Sharon Genaux

View of Bighorn Canyon and surrounding park lands from Sykes Ridge.

There is a rich diversity of stories about the people that traveled through Bighorn Canyon and those that called Bighorn Canyon home.  Already part of an extensive thoroughfare for the Native Americans dating back as many as 10,000 years, the Bad Pass trail became the passageway for mountain men, settlers, ranchers, and past and present visitors.  There were post offices that marked the site of ranches on early Montana and Wyoming maps, gold mining, and Dude Ranching.  The people that called this area home were self sufficient and hardy folks who colored the history surrounding the majestic canyon. 

The history of the Bighorn Canyon area illustrates how people traveled through the area and how they survived while they were here.