Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
began their migrations west in the 1700s, and by the early 1890s they had united in Montana
to find a permanent home. The term
Rocky Boy
comes from a misinterpretation of the Chip-
pewa leader's name, Chief Stone Man.
Shoshone
Wyoming's Wind River Reservation, the seventh-largest in the country at more than 2.2
million acres, is home to more than 2,500 Eastern Shoshone and 4,500 Northern Arapaho.
The Shoshones have been in Wyoming since the 16th century, and were some of the first
Indians to have horses. The eastern part of the tribe was pushed back west of the Laramie
Mountains when their enemies—the Sioux, Crow, and Arapaho—invaded their territory.
Fort Washakie is home to the Shoshone Tribal Cultural Center and the cemeteries where
both Shoshone chief Washakie and Lewis and Clark's Shoshone guide, Sacagawea, are bur-
ied. Originally called Fort Brown, the name was changed in 1878 to honor the chief who
negotiated the treaty establishing the reservation. Ironically, the Shoshones ended up on
the same reservation as their former enemies, the Arapaho, after the U.S. government tem-
porarily placed them together—which soon became a permanent situation, betraying Chief
Washakie's wishes to end the arrangement.
Arapaho
The Arapaho ended up on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation along with their former en-
emies, the Shoshones, after the U.S. government placed them together, supposedly tempor-
arily. Today, Wind River is home to more than 2,500 Eastern Shoshone and 4,500 Northern
Arapaho.
Like many tribes, the Arapaho were forced out of Minnesota after the arrival of the set-
tlers and migrated to the Great Plains in the late 18th century. After many years of trying
to fight back against the settlers, the tribe was decimated by the late 1800s and ultimately
forced onto a reservation with the Shoshones. The Heritage Center at St. Stephens and the
Arapaho Cultural Museum in Ethete both provide insight into the tribe and its traditions.
Montana and Wyoming are not just filled with cowboys and ungulates; in fact they boast
vibrant and varied art scenes with an interesting and colorful history. Towns like Bozeman
and Jackson are meccas for Western art, while Missoula and Livingston have a decidedly
