Powder River (Montana)
Powder River (Assiniboine: Caȟní wakpá ) is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 375 miles (604 km) long in the southeastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming in the United States. It drains an area historically known as the Powder River Country on the high plains east of the Bighorn Mountains.
It rises in three forks in eastern Wyoming. The North and Middle forks rise along the eastern slope of the Bighorn Mountains. The South Fork rises on the north slope of Garfield Peak in the Granite Mountains west of Casper. The three forks meet on the foothills east of the Bighorns near the town of Kaycee. The combined stream flows northward, east of the Bighorns, and into Montana. It is joined by the Little Powder near the town of Broadus, and joins the Yellowstone approximately 50 miles (80 km) downriver from Miles City, Montana. The Powder River was so named because the sand along a portion of its banks resembled gunpowder.
The Powder River Basin near the Montana/Wyoming border is a major source of low-sulfur coal mined in the United States.
Read more about Powder River (Montana): Variant Names
Famous quotes containing the words powder and/or river:
“My little ‘bout-town gal has gone
‘Bout town with powder and blue dye
On her pale lids....”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“The mountain may be approached more easily and directly on horseback and on foot from the northeast side, by the Aroostook road, and the Wassataquoik River; but in that case you see much less of the wilderness, none of the glorious river and lake scenery, and have no experience of the batteau and the boatman’s life.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)