- Powder River Country
The Powder River Country refers to an area of the
Great Plains in northeasternWyoming in theUnited States . The area is loosely defined between theBighorn Mountains and theBlack Hills , in the upper drainage areas of the Powder, Tongue, and Little Bighorn rivers.During the late 1860s, the area was the scene of
Red Cloud's War between theSioux and the United States. The Sioux victory in the war resulted in the preservation of their control of the area for the next decade.After control fell to the U.S. government in 1870s following the end of the
Black Hills War , the area was opened to white settlement, one of the last such areas opened forhomesteading in the continental United States. In 1892, the area was the scene of theJohnson County War between land barons andEurope an immigrants. The conflict was depicted in the 1981 movie "Heaven's Gate".In the early 20th century, the discovery of
petroleum in the area led to the development of the area's oil fields.ee also
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Powder River Basin
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