Fur trappers came upriver in the wake of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806. These visitors left behind them tall tales of their adventures and a few trading posts scattered along the Yellowstone River. Southeastern Montana was Indian and buffalo country until the late nineteenth century. In March 1876, six companies of cavalry under the command of Colonel Joseph Reynolds attacked the village of famed Northern Cheyenne leader Two Moons about 36 miles south of here. During the day-long battle, soldiers captured the Cheyenne pony herd and burned the tepees, many of which were filled with ammunition. Later in the day, the Indians counterattacked, recaptured their horses, and forced the soldiers to retreat. Two warriors and four soldiers were killed in the battle. The skirmish strengthened the alliance between the Sioux and the Northern Cheyenne. It was one of the first battles of the Great Sioux War. By the early 1880s, the buffalo had disappeared and the Indian Wars were a memory. The grasslands of southeastern Montana drew the Texas-based Niobrara Cattle Company to the area. Within a generation, though, homesteaders’ plows and barbed wire replaced the open range and high-heeled boots of the cowboys.
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.