The Wind River Indian
Reservation is an Indian reservation shared by the Eastern
Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes of Native Americans in the
central western portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is the
seventh-largest Indian reservation by area in the United States,
encompassing a land area of 8,995.733 km˛ (3,473.272 sq mi), or
land and water area of 9,147.864 km˛ (3,532.010 sq mi),
encompassing just over one-third of Fremont County and over
one-fifth of Hot Springs County.
The reservation is located in the Wind River Basin, and is
surrounded by the Wind River Mountain Range, Owl Creek
Mountains, and the Absaroka Mountains. The 2000 census reported
a population of 23,237 inhabitants. The largest town is
Riverton. Headquarters are at Fort Washakie. Also home to the
Wind River Casino, Little Wind Casino, 789 Smoke Shop & Casino
(all Northern Arapaho) and the Shoshone Rose Casino (Eastern
Shoshone), which are the only casinos in Wyoming.
The Wind River Indian
Reservation was established for the Eastern Shoshone Indians in
1868. Camp Auger, a military post with troops, was established
at the present site of Lander on June 28, 1869. In 1870 the name
was changed to Camp Brown and in 1871 the post was moved to the
current site of Fort Washakie. The nickname was changed to honor
the Shoshone Chief Washakie in 1878 and continued to serve as a
military post until its abandonment in 1909.
A government school and hospital functioned for many years east
of Fort Washakie and children were sent here to board during the
school year. St. Michael's at Ethete was constructed in 1917-20.
The village of Arapahoe was originally established as a
sub-agency to distribute rations to the Arapaho and at one time
had a large trading post. In 1906 a portion of the reservation
was ceded to white settlement and Riverton evolved on some of
this land. Lands were allotted in the 1800s to the various
families and names were anglicized. Irrigation was brought in to
develop farming and ranching and a flour mill constructed near
Fort Washakie.
•Eastern
Shoshone Tribe
•Northern
Arapaho Tribe
•Fort
Washakie
•Chief
Washakie Foundation
