Near Moorcroft in Crook County, Wyoming — The American West (Mountains)

Inyan Kara

Photographed by Rev. Ronald Irick, July 13, 2016

1. Inyan Kara Marker

Inscription. Though rising only 600 ft above the floor of the plains, Inyan Kara Mountain stands as one of the most important cultural and historical landmarks of the Black Hills. Inyan Kara forms an important part of the sacred geography of the Black Hills for the Lakota and other northern Plains tribes. Traditional beliefs link Inyan Kara with other widely recognized sacred sites including Devil’s Tower or Bear Lodge, Sundance Mountain and Bear Butte in South Dakota. The entire Black Hills region is spiritual landscape which lies at the core of traditional belief systems. The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie included this spiritual landscape as part of the reservation established for the Lakota in South Dakota and unceded Indian Territory in Wyoming and from which Euro-americans were banned without express consent.

Exclusive use of the Black Hills by Lakota proved short-lived. In 1874, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer lead an expedition of 1000 men, 110 wagons and 500 cattle to the Black Hills in order to scout for likely places to establish military posts and to explore for gold. Custer’s column reached

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Inyan Kara on July 22, 1874. On July 23, Custer climbed the summit of Inyan Kara, leaving the inscription “74 Custer.” While camped at the base of the mountain, two of Custer’s soldiers died; George Turner from a gunshot wound and John Cunningham from dysentery. Custer’s incursion into the Black Hills resulted in the discovery of gold near Deadwood, South Dakota. The resulting gold rush provoked the Lakota, culminating in the bloody military campaigns of 1876 and Custer’s defeat and death at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Inyan Kara Mountain was enrolled in the National Registry of Historic Places in 1973. (Wyoming state logo)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Exploration • Indigenous Peoples and Communities.

Location. 44° 18.025′ N, 104° 37.465′ W. Marker is near Moorcroft, Wyoming, in Crook County. It is on Interstate 90 at milepost 171, on the right when traveling west. Marker is at a roadside pull-off, just south of Old Sundance Rd overpass (there is an identical marker on the other side of the highway). Touch for map. Marker

Photographed by Rev. Ronald Irick, July 13, 2016

2. Inyan Kara Marker

Marker as seen from I-90

is in this post office area: Moorcroft WY 82721, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Powder River Basin.

It is also in the American Mountain West,

in the Black Hills,

on the Great Plains,

on the Northern Plains,

and specifically on the High Plains.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least one other marker is within 15 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Watching the Heavens and Earth (approx. 15.1 miles away).

Inyan Kara Mountain image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Rev. Ronald Irick, July 13, 2016

3. Inyan Kara Mountain

Credits. This page was last revised on April 20, 2018. It was originally submitted on September 28, 2016, by Rev. Ronald Irick of West Liberty, Ohio. This page has been viewed 2,411 times since then and 122 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 28, 2016, by Rev. Ronald Irick of West Liberty, Ohio. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.