Little Bighorn River

The Little Bighorn rises in northern Wyoming, deep in the Bighorn Mountains, under Duncum Mountain and Burnt Mountain. The main stream flows through a deep canyon until it issues onto the plains, just at the Montana-Wyoming border. In Little Bighorn Canyon in Wyoming, the Little Bighorn receives other mountain streams as tributaries including the Dry Fork (which despite its name maintains a permanent, year-round significant flow of water into the Little Bighorn), and the West Fork of the Little Bighorn. After issuing from its canyon at the Montana-Wyoming line the Little Bighorn flows northward across the Crow Indian Reservation. The river flows past the towns of Wyola, Lodge Grass and Crow Agency, and joins the Bighorn River near the town of Hardin. The trappers who came to the Big Horn Mountains in the fur trapping era continued the usage of the English translation of the Indian names, and the names for both rivers have come down through history. On the mainstream, the name Greasy Grass slowly gave way to the alternative name Little Bighorn. For one major tributary of the Little Bighorn, the (presently named) Lodge Grass Creek retained the name "Greasy Grass Creek", but as Joe Medicine Crow explained in the 2012 video, this name morphed from "Greasy Grass" to "Lodge Grass" due to the error of an interpreter since the Crow word for "greasy" is Tah-shay, and the Crow word for "lodge" is Ah-shay. In historical references in Wikipedia articles, the Battle of the Little Bighorn is also referred to as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, as it is in the discussions of the battle by the History Channel. The alternative name used in the 1800s by the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Crow of "Greasy Grass" for the "Little Bighorn" is reflected in current-day nomenclature at the Little Bighorn battlefield. A prominent ridge on the Little Bighorn Battlefield that overlooks the eastern banks of the Little Bighorn River has retained the name of Greasy Grass Ridge and is the site of critical events of the battle. In Lakota, the Little Bighorn River is called . ==Fishing and stream access issues==

River access in Wyoming Upstream from the point where the Little Bighorn issues from the Little Horn Canyon, the stream flow is in Wyoming. For the first two miles a very rough road goes upstream. All along this road, and all along the stream in this stretch, the land is privately owned and a sign at the entrance to the canyon provides notice of this fact. Wyoming stream access laws are not liberal and trespass laws are strictly construed. In this two mile stretch all riparian access requires trespass across private lands. On tribal lands, the Crow Tribal Code (2005) addresses fishing by non-members in Title 12. Non-members may fish on Tribal lands but only while possessing a Tribal Recreation License, with appropriate permit to fish. and only with an enrolled Crow Tribal member in attendance, who is trained and properly licensed as a fishing guide. While the case of Montana v. United States also holds that the Tribe may not prohibit non-Indians from hunting and fishing on lands not owned by the tribe or held in trust for the tribe, such parcels of "fee lands" are usually not extensive and are scattered randomly among the parcels of Tribal lands, and there is no indication on the ground to indicate to the non-member fisher person when they are on fee land, where they would be trespassing, and when they are on Tribal lands in breach of the law. The Crow Tribal Court has exclusive jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit violations on Tribal land. If a non-member is found in violation of any part of the Tribal Code, they are subject to fines (Crow Tribal Code 2005, Section 12-11-109), forfeiture of fishing gear, and payment of court costs This confusing and chaotic situation, in which enforcement of fishing restrictions and access to streams depends on who owns the land the fisher person is standing on, has caused fishing websites to conclude: "However, the Little Bighorn runs entirely within the boundaries of the Crow Reservation and access to it is next to nil." The prospective fisherman should not be misled by the fact that the blue ribbon trout fishery on the Big Horn River, below the Yellowtail Dam, is fished by non-Indians (provided the non-member complies with Montana fishing regulations and laws), though this stretch of the Bighorn River is within the boundaries of the Crow Reservation. In the seminal case of Montana v. United States, 450 U.S. 544 (1981), the court exempted the Big Horn River from their ruling, holding that the bed of the Bighorn River was not included within the grant of tribal lands to the Crow Tribe in their prior treaties, and thus upon the admission of Montana to the Union the bed of the Big Horn River (and thus the right to fish on the Big Horn River) passed from federal ownership to the state of Montana. ==Road and trail access==

In Montana, from the mouth of the river at Hardin upstream to about above Wyola, there is paved and gravel road access to the Little Bighorn Valley, and upstream from this point to the mouth of the Little Bighorn canyon there is a gravel road maintained by Bighorn County. However, from the point at which the river flows out of the canyon (at about the Wyoming-Montana state line) the road continues upstream in the canyon for only about . There are two (and sometimes three) unbridged stream fords. This portion of the road is unmaintained and is a two track road with tight turns. It is primitive, rough, ungraded, and littered with partially buried boulders. When it rains large puddles accumulate in low spots. It is impassible in the winter after snow accumulates and after the two stream fords, fed by springs, partially freeze over. When not closed by winter weather, this road still requires vehicles with high clearance, preferably with 4X4 gearing. In Wyoming, and particularly in the Little Bighorn Canyon, all the land adjacent to the road and the stream is private, and a sign noting this is posted at the entrance to the canyon. At the furthest point of the road, two miles upstream from the canyon mouth, at the US Forest Service boundary, there is a parking area maintained by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department but signage prohibits overnight camping. Upstream, above this point the Forest Service lands a trail that crosses the river on a footbridge to the southeast side and then leaves the river and climbs up out of the canyon to the south finally reaching primitive roads above Dry Fork that go on to the Burgess Ranger Station on US Highway 14 on top of the Bighorn Mountains. From the start of the Forest Service lands, all along the northwest side of the river there is trail access for about up to the source of the stream and on to the divide on top the Bighorn Mountains. ==Wildlife==

In Wyoming, at the end of the two mile stretch of road from the mouth of the canyon Bighorn National Forest Service lands extend up to and over the top of the Bighorn Mountains. In the Little Bighorn watershed there are cougars, black bears, deer, elk, wild turkeys and other birds and small mammals, all of which are common to the Bighorn Mountains. An occasional moose has been sighted. The floor and sides of the Little Bighorn canyon is notorious for rattlesnakes. Herpetologists from the Bighorn National Forest state that the east facing canyons of the Bighorns have rattlesnakes because they also support a habitat for small mammals, like a mouse and chipmunk population, which are the prey of rattlesnakes. With the restoration of the black bear population in the Bighorn Mountains, there has been a resurgence of black bear living along the stream as it flows out into Montana, extending down the Little Bighorn Valley in Montana. Ranchers between the mouth of the canyon (at about the Wyoming Montana line) down to Wyola often report black bear groups living in the timber along the river, and travelers on the Montana portion of the Little Horn road will occasionally sight bear out in the pastures along the river, and occasionally along the road. ==List of crossings==

• Montana Hwy 384 (location 45°44'08.1"N 107°33'27.0"W) • Heritage Rd (location 45°36'10.8"N 107°27'13.3"W) • Arapoosh Rd (location 45°35'49.8"N 107°27'35.6"W) • Interstate 90 in Montana (location 45°35'47.8"N 107°27'41.9"W) • Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Parkman to Hardin X2 (location 45°35'47.4"N 107°27'44.2"W) (location 45°34'04.8"N 107°27'11.2"W) • Interstate 90 in Montana (location 45°34'06.2"N 107°27'07.4"W) • Garryowen Rd (location 45°34'06.7"N 107°27'06.2"W) • Interstate 90 in Montana (location 45°29'39.9"N 107°23'35.4"W) • Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad X2 (location 45°29'39.1"N 107°23'38.7"W) (location 45°24'36.4"N 107°23'33.6"W) • Montana Highway 451 (location 45°24'36.8"N 107°23'32.1"W) • Montana County Rd 463 (location 45°18'54.7"N 107°21'03.5"W) • Old Grey Blanket Rd (location 45°18'12.1"N 107°21'33.2"W) • Montana Highway 451 (location 45°10'51.1"N 107°23'16.6"W) • Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Parkman to Hardin (45°10'51.3"N 107°23'18.8"W) • Back Lp Rd (location 45°08'21.4"N 107°23'45.1"W) • Black Bridge Rd (location 45°06'03.9"N 107°26'25.7"W) • Little Horn Rd (location 45°03'25.6"N 107°31'52.8"W) • Unnamed Road (location 45°03'17.8"N 107°31'57.7"W) • Little Horn Rd (location 45°02'59.6"N 107°34'07.1"W) • Red Gap Rd (location 45°00'25.0"N 107°36'56.0"W) • Little Horn Ln X2 (location 44°59'42.2"N 107°37'45.4"W)(location 44°59'18.2"N 107°38'16.7"W) ==See also==