The mainstem of the Yellowstone River is more than 700 miles (1,100 km) long. [48] The lease had extensive long term benefits for the Crow tribe, and required payments to the tribe to start at a future point of time even in the event the coal was not mined. Montana residents who pay the $9 state parks fee with their annual vehicle registration have no daily entrance fees to state parks. Tongue River Reservoir -- Anglers are killing the crappie and bass using all different combinations for crappie. "Where the Rivers Run North", Sam Morton, Sheridan County Historical Society Press, 2007, "A Bride Goes West", Nannie T. Alderson, Helena Huntington Smith, Re-published by U of Nebraska Press, 1969, Last edited on 23 February 2023, at 00:28, Wyoming Fishing Net; Access Points for fishing the Tongue River in Wyoming, Fishing information about the upper Tongue river in the Big Horn Mountains, Northern Cheyenne Tribe, official website, U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Tongue River, "Tongue River, Montana Kppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)", "Map of the norther portion of the Tongue River Sandstone", "Wyodak Coal, Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation, Powder River Basin, Wyoming, Mark Ashley, 2005", "Powder River Basin's Abundance of Coal at the Epicenter of Energy Development", "Wyodak Coal, Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation, Powder River Basin, Wyoming, Mark Ashley, 2005. 70, No. Group areas & playground are open, Water & Fish Cleaning Stations These underground mines were economically operated from about 1900 to the late 1940s. Water data back to 1939 are available online. White and chartreuse seem to be the best colors. Significant work occurred on this project in the early 2000s, led by the Montana Operations Office of the U.S. EPA, and DEQ is building upon that work. The headwaters lie on the Bighorn National Forest, and the watershed encompasses the Ashland Ranger District of the Custer National Forest. "The Fighting Cheyennes", George Bird Grinnell, Published by Digital Scanning Inc, 2004, Lubetkin, John M., Clash on the Yellowstone, Research Review, The Journal of the Little Big Horn Associates, Vol. Dayton receives its municipal water from a well while Ranchester does use some water taken from the Tongue River, though those are pre-compact rights, he indicated. Corps of Engineers, John Strong Newberry, William Franklin Raynolds, Published by Govt. Fishing, boating, swimming, and camping are the prime activities here, and the reservoir boasts excellent crappie, walleye, bass and northern pike fishing. Livestock, particularly sheep and calves, are vulnerable to wolves and, according to reports, livestock suffered significant depredations by wolves and coyotes in the last part of the 19th and the first part of the 20th century. There are 2 boat ramps with docks for launching boats, one at Camper Point by the marina and one at Pee Wee North. Poet Laureate, A Sheridan woman and former state legislator is honored with a distinguished award, The Burgess Junction Visitor Center is reopening with hopes to attract tourists to the Bighorns, Volunteers of America is building crisis stabilization facilities in Cheyenne and Sheridan. CStaten@mt.gov. A showdown over Colorado River water is setting the stage for a high-stakes legal . (406) 444-2836. The State of Montana is seeking to fill Tongue River Reservoir through a call as part of their inclusion in the Yellowstone River Compact. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Very large catfish have been caught at the reservoir. A dump station and water faucets are available during peak season, as weather permits. Tongue Ranger District: General Information Directions: Trail begins on state land at the end of County Road (CR) 92 and ends at Forest System Road (FSR) 196. . Science. [32] Sawyers had started to retreat down the trail, when he met a contingent of army cavalry moving up the trail, who agreed to escort them to the Big Horn River, after which the wagon train proceeded on to the Montana gold fields. [11] Besides the beds of reddish "clinker" larger concretions can be found that appear at first glance to be similar to melted glass or even pieces of volcanic rock. The Tongue River basin is prime livestock country. No cellular service. For some 25 million years, the floor of this plain was made up of thick deposits of sandy silt from the surrounding mountains, with many rivers, deltas, backwaters and swamps, all covered by forests and vegetation. [26], In 1864, the Bozeman Trail was opened to the Montana gold fields. What is the penalty for fishing without a license in Montana? North of the Yellowstone, dinosaur fossils have been found in Cretaceous era rock formations, but dinosaur fossils have not been found in any members of the Paleozoic Fort Union Formation, including the Tongue River sandstone. "[23] The warriors even took Capt. The army launched a punitive campaign, and Brigadier General Patrick Edward Connor led a column up the Bozeman Trail. I-90, also an eastwest interstate artery carrying U.S. Highway 87 and U.S. Highway 14, crosses the upper reaches of the Tongue between Ranchester and Dayton, and continues to Sheridan. "Battles and Skirmishes of the Great Sioux War, 18761877: The Military View", Jerome A. Greene, University of Oklahoma Press 1996. Size: 3600 acres . Ice fisherman can expect to catch yellow perch and northern pike and occasionally walleye and crappie. Also, the City of Sheridan storage in Twin Lake, said David Schroeder, Superintendent of Water Division II for the Wyoming State Engineer's Office. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. The fastest route is to go through Busby and drop down, but on wintery roads that can end up being the longer . In the following year, after a vigorous winter campaign, the army increased the commitment of forces and Col. Camping and campgrounds in Tongue River State Park, Montana. 2, pp. The day label given represents the local day relative to the local time for the location you are looking at. (More Info), The relative humidity is the percent of saturation humidity, generally calculated in relation to saturated vapour density. The next 14 days will Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. (3) A person convicted of a violation of this section shall be fined not less than $50 or more than $1,000 or be imprisoned in the county detention center for not more than 6 months, or both. 45.1152549, -106.7964513 Open in Google Maps Elevation 3520 ft. (1073 m.) Topographic Map US Topo Map The USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) publishes a set of the most commonly used topographic maps of the U.S. called US Topo that are separated into rectangular quadrants that are printed at 22.75"x29" or larger. Over the last several million years, much of the overlying sediment has eroded away, bringing the sandstone layer with its seams of coal to the surface again in the Tongue River area. Approximately 500 ft at the deepest points. The Tongue River valley and surrounding area is the setting for "A Bride Goes West", an autobiography of Nannie Alderson, which relates her life as a ranch wife in the late 19th century in south central Montana. This line failed in the early 1980s and is no longer in use today. Tongue River Reservoir State Park Stats Day Use Fees: $8, Free for Montana Residents Size: 642 acres Season: Year-round Major Feature: Tongue River Reservoir Main Attractions in Tongue River Reservoir State Park Because it's located near the border, many of the attractions near Tongue River Reservoir State Park are actually in Wyoming. The diversion dam from the T&Y ditch was recently altered to include a fish ladder, which now allows fish from the Tongue and Yellowstone Rivers below the dam to migrate upriver, for the first time in 125 years. The grey wolf is an issue if not yet a reality in the Tongue River Basin, and there have been unconfirmed sightings of wolves in the more remote areas of the basin. The "Sibley Scout" became another incident of the Great Sioux War of 1876 that took place along the Tongue River.[38][39]. Cougar Reservoir becomes thermally stratified in summer, with warmer, less-dense water near the surface and colder, denser water at the bottom. [47] The Tongue River Railroad project, planned to move coal from the mine to Colstrip, is also in the permitting stage. Schroeder said there isn't much negative impact currently to irrigators as there isn't much irrigation as of yet, but conditions could change and that there's currently about 500 to 600 acre feet of water that is flowing into the Tongue River Reservoir daily. . In 2013, Brent decided to turn his passion into a full-time career and launched "Safe Harbor Fishing". On the more southern tributaries, particularly in the Custer National Forest area, there are growing herds of prairie elk, an animal originally native to the plains of eastern Montana. The river level rises in March and April due to snowmelt in the lower elevations, and again in June as summer weather melts the higher-elevation snowpack. One of the oldest irrigation projects on the Tongue River is the T&Y Ditch, which dates from 1886. The Tongue River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 265mi (426km) long, in the U.S. states of Wyoming and Montana. The fort was abandoned in 1842, and later burned. Hours listed below are normal operating hours and may not apply when there is a special restriction or closure. The standards are set to protect beneficial uses that the state has designated for each waterbody; these may include drinking water, recreational uses, agricultural uses, industrial uses, and support of aquatic life. River mileages are based on a report of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (1976). After the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado in November 1864, depredations by Cheyenne, Arapahoe and Sioux increased along the Oregon Trail and the Bozeman Trail, which was then closed to civilian traffic. DEQ has developed a water quality model for the Tongue River that is being used for source assessments. We camped at Tongue River Reservoir State Park in a Travel Trailer. While Fitzpatrick was visiting the Crow camp, young Crow warriors, probably instigated by AFC agents, rode to Fitzpatrick's camp and proceeded to steal all of his horses, rifles, traps, and equipment, as well as his beaver pelts and trade goods. Large undeveloped private and federally owned coal deposits are located along Otter Creek, a tributary of the Tongue River. These bands often located their base camps on the Tongue River because they could camp far enough down the river from the forts to be secure from counterattack, and the lower Tongue River Valley afforded a wide variety of camp sites with the three necessities of the nomadic Indians wood for fires, abundant water, and adequate grass for grazing their large horse herds. Comments and feedback are welcome. Map 1: Modeled Area of the Tongue River Watershed (Click on map to . All 210 U.S. soldiers who followed George Armstrong Custer into the Battle of the Little Bighorn were killed; Custer also died. Project Coordinator. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. A sandy beach, a large roped swimming area, and a grassy area with picnic tables and gazebos, are all hallmarks of the free Whitefish City Beach. The Tongue River watershed encompasses parts of the Cheyenne and Crow Reservations. Attractions include good walleye and rainbow trout fishing. Since bass seldom travel great distances, you should be able to locate them at the same locations they are found during the day. Many other water users in the basin were impacted due to the inability to divert post-1950 water rights during the administration period. [44] Miners lived in these communities or in Sheridan, Wyoming. The Tongue River member has approximately 32 coal seams with a combined thickness in excess of 300 ft. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover one acre to the depth of one foot - roughly 326,000 gallons. Average Temperature in Whitefish The cold season lasts for 3.5 months, from November 15 to February 28, with an average daily high temperature below 39F. Location NWS ID Description Water Temperature Latitude Longitude; Coochs Bridge : CHBD1: Christina River - Newark: 41: 39.6372-75.7283: Delaware Park : DPKD1: Stanton - Delaware Park Offices hours 8 . Antelope are found throughout this area. "I don't know where they would get the water from," said Zach Renstrom, general manager of the Washington County Water Conservancy District. Dry land wheat farming, which is prevalent elsewhere in eastern Montana, occurs only in limited and scattered acreages in the Tongue River basin. On December 16, 1876 five Sioux chiefs from Crazy Horse's village approached the Tongue River Cantonment to discuss terms of surrender for their bands. Coal seams outcropping in the Tongue River sandstone caught fire, probably from prairie fires that started by lightning. Locked padlock The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". The fires burned from the outcropo back into the coal seams, and the fire finally went out when they burned so deeply into the coal seam that the fire was smothered. After issuing from its canyon at the Montana-Wyoming line the Little Bighorn flows northward across the Crow Indian Reservation. You can drop your bait and leave it alone, or you can slowly jig to attract the fish. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Available approximately early-May through Sept. 30thdepending on weather. Winds are out of the N at 5mph, with wind gusts of 5mph. Col. Henry B. Carrington rejected the Tongue River site for a site to the south on Little Piney Creek, in the Powder River drainage, where Fort Phil Kearny was erected.[34]. "The Bloody Bozeman', Dorothy M. Johnson, Montana Press Publishing Co. 1987. Miles and elements of infantry units constructed the Tongue River Cantonment at the mouth of the Tongue River. Where these coal beds are thick and also close to the surface in the Powder River Basin in northern Wyoming and southern Montana they are mined in large open pit mines, like the mines along the Tongue in the vicinity of Decker, Montana. During the off season, all sites are first come, first serve. South Sandstone Reservoir located south of Plevna or East of Baker MT is a 90-acre reservoir that is a popular ice fishing destination. During the winter, travel along the roads in the basin can become difficult to impossible depending on snow accumulation, particularly on the more remote gravel roads that are not regularly plowed. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Montana has state water rights on the Tongue River that date to 1937, which is used in allocating flows between states. If road conditions or car trouble strand a motorist in the more remote areas of the basin, during the pulses of intense winter cold common to this area, there is a real risk of death or injury by freezing. The current venture is the Tongue River Railroad, in various stages of planning for more than 30 years and intended to move coal from near Ashland to Colstrip. Tongue River At Tongue R Dam Nr Decker Mt. The yearly cycle of a "cow calf" operation begins with the birth of calves from February to May. Maximum discharge along the river is currently at the if youre concerned about temperature drops in the water, be sure and bring an insulated swimming outfit, like a thermal , Know Where Youre Wading Scout Ahead. . [37] On June 16, after being joined on the Tongue by some 260 Crow and Shoshone scouts, Crook moved his forces north, across the Tongue, and on June 17, 1876 engaged a large Sioux and Cheyenne force at the Battle of the Rosebud. Expect 0.0mm of precipitation over the past 3 hours. Pat's Stones and San Juan . Tongue River At Tongue R Dam Nr Decker Mt After turning onto Highway 343, look for the Tongue Canyon Road within about a mile on your left. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. In this area of rolling prairies, sandstone outcrops and ponderosa pines, there are plentiful numbers of whitetail deer and mule deer, many of trophy quality. Hayfork & Weaverville. The rivers name corresponds to Cheyenne /vetanoveohe/, where /vetanove/ means tongue and /ohee/ means river. In Wyoming a network of paved roads follow the Tongue river westward to Ranchester and Dayton, where the Tongue comes out of the Big Horn Mountains. Extensive infrastructure improvements would have to be added to the community of Ashland before it could support the number of worker's families that the mine would draw to the area. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Montana State Parks offers hike/bike, rustic, tent, rv, and boatslip campsites. Tongue River Reservoir State Park is the second-busiest state park in Region 7 in southeastern Montana. Enjoy this 12-mile long reservoir situated among scenic red shale, juniper canyons, and the open prairies of southeastern Montana. There are a couple dozen extra, of less significance, in the tributaries of the Tongue River that we monitored and reported on as well, he said. PO Box 8 By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Fitzpatrick's camp was being guarded by 25 of his men under Captain William Drummond Stewart, a former British officer (and veteran of Waterloo) and no pushover. In this stretch, the sandstone layers of the Tongue River member hold ground water so that the highlands on each side of the Tongue River valley are often covered with pines. In the future, and of course many other areas are seeing rapid growth, and were leaning on these supplies more and more, it could be a concern going into the future, Schroeder said. Water Skiing. Boat and Camper Storage still available please call (406)757-2225 if interested. Wildlife viewing is also plentiful, with osprey, blue herons, deer, antelope as well as a few bald eagles being regular summer sights. If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old. This page contains information on a salinity project on the Tongue River itself. In the Big Horn Mountains the Tongue flows in its mountain canyon of Madison Limestone, which was deposited during Early to Middle Mississippian time, about 359 to 326 million years ago. For residents who don't include this in their vehicle registration, non-resident day use fees apply. Where the Tongue River now flows in Montana and Wyoming, the sedimentary rock formation that is today known as the Tongue River sandstone began to form about 60 million years ago, when mountain uplifts began rising from a shallow sea. 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