This cowboy domain of widely scattered ranches is dominated by buttes, grassy hills, narrow canyons, a big sky and a cafe au lait-colored, cottonwood-lined waterway. After the Powder enters Montana from its beginnings in northeast Wyoming, it covers air miles its twists and turns probably triple the surface distance before emptying into the Yellowstone 35 miles northeast of Miles City.
Picturesque Broadus is the only town it encounters on its journey north. George and Margaret Trautman founded the town in when they built a log cabin store. In , Mrs. Probe the Powder to the south of Broadus first. Ask in town how to find the road that heads down the west side of the river. Wildflowers in the spring and summer and brush and leaf changes in the fall add color and diversity to the open, rolling landscape. The bottomlands are primarily private, but the hillsides above the roadway are mostly public BLM land.
Employment is steady but not oriented towards growth. The city has a distinctly Western, almost boom-town feel, with a traditional downtown and suburban development encroaching upon the grasslands. In clear contrast to the surrounding bluffs, downtown and most residential areas have lots of trees. The area is noted for its wide-open spaces and friendliness.
Read More about Powder River. Casper is located in the North Platte River Valley. The immediately surrounding country is mostly rolling and hilly grassland with flat prairies in each direction except toward the south, where Casper Mountain rises 3, feet above the valley floor. With a semiarid climate, Casper experiences large daily and annual temperature ranges due to low humidity and high elevation.
Summer days are warm, dry, and pleasant with cool evenings. Winters are variable with occasional outbreaks of windy cold. Monthly snowfall amounts are unusually uniform from November through February, a bit heavier in March and April. Snow has occurred as early as September and as late as early June. Wind is significant especially in winter and spring.
First freeze is late September, last is late May. Recent job growth is Negative. Powder River jobs have decreased by 1. More Economy. More Voting Stats. Since , it has had a population decline of A revision to the Homestead Act brought dryland farmers to northeast Wyoming by doubling the amount of free land they could claim from the government.
Polo came to the foothills of the Bighorns in the s and flourished there in the early 20th century. In , Scotsman Malcolm Moncreiffe built a polo field and thoroughbred horse-breeding operation in Big Horn. Today, the Flying H Polo Club in Big Horn is one of only three in the United States to offer high goal polo, attracting professional teams from all over the world. The s and s, however, brought economic depression and drought to Wyoming.
Cattle numbers declined, railroad workers held strikes and banks closed. In , a scandal over oil leases around Teapot Dome on the south end of the Powder River Basin led to the jailing of U. Even as more oil discoveries were made and coal mines opened up in the Powder River Basin, agriculture remained the main occupation until the s. The Powder River Basin coal boom started in the s. The biggest mine by production volume, Black Thunder, opened in As of there are 13 operating coalmines in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.
Another kind of boom kicked off in the s when energy developers figured out how to extract, transport and market coalbed methane, a form of natural gas in underground coal seams. Roads, well pads and other infrastructure have altered the landscape while water released from deep underground to relieve pressure and let the gas escape contaminates freshwater sources due to its salinity.
New drilling slowed when natural gas prices dipped around the end of the first decade of the 21st century. Still, Powder River Basin coalbed methane contributes hundreds of millions to county, state and federal taxes each year.
Today, energy development far outpaces ranching as a source of wealth and income in the Powder River Basin, although many residents in this part of the state still practice agriculture and identify with their cattle- and sheep-ranching roots. They still rely on the Powder River grass to fatten their livestock. Professional bareback rider and country music star Chris LeDoux, who died of cancer in and was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in , captured the spirit of the Powder River country in many of his songs.
From Sundance, head east on Interstate Take Exit and turn left. Travel under the interstate and turn right onto the next access road old U. Highway 14 ; continue three miles to the site, located just south of the access road. The site is open from 8 a. June 1 through Labor Day. Guides take visitors through the site, which is handicapped accessible.
Restrooms are available. School groups tours are welcome off-season. For more information contact the Vore Buffalo Jump Foundation at or info vorebuffalojump. The museum offers exhibits on the ranching culture of Kaycee, Powder River and its tributaries, and the Hole-in-the-Wall country. As fundraisers, the museum offers tours every June to the Dull Knife battlefield and the Hole in the Wall.
For more information, visit the website linked above or call Fort Phil Kearny is located 20 miles south of Sheridan. From Interstate 90, take Exit 44 and follow signs.
The fort is about two miles northwest of the exit. Facilities include a visitor center, museum, gift shop, restrooms, drinking water and picnic areas, trails and viewing area. Tours are self-guided. Additional restrooms and a picnic area are located at the Wagon Box Fight site. The sites are handicapped accessible. Camping, artifact removal and metal detectors not allowed.
For more information, call the Fort Phil Kearny office, The tradition of polo playing goes back to the s years in Big Horn, Wyo. Skip to main content. Home Encyclopedia. Emilene Ostlind. Resources Brown, Dee. New York: Van Rees Press, Burt, Struthers. The Rivers of America.
0コメント