Crowheart Butte is a summit located in the Wind River Valley in rural

Fremont County, Wyoming Fremont County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 39,234, making it the fifth-most populous county in Wyoming. Its county seat is Lander, Wyoming, Lander. T ...

. The community of Crowheart is located nearby. Crowheart Butte was named after an 1866 battle between the

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshon ...

and

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

tribes. According to legend, following a five-day battle for hunting rights in the

Wind River Range The Wind River Range (or "Winds" for short) is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW–SE for approximately . The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and incl ...

Chief Washakie Washakie (1804/1810 – February 20, 1900) was a prominent leader of the Shoshone people during the mid-19th century. He was first mentioned in 1840 in the written record of the American fur trapper, Osborne Russell. In 1851, at the urging o ...

of the Shoshone and Chief Big Robber of the Crow agreed to a duel to decide the winner. Chief Washakie slew his opponent, but impressed with his courage, cut out his heart and placed it on the end of his lance.

References

Further reading