Powder River Country - Definition and Overview

The Powder River Country is depicted in red on a map of the western United States

The Powder River Country refers to an area of the Great Plains in northeastern Wyoming in the United States. The area is loosely defined between the Bighorn Mountains and the Black 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 the Sioux 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 for homesteading in the continental United States. In 1892, the area was the scene of the Johnson County War between land barons and European 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.

Regions of Wyoming
Powder River Country
Largest Cities
Buffalo | Casper | Cheyenne | Cody | Douglas | Evanston | Gillette | Green River | Jackson | Kemmerer | Lander | Laramie | Powell | Rawlins | Riverton | Rock Springs | Sheridan | Thermopolis | Torrington | Wheatland
Counties
Albany | Big Horn | Campbell | Carbon | Converse | Crook | Fremont | Goshen | Hot Springs | Johnson | Laramie | Lincoln | Natrona | Niobrara | Park | Platte | Sheridan | Sublette | Sweetwater | Teton | Uinta | Washakie | Weston