[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 96 (Thursday, June 26, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S8716]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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           WIND RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION'S 140TH ANNIVERSARY

 Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the 140th 
Anniversary of the Wind River Reservation.
  On July 2, 1863, the U.S. Government and the Shoshone people signed 
the Fort Bridger Treaty, creating the Shoshone Reservation, which 
included over 44 million acres in what is now Colorado, Utah, Idaho, 
and Wyoming. This area was reduced to roughly 3 million acres by the 
second Fort Bridger Treaty of July 3, 1868, and was later renamed the 
Wind River Reservation during the 1930s. Today, the reservation is 
roughly more than 2 million acres, one of the largest in the country, 
and is located in central Wyoming's beautiful Wind River Basin. It 
remains the contemporary home of the Eastern Shoshone and Northern 
Arapaho tribes.
  Chief Washakie, a distinguished statesman of the Shoshone people, was 
one of the few Indian leaders to successfully negotiate with the U.S. 
Government in determining the reservation's location. For centuries, 
American Indians who traveled through this area referred to it the Warm 
Valley of the Wind River because of surrounding hot springs. Renowned 
for his courage on the battlefield, and talent in diplomacy, the people 
of Wyoming selected Chief Washakie to represent our State, in the U.S. 
Capitol Building, as one of our two contributions to Statuary Hall.
  The northern band of Arapahos began to make the Wind River 
Reservation a more permanent home during the last 1870s, though they 
were not signatories to either of the Fort Bridger Treaties. Under the 
leadership of men such as Black Coal, Sharp Nose, Little Wolf and White 
Horse, the Northern Arapahos settled in Wyoming, while the southern 
band of Arapahos was moved to a reservation in western Oklahoma. Wind 
River country encompasses mountains, streams, lakes and forests, and 
was favored by the Northern Arapaho over the hot and arid Oklahoma 
landscape.
  The Wind River Indian Reservation is one of Wyoming's great 
historical, cultural, and natural treasures. A grave site for 
Sacajawea, the young Shoshone woman who helped guide the Lewis and 
Clark expedition through Shoshone lands in the early 1800s, can be 
visited on the reservation. Both tribes continue to host several 
powwows during the spring and summer months that draw visitors and 
members of tribes from across the country. Later this week, the Eastern 
Shoshone will be celebrating the Treaty Days Powwow.
  As we look back on the past 140 years, I would like to pay tribute to 
the important contribution American Indians have made to our history 
and our culture. Throughout my time in Congress, I have had the 
pleasure to work with tribal leaders from both tribes on the Wind River 
Reservation. I would like to thank Vernon Hill, chairman of the Eastern 
Shoshone Business Council and Burton Hutchinson, Sr., chairman of the 
Northern Arapaho Business Council, for their leadership as we work to 
ensure the prosperity of the Wind River Reservation for future 
generations.

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