Home to two Indian nations, the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho, the Wind River Indian Reservation reaches 70 miles east to west and 55 miles north to south. It spreads over 2.2 million acres from Thermopolis on the northeast, to Shoshoni on the east, Lander on the south, and Dubois on the west. The population of the reservation includes 4,500 Arapaho and 2,500 Shoshone.
The reservation was established by the Fort Bridger Treaty of July 2, 1863. The original treaty included sections of Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. On July 3, 1868, a second treaty was signed which established the reservation on the present location.
There are a dozen powwows and all-Indian rodeos held throughout the summer months in the towns of Arapahoe, Crowheart, Ethete and Fort Washakie. Cultural program schedules can be obtained from the area Chambers of Commerce and the local tribal cultural centers. Visitors are welcome to attend most non-religious events on the reservation.
LANDMARKS
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In Fort Washakie, visitors can visit the grave of Sacajawea, the Shoshone guide and heroine of the famed Lewis & Clark expedition. The great Shoshone leader Chief Washakie is also buried in the area.
The chief of the Arapaho tribe, Black Coal, is buried near St. Stephens Mission, located near Riverton.
Fort Washakie, the center of Eastern Shoshone tribal government, was the only military outpost established to protect rather than fight the Indians. The post remained in operation until 1909 and many of the original buildings are still intact in the Fort Washakie Historic District.
Ethete is home to the Northern Arapaho tribal government and the historical St. Michaels Mission.
One of the most fascinating points of interest in the area is Castle Gardens, a remote archaeological area located far out in the desert, some 46 miles from Riverton. It’s a lonely, wind-swept place of sandstone “hoodoos,” and a smattering of tough twisted trees. It doesn’t take much of a stretch to imagine another era when you visit.
Here, dozens of petroglyphs date back to some time after 1700. Many are in the shield motif, and some show horses and tepees. They were possibly made by ancestors of today’s Shoshone tribe.
THE ARAPAHO AND SHOSHONE PEOPLE
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The Northern Arapaho people were to have their own reservation set aside by the federal government, but as with many agreements in this infamous era of broken promises, this did not come to pass.
In 1878, the government obtained permission from the Shoshone tribe to temporarily place the Arapaho on the Shoshone Indian Reservation until a new reservation could be determined. However, a new administration moved into the White House soon after this arrangement and all promises made by the previous administration were forgotten. Consequently, the Arapaho remained on the Shoshone Indian Reservation.
The government officially changed the reservation name to the Wind River Indian Reservation and recognized it as jointly owned by the two tribes in 1937.
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