The name comes from an Indian word "ahsahta" meaning horned sheep. They were found in large numbers among the rocks and precipices of the area. The Bighorn Mountain Range is a typical example of detached mountain masses in the west. Extending north and south for 150 miles between the Big Horn and Powder Rivers, the range abounds in fine scenery and is the home of a great number of lakes of alpine beauty. Several of the peaks attain great altitude, the highest, Cloud Peak, being 13,300 feet high. (WPA) The range of mountains ... took their name from the sheep which were found in them. The Indian (Absaroka) name of the mountains was ahsahta, meaning "big head." (Gannett, 1905)
Other Names:
Big Horn Mountains, Big Horn Range, Bighorn Range, Ahsahta, AH-SAH-TA
County:
Big Horn; Fremont; Johnson; Natrona; Sheridan; Washakie
Feature Category:
Land Features
More Reading:
Big Horn tales : early explorers in the Big Horns 1743-1811. Bollinger, G. A. Buffalo, WY : The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum Press, 2006.; Field book, the Big Horn Range, including geology & Cloud Peak Wilderness : climbing routes & back country, American rating system. Bonney, Orrin H. Chicago : Sage Books, c1977.; Geology of the Bighorn Mountains. Darton, Nelson Horatio. (Geological Survey (U.S.). Professional paper; no. 51) Washington : Govt. Print. Off., 1906.; Big Horn Mountain odyssey : a history of the Big Horn Mountain Region. Eder, Herbert M. Buffalo, Wyo. : H.R. Eder; The Office, c1989.; Tales of the trails : a history and stories of the Big Horn Mountain stockdrives. Myers, Sue. [Cheyenne, Wyo.? : Wyoming Centennial Commission?, 1990?]; The story of the Big Horn Mountains : facts, figures, photos of one of America's finest vacationlands. Sheridan, Wyo. : Historic Press, 1949.; The hand-book of Wyoming and guide to the Black Hills and Big Horn regions : for citizen, emigrant, and tourist. Strahorn, Robert E. Cheyenne, Wyo. : R.E. Strahorn, 1877 Knight & Leonard, Printers); Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains : like no place on earth! Sundby, Johnny. Rapid City, S.D. : Johnny Sundby Photography, c2004.; Rediscovering the Big Horns : a pictorial study of 75 years of ecological change. Wyoming State Historical Society. [Wyoming? : Wyoming Historical Society], 1980.
Description:
Northwest-southeast trending range of mountains about 150 miles long and 25 miles wide, partly in Bighorn National Forest; they are separated, at the northwest end, from the Pryor Mountains by the Bighorn River and, at the southwest end, from the Bridger Mountains by Kirby and Bridger Creeks. (Decisions, 1962)
