Wind River Indian Reservation is an
Indian reservation shared by the Eastern
Shoshone and Northern
Arapaho tribes of
Native Americans in the central western portion of the
U.S. state of
Wyoming. It is the
seventh-largest Indian reservation by area in the United States, encompassing a land area of 3,473.272 sq mi (8,995.733 km²), or land and water area of 3,532.010 sq mi (9,147.864 km²), encompassing just over one-third of
Fremont County and over one-fifth of
Hot Springs County. The reservation is located in the
Wind River Basin, and is surrounded by the
Wind River Mountain Range,
Owl Creek Mountains, and the
Absaroka Mountains. The
2000 census reported a population of 23,237 inhabitants. The largest town is
Riverton. Headquarters are at
Fort Washakie. Also home to the Wind River Casino, Little Wind Casino, 789 Smoke Shop & Casino (all Northern Arapaho) and the Shoshone Rose Casino (Eastern Shoshone), which are the only casinos in Wyoming.
The Wind River Indian Reservation was established for the Eastern Shoshone Indians in 1868. Camp Auger, a military post with troops, was established at the present site of
Lander on June 28, 1869. In 1870 the name was changed to Camp Brown and in 1871 the post was moved to the current site of
Fort Washakie. The nickname was changed to honor the Shoshone
Chief Washakie in 1878 and continued to serve as a military post until its abandonment in 1909.<ref name="Eastern Shoshone Tribal...
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