Sheep Observation Site sits along the Bighorn Scenic Byway. Stop and see the spectacular valley views.

Bighorn Basin—It’s History

The presence of humans in the Bighorn Basin goes back more than 10,000 years.  Evidence suggests that the prehistoric people were nomadic hunters and gatherers. 

Indians inhabited this area until 1878.  In the late 1870’s settlers, rangers and miners moved into the basin.  By 1883, Henry Clay Lovell was grazing 25,000 head of cattle on the unfenced range.  Mormons came in 1900 and developed open canal irrigations systems to carry water to the arid lands.

Farming and ranching have endured and today are the basin’s economic backbone.  Bentonite clay is surface-mined and used for products ranging from industrial drilling mud to medicinal applications.  Gypsum is mined for use in the construction of sheetrock.  Oil and natural gas resources are tapped, and the basin’s geothermal activity is a possible future energy source.

Lewis and Clark’s expedition was the first organized exploration into the area.  The great numbers of Bighorn Sheep noted in their journal in 1808 gave the river, basin, mountains, and the National Forest its name.