Coast to Coast Bicycle Adventure: Monday, July 2, 2012 Ride thru the Indian Reservation

Dubois, WY to Landers, WY (75 Miles)

Today’s ride was a very pleasant gradual downhill nearly the entire day. The route took me through the Wind River Indian Reservation. There were some neat high bluff rocky formations but most of the land was very dry, desolate land. I still feel bad for what was done to the Native American Indians. At 20 miles, I stopped at Crowheart. Understand that Crowheart consisted of one two buildings, one was a small gas station and the other was St. Marys Church (Nondenominational). As I stopped at the gas station, I found it to contain, a General Store atmosphere. There were hardware items, plus groceries and the local post office. Searching for something to drink, I found the drink coolers also contained the medicine for cattle, horses and other animals. I just got a chocolate milk and sat outside for a rest and watch the few people come and go from the store. A short distance outside of town, I found a historical roadside plaque explaining the origin of the name Crowheart. (If you are squeamish I would skip the italicized section.)

Years ago, the Bannock and Crow Indians battled against the Shoshone for hunting rights. The Shoshone Indians won the battle and Chief Washakie, paraded around the victory celebration with the heart of a Crow Indian on his spear. Thus the name Crowheart. It was noted that Chief Washakie was always kind to the whites and you never found a scalp hanging in his tepee.

The next stop was at the community of Fort Washakie, which is still in the Reservation. The town was a little larger to include decent size grocery, a large Indian craft store, bank, post office, recreation center, and even a Lutheran Church (LCMS). The church has sign out that said free clothes on Tuesday and Thursdays. I found a cold drink in the grocery and notice I was certainly in the minority. Another area of activity was the service desk. It was in the front of the store but there were people lined out the door. Maybe incorrectly, but I assumed they were cashing government checks as it was the first of the month.

The only cyclist that was encountered was Ed from Alabama. He was obviously West bound and was traveling light. His wife was acting as the SAG in their SUV. Ed jokingly hope they could afford to finish the ride because his wife likes to gamble and he had just passed the Indian Casino a few mile back. He was on the TransAm ride and had started in early May.

The campground in Landers had some nice bathrooms and showers with a view of the city with a population of 6,800. To celebrate the campground’s 15 anniversary the owners grilled hotdogs and offered ice cream to all campers. That was nice, and it was impressive that they offered a prayer prior to serving the food. We talked to Oscar at the gathering who spends 6 months in Landers and 6 months in Texas as a retiree from Miller brewery in Texas. He was telling us that the road between Landers and Rawlins “has some pretty good tugs for his camper to climb.” I say bummer, as I have to ride a bike up those “pretty good tugs”. There is no real place to stay between the two cities, so I am planning my first century ride tomorrow…pray for me!