Methane, coalbed gas or coal mine methane is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, and other countries...
gas wells on the quality of water, since strip mines and coalbed methane wells can increase sodium content in surrounding water sources. Proposed construction of the Tongue River Railroad is a divisive issue between energy developers, landowners, and inhabitants, and is sure to spark spirited debate anywhere in Southeastern Montana.
The BNSF railroad operating between Sheridan, Wyoming and Billings, Montana runs along the Tongue for a distance of about 10 miles, starting from a point about 7 miles north of Sheridan, Wyoming. Though this segment of rail line along the Tongue was limited, from 1900 to 1940 coal was shipped by the railroad from underground coal mines located in the Tongue River valley, along this stretch of track. This railroad was a part of the former Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q, or "Burlington") railroad system, which has now been merged in the present Burlington, Northern, Sante Fe (BNSF) railroad system.
The Northern Pacific Railroad built track to Miles City, crossing the Tongue River in 1881, about a mile from the junction of the Tongue and the Yellowstone. This construction was part of the mainline from St. Paul, Minnesota to the Pacific port of Tacoma, Washington completed in 1883, and it is still in operation today as part of the BNSF (Burlington Northern Sante Fe) railroad.
The Milwaukee Road (the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway) completed its mainline from the midwest to Puget Sound in 1909. This line also passed through Miles City and crossed the Tongue River between the existing NP tracks and the Yellowstone River. This line failed in the early 1980s and is no longer in use today.
Wildlife and fisheries
The Tongue River Valley, before it reaches the Big Horn Mountains, is part of an extensive drainage basin which is an environment in which wild game thrives. In this area of rolling prairies, sandstone outcrops and Ponderosa pines, there are plentiful numbers of whitetail deer and mule deerMule Deer
The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
, many of trophy quality. Antelope are found throughout this area. On the more southern tributaries, particularly in the Custer National Forest area, there are growing herds of prairie elk
Elk
The Elk is the large deer, also called Cervus canadensis or wapiti, of North America and eastern Asia.Elk may also refer to:Other antlered mammals:...
, an animal originally native to the plains of eastern Montana. Throughout the area are upland game birds, notably pheasant and grouse, and increasingly abundant flocks of wild turkeys.
The headwaters of the Tongue located in the Big Horn National Forest, in the Big Horn Mountains provide resources for deer, elk, bear and mountain lion hunting.
The grey wolf is an issue if not yet a reality in the Tongue River Basin, and there have been unconfirmed sightings of wolves in the more remote areas of the basin. Livestock, particularly sheep and calves, are vulnerable to wolves and, according to reports, livestock suffered significant depredations by wolves and coyotes in the last part of the 19th and the first part of the 20th century. This led to a war on these predators, with bounties paid by livestock associations and state agencies. By the mid 1930's wolves had been exterminated completely in the Tongue River basin (and indeed throughout the stockgrowing west). Times changed, and sympathy grew for the wolf, as well as his cousin the coyote. Since the release of wolves in Yellowstone Park in 1995, there has been increasing concern by stockgrowers in surrounding areas that wolf packs would migrate out of the Park to cattle country and re-establish themselves where the pickings were better. In cattle and sheep country like the Tongue River basin, the debate about wolf reintroduction
Wolf reintroduction
Wolf reintroduction involves the artificial reestablishment of a population of wolves in areas where they have been extirpated. Wolf reintroduction is only considered where large tracts of suitable wilderness still exist and where certain prey species are abundant enough to support a predetermined...
is ongoing and far from resolved.
The Tongue River Reservoir is popular among fishermen for a variety of fish. Very large catfish have been caught at the reservoir. In its upper reaches above the Tongue River Reservoir, and extending into the Big Horn Mountains, the Tongue River is fished for trout.
The Tongue is a Class I river from Tongue River Dam to its confluence with the Yellowstone River for public access and for recreational purposes.
Literary references
Otter Creek and Goose Creek, tributaries of the Tongue, are the location of Sam Morton's historical novel, "Where the Rivers Run North".Ernest Hemingway wrote a short story, "Wine of Wyoming" that references coal miners living at Sheridan, Wyoming during the era of prohibition, who worked at the underground coal mines in the Tongue River valley, a few miles north of Sheridan. The story "Wine of Wyoming" was published in 1933 as part of a collection of Ernest Hemingway's short stories entitled "Winner Take Nothing".
The Tongue River valley and surrounding area is the setting for "A Bride Goes West", an autobiography of Nannie Alderson, which relates her life as a ranch wife in the late 19th century in south central Montana.
Edmund Randolph wrote a book "Hell Among the Yearlings" about his experiences living on a ranch on the Tongue River in the 1920s, and getting into the cattle business.
See also
- List of Wyoming rivers
- List of rivers of Montana
- Montana Stream Access LawMontana Stream Access LawThe Montana Stream Access Law says that anglers, floaters and other recreationists in Montana have full use of most natural waterways between the high water marks for fishing and floating, along with swimming and other river or stream-related activities...
- North and South RailwayNorth and South RailwayThe North and South Railway , now defunct, was an American railroad planned for construction between Casper, Wyoming and Miles City, Montana, via Sheridan, Wyoming...
- Grey Wolf and Wolf reintroductionWolf reintroductionWolf reintroduction involves the artificial reestablishment of a population of wolves in areas where they have been extirpated. Wolf reintroduction is only considered where large tracts of suitable wilderness still exist and where certain prey species are abundant enough to support a predetermined...
- Ashland, MontanaAshland, MontanaAshland is a census-designated place in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 464 at the 2000 census. Ashland is immediately east of the boundary of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and the location of the St...
- Birney, MontanaBirney, MontanaBirney is a census-designated place in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 108 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Birney is located at ....
- Miles City, MontanaMiles City, MontanaMiles City is a city in and the county seat of Custer County, Montana, United States. The population was 8,123 at the 2010 census.- History :...
- Sheridan, WyomingSheridan, WyomingSheridan is a city in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The 2010 census put the population at 17,444 and a Micropolitan Statistical Area of 29,116...
- Ranchester, WyomingRanchester, WyomingRanchester is a town in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 701 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ranchester is located at ....
- Dayton, WyomingDayton, WyomingDayton is a town in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 678 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Dayton is located at the confluence of the Tongue River and The Little Tongue River. It is on US Highway 14, just east of the Big Horn Mountains.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000,...
- Big Horn, WyomingBig Horn, WyomingBig Horn is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Sheridan County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 198 at the 2000 census and 490 at the 2010 census.-Geography:...
External links
- Fishing information about the upper Tongue river in the Big Horn Mountains
- USGS data for the Tongue River watershed
- Custer National Forest homepage
- Northern Cheyenne Tribe, official website
- Crow Tribe, official website
- Sheridan Wyoming Tourism website
- Website devoted to Miles City, Montana
- Rosebud Battlefield State Park
- Tongue River Stories