The Wind River is the name applied to the upper reaches of the
Bighorn River
The Bighorn River is a tributary of the Yellowstone, approximately long, in the states of Wyoming and Montana in the western United States. The river was named in 1805 by fur trader François Larocque for the bighorn sheep he saw along its ba ...
in
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. The Wind River is
long. The two rivers are sometimes referred to as the Wind/Bighorn.
Course
Its headwaters are at Wind River Lake in the Rocky Mountains, near the summit of
Togwotee Pass
Togwotee Pass (pronounced TOH-guh-tee) is a high mountain pass in the western United States, at an elevation of above sea level. On the Continental Divide in the Absaroka Mountains of northwestern Wyoming in Teton County, it is betwee ...
(pronounced TOH-guh-tee) and gathers water from several forks along the northeast side of 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 ...
in west central Wyoming. It flows southeastward, across the
Wind River Basin
The Wind River Basin or Shoshone Basin is a semi-arid intermontane foreland basin in central Wyoming, United States. It is bounded by Laramide uplifts on all sides. On the west is the Wind River Range and on the North are the Absaroka Range and t ...
and the
Wind River Indian Reservation
The Wind River Indian Reservation, in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming, is shared by two Native American tribes, the Eastern Shoshone ( shh, Gweechoon Deka, ''meaning: "buffalo eaters"'') and the Northern Arapaho ( arp, ...
and joins the
Little Wind River near
Riverton. Up stream from this confluence, it is known locally as the Big Wind River. It flows northward, through a gap in the
Owl Creek Mountains
The Owl Creek Mountains are a subrange of the Rocky Mountains in central Wyoming in the United States, running east to west to form a bridge between the Absaroka Range to the northwest and the Bridger Mountains to the east. The range forms the bo ...
, where the name of the river becomes the Bighorn River. In the Owl Creek Mountains, it is
dammed to form
Boysen Reservoir. The Wind River officially becomes the Bighorn River at the
Wedding of the Waters, on the north side of the Wind River Canyon.
See also
*
List of rivers of Wyoming
*
List of tributaries of the Missouri River
Tributaries of the Missouri River, a major river in the central United States, are listed in upstream order. These lists are arranged into river sections between cities or mouths of major tributaries for ease of navigation. Two large tributarie ...
References
External links
Wyoming State Water Plan: Wind/Bighorn RiversWind River History
*
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Rivers of Wyoming
Tributaries of the Yellowstone River
Rivers of Teton County, Wyoming
Bodies of water of Hot Springs County, Wyoming