Medicine Rocks State Park
Encyclopedia
Medicine Rocks State Park is a park
owned by the state of Montana
in the United States
. It is located about 25 miles (40.2 km) west-southwest of Baker, Montana
, and 11 miles (17.7 km) north of Ekalaka, Montana
. The park is named for the "Medicine Rocks," a series of sandstone
pillars similar to hoodoos
some 60 to 80 ft (18.3 to 24.4 m) high with eerie undulations, holes, and tunnels in them. The rocks contain numerous example of Native American rock art
, and are considered a sacred holy placed by Plains Indians. The park is 330 acres (133.5 ha) in size and 3379 feet (1,029.9 m) in elevation. It is managed by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks
. Theodore Roosevelt
said Medicine Rocks was "as fantastically beautiful a place as I have ever seen".
, a geologic unit
containing coal, sandstone, and shale in Montana, Wyoming
, and other adjacent states. About 61 million years ago, near the start of the Tertiary
period and during the late Zuñi sequence
, a freshwater river crossed what is now eastern Montana, flowing southeast into a prehistoric sea whose boundary was near far northwestern South Dakota
(possibly the remains of the Western Interior Seaway
). This river deposited large amounts of very fine-grained sand, which compacted into sandstone. On top of the freshwater sandstone was sand laid down by a saltwater estuary (indicated by the presence in this greyish layer of sandstone of burrows created by marine worms). Numerous fossils dating back 63.3 million years (to the Torrejonian North American Stage
) can be found at the site, which help date the sandstone. These include several fossil snakes as well as teeth belonging to Plesiadapis anceps
(an early primate
-like mammal
). The fossil remains of the primitive mammal Baiotomeus
was discovered here in 1935.
Wind, dirt, sand, and rain carved the sandstone over the millennia, so that now the structures exhibit numerous arches, caves, columns, holes, pillars, and flat-topped towers. Some of the sandstone structures are 60 to 80 ft (18.3 to 24.4 m) in height, and can be 200 feet (61 m) across. There are more than 100 of the rocks and spires in the state park today. Some of them are clustered together as if part of a chain or train, while others jut up from the prairie in isolation.
According to Ed Belt, retired professor of geology at Amherst College
, the Medicine Rocks sandstone is almost unique. "You have to go a long way to find a sand deposit of a similar age. And even then, you won't find thick sand and such a large concentration like you have at Medicine Rocks." It is also possible that the state park lies atop an unexposed fault.
tribes resided here permanently or temporarily, including the A'aninin, Arikara, Assiniboine Sioux, Cheyenne
, Crow
, Mandan, and Sioux
. The Cheyenne stopped at Medicine Rocks on their way from the Yellowstone River Valley to the Black Hills each summer and early fall. Some time prior to the mid-17th century, the Hidatsa
leader No-Vitals led a large number of Hidatsa out of what is now western North Dakota
west into the Yellowstone River
valley of south-central Montana
, where the new tribe (the Crow) lived on the plains, by the river, and in the nearby Big Horn
, Pryor
, and Wolf Mountains
. On the move due to pressure from eastern and midwestern tribes moving west due to white encroachment, the Crow may have settled in the Yellowstone Valley only a few decades before the arrival of Lewis and Clark
in 1804. The Crow called the Medicine Rocks area Inyan-oka-lo-ka, or "rock with a hole in it." Bone and stone tools, fire rings (circles of stones used to contain a bonfire), pottery, teepee
rings (circles of stones used to hold down the edges of a teepee), and other artifacts have all been found at Medicine Rocks.
All the tribes which stayed at Medicine Rocks considered the place holy. Each year, the Crow made an offering to the "Little People
" (a race of tiny, ferocious, spiritually powerful dwarves) at Medicine Rocks, where they believed some Little People lived. Such gifts might include beads, paint, or tobacco. The Crow also made "fasting beds" out of rocks, on which they would lay down while seeking visions and dreams.
White settlers first moved into the area near Medicine Rocks in the 1880s. In 1888, the Standard Cattle Company established the "101 Ranch" in the area, which moved more than 30,000 head of cattle every year from Wyoming to Fallon County
(Carter County then being part of Fallon County) and then to Wibaux
(a cattle shipping hub for the Northern Pacific Railroad). Hundreds of cowboys worked the ranch, and many stayed—helping to "settle" the country for whites. Many of the cowpunchers carved their names or graffiti into the sandstone of Medicine Rocks. In the 1910s and 1920s, Medicine Rocks was a favorite picnic spot for local people, who often drove to the site every Sunday for feasting, entertainment, and conversation.
Although most of the "medicine rocks" themselves are contained within the park, some are not. Some of the better-preserved and less vandalized medicine rocks are located on the privately-owned Medicine Rocks Ranch, an Angus cattle
ranch adjacent to the state park.
.
Guests to the park may see bluebird
s, coyote
s, ferruginous hawk
s, golden eagle
s, kestrel
s, meadowlark
s, merlins
, Merriam's wild turkeys, mule deer
, nuthatch
es, prairie falcon
s, pronghorn antelope, red fox
es, sharp-tailed grouse
, and turkey vultures
.
Park
A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...
owned by the state of Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is located about 25 miles (40.2 km) west-southwest of Baker, Montana
Baker, Montana
Baker is a city in and the county seat of Fallon County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,741 at the 2010 census.It was named after A.G. Baker, an engineer with the Chicago, Milwaukee, St...
, and 11 miles (17.7 km) north of Ekalaka, Montana
Ekalaka, Montana
Ekalaka is a town in and the county seat of Carter County, Montana, United States. The population was 410 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ekalaka is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of .Known for its sandstone rock and open plains, Ekalaka is part...
. The park is named for the "Medicine Rocks," a series of sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
pillars similar to hoodoos
Hoodoo (geology)
A hoodoo is a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland. Hoodoos consist of relatively soft rock topped by harder, less easily eroded stone that protects each column from the elements...
some 60 to 80 ft (18.3 to 24.4 m) high with eerie undulations, holes, and tunnels in them. The rocks contain numerous example of Native American rock art
Rock art
Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
, and are considered a sacred holy placed by Plains Indians. The park is 330 acres (133.5 ha) in size and 3379 feet (1,029.9 m) in elevation. It is managed by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks is a government agency in the executive branch state of Montana in the United States with responsibility for protecting sustainable fish, wildlife, and state-owned park resources in Montana for the purpose of providing recreational activities...
. Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
said Medicine Rocks was "as fantastically beautiful a place as I have ever seen".
Geology
Medicine Rocks is part of the Fort Union FormationFort Union Formation
The Fort Union Formation is a geologic unit containing sandstones, shales, and coal beds in Wyoming, Montana, and parts of adjacent states. In the Powder River Basin, it contains important economic deposits of coal, uranium, and coalbed methane....
, a geologic unit
Geologic unit
A geological unit is a volume of rock or ice of identifiable origin and age range that is defined by the distinctive and dominant, easily mapped and recognizable petrographic, lithologic or paleontologic features that characterize it....
containing coal, sandstone, and shale in Montana, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, and other adjacent states. About 61 million years ago, near the start of the Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
period and during the late Zuñi sequence
Zuñi sequence
The Zuñi sequence was the major cratonic sequence after the Absaroka sequence that began in the latest Jurassic, peaked in the late Cretaceous, and ended by the start of the following Paleocene...
, a freshwater river crossed what is now eastern Montana, flowing southeast into a prehistoric sea whose boundary was near far northwestern South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
(possibly the remains of the Western Interior Seaway
Western Interior Seaway
The Western Interior Seaway, also called the Cretaceous Seaway, the Niobraran Sea, and the North American Inland Sea, was a huge inland sea that split the continent of North America into two halves, Laramidia and Appalachia, during most of the mid- and late-Cretaceous Period...
). This river deposited large amounts of very fine-grained sand, which compacted into sandstone. On top of the freshwater sandstone was sand laid down by a saltwater estuary (indicated by the presence in this greyish layer of sandstone of burrows created by marine worms). Numerous fossils dating back 63.3 million years (to the Torrejonian North American Stage
Torrejonian
The Torrejonian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology , typically set from 63,300,000 to 60,200,000 years BP lasting . It is usually considered to overlap the Selandian and Thanetian within the...
) can be found at the site, which help date the sandstone. These include several fossil snakes as well as teeth belonging to Plesiadapis anceps
Plesiadapis
Plesiadapis is one of the oldest known primate-like mammal species which existed about 58-55 million years ago in North America and Europe. Plesiadapis literally means "near-Adapis", which is a reference to the Eocene lemuriform, Adapis...
(an early primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
-like mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
). The fossil remains of the primitive mammal Baiotomeus
Baiotomeus
Baiotomeus is a genus of mammals from the extinct order of Multituberculata. It is known from the Paleocene of North America.The genus Baiotomeus was formally named by Krause in 1987 , and has also been known as Mimetodon , Neoplagiaulax , and Ptilodus .- B...
was discovered here in 1935.
Wind, dirt, sand, and rain carved the sandstone over the millennia, so that now the structures exhibit numerous arches, caves, columns, holes, pillars, and flat-topped towers. Some of the sandstone structures are 60 to 80 ft (18.3 to 24.4 m) in height, and can be 200 feet (61 m) across. There are more than 100 of the rocks and spires in the state park today. Some of them are clustered together as if part of a chain or train, while others jut up from the prairie in isolation.
According to Ed Belt, retired professor of geology at Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
, the Medicine Rocks sandstone is almost unique. "You have to go a long way to find a sand deposit of a similar age. And even then, you won't find thick sand and such a large concentration like you have at Medicine Rocks." It is also possible that the state park lies atop an unexposed fault.
Habitation and significance of the site
Archeological evidence indicates that there has been human habitation at or near Medicine Rocks for about 11,000 years. Aside from the other-worldly nature of the rock formations, Native Americans were attracted to the site because of the many medicinal plants while grew there and the fossil seashells which could be gathered for decorations. Many Plains IndianPlains Indians
The Plains Indians are the Indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to White domination have made the Plains Indians an archetype in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.Plains...
tribes resided here permanently or temporarily, including the A'aninin, Arikara, Assiniboine Sioux, Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...
, Crow
Crow Nation
The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a Siouan people of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota. They now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana and in several...
, Mandan, and Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
. The Cheyenne stopped at Medicine Rocks on their way from the Yellowstone River Valley to the Black Hills each summer and early fall. Some time prior to the mid-17th century, the Hidatsa
Hidatsa
The Hidatsa are a Siouan people, a part of the Three Affiliated Tribes. The Hidatsa's autonym is Hiraacá. According to the tribal tradition, the word hiraacá derives from the word "willow"; however, the etymology is not transparent and the similarity to mirahací ‘willows’ inconclusive...
leader No-Vitals led a large number of Hidatsa out of what is now western North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
west into the Yellowstone River
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, the river and its tributaries drain a wide area stretching from the Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of the Yellowstone National...
valley of south-central Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, where the new tribe (the Crow) lived on the plains, by the river, and in the nearby Big Horn
Big Horn Mountains
The Big Horn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 miles northward on the Great Plains...
, Pryor
Pryor Mountains
The Pryor Mountains are a mountain range in Carbon County, Montana and Big Horn County, Montana. They are located on the Crow Indian Reservation and the Custer National Forest, and portions of them are on private land...
, and Wolf Mountains
Wolf Mountains
The Wolf Mountains, el. , is a small mountain range southeast of Lodge Grass, Montana in Big Horn County, Montana....
. On the move due to pressure from eastern and midwestern tribes moving west due to white encroachment, the Crow may have settled in the Yellowstone Valley only a few decades before the arrival of Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
in 1804. The Crow called the Medicine Rocks area Inyan-oka-lo-ka, or "rock with a hole in it." Bone and stone tools, fire rings (circles of stones used to contain a bonfire), pottery, teepee
Tipi
A tipi is a Lakota name for a conical tent traditionally made of animal skins and wooden poles used by the nomadic tribes and sedentary tribal dwellers of the Great Plains...
rings (circles of stones used to hold down the edges of a teepee), and other artifacts have all been found at Medicine Rocks.
All the tribes which stayed at Medicine Rocks considered the place holy. Each year, the Crow made an offering to the "Little People
Little People of the Pryor Mountains
The Little People of the Pryor Mountains are a race of ferocious dwarves in the folklore of the Crow Nation, a Native American tribe...
" (a race of tiny, ferocious, spiritually powerful dwarves) at Medicine Rocks, where they believed some Little People lived. Such gifts might include beads, paint, or tobacco. The Crow also made "fasting beds" out of rocks, on which they would lay down while seeking visions and dreams.
White settlers first moved into the area near Medicine Rocks in the 1880s. In 1888, the Standard Cattle Company established the "101 Ranch" in the area, which moved more than 30,000 head of cattle every year from Wyoming to Fallon County
Fallon County, Montana
Fallon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of 2010, the population was 2,890. Its county seat is Baker.Fallon County was created in 1913 after being carved out of Custer County. The name comes from Benjamin O'Fallon, a nephew of Captain William Clark and an Indian agent...
(Carter County then being part of Fallon County) and then to Wibaux
Wibaux, Montana
As of the census of 2000, there were 567 people, 239 households, and 139 families residing in the town. The population density was 532.3 people per square mile . There were 321 housing units at an average density of 301.4 per square mile...
(a cattle shipping hub for the Northern Pacific Railroad). Hundreds of cowboys worked the ranch, and many stayed—helping to "settle" the country for whites. Many of the cowpunchers carved their names or graffiti into the sandstone of Medicine Rocks. In the 1910s and 1920s, Medicine Rocks was a favorite picnic spot for local people, who often drove to the site every Sunday for feasting, entertainment, and conversation.
State park
Medicine Rocks was privately owned and part of a working ranch from the 1880s. Carter Country (carved out of Fallon County in 1917) seized the property in the 1930s to satisfy unpaid taxes. Carter County transferred ownership of the site to the state of Montana in February 1957. In 1990, the state parks department attempted to close Medicine Rocks State Park at night, but after 240 angry citizens showed up at a hearing in Baker the state relented. In 1991, the state attempted to charge a $3 entrance fee to access the park, but never enforced it after angry residents protested. The state eliminated the fee in 1993, but also declared Medicine Rocks a "primitive" park which the state would not improve or provide maintenance (such as trash removal).Although most of the "medicine rocks" themselves are contained within the park, some are not. Some of the better-preserved and less vandalized medicine rocks are located on the privately-owned Medicine Rocks Ranch, an Angus cattle
Angus cattle
Angus cattle are a breed of cattle much used in beef production. They were developed from cattle native to the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland, and are known as Aberdeen Angus in most parts of the world....
ranch adjacent to the state park.
Access, services, and wildlife
Admittance is free. The park is open all year round via a dirt road (although the road may become impassable after heavy rains). Twelve primitive campsites are available at Medicine Rocks, as well as tables, fire rings, vault toilets, and cold spring water from a hand pump. Guests are asked to pack their own trash out. A 6 miles (9.7 km) primitive trail with signage also exists, as does a steep 1 miles (1.6 km) trail down to the nearby badlandsBadlands
A badlands is a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water. It can resemble malpaís, a terrain of volcanic rock. Canyons, ravines, gullies, hoodoos and other such geological forms are common in badlands. They are often...
.
Guests to the park may see bluebird
Bluebird
The bluebirds are a group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Sialia of the thrush family . Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. They have blue, or blue and red, plumage...
s, coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
s, ferruginous hawk
Ferruginous Hawk
The Ferruginous Hawk , Buteo regalis , is a large bird of prey. It is not a true hawk like sparrowhawks or goshawks, but rather belongs to the broad-winged buteo hawks, known as "buzzards" in Europe...
s, golden eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
s, kestrel
Kestrel
The name kestrel, is given to several different members of the falcon genus, Falco. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover at a height of around over open country and swoop down on prey, usually small mammals, lizards or large insects...
s, meadowlark
Meadowlark
Meadowlarks are birds belonging to the genus Sturnella in the New World family Icteridae.This genus includes seven species of largely insectivorous grassland birds...
s, merlins
Merlin (bird)
The Merlin is a small species of falcon from the Northern Hemisphere. A bird of prey once known colloquially as a pigeon hawk in North America, the Merlin breeds in the northern Holarctic; some migrate to subtropical and northern tropical regions in winter.-European and North American...
, Merriam's wild turkeys, mule deer
Mule Deer
The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
, nuthatch
Nuthatch
The nuthatches are a genus, Sitta, of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs...
es, prairie falcon
Prairie Falcon
The Prairie Falcon is a medium-sized falcon of western North America.It is about the size of a Peregrine Falcon or a crow, with an average length of 40 cm , wingspan of 1 metre , and weight of 720 g...
s, pronghorn antelope, red fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
es, sharp-tailed grouse
Sharp-tailed Grouse
The Sharp-tailed Grouse, Tympanuchus phasianellus , is a medium-sized prairie grouse. It is also known as the sharptail, and is known as "fire grouse" or "fire bird" by Native American Indians due to their reliance on brush fires to keep their habitat open.-Taxonomy:The Greater Prairie-chicken,...
, and turkey vultures
Turkey Vulture
The Turkey Vulture is a bird found throughout most of the Americas. It is also known in some North American regions as the Turkey Buzzard , and in some areas of the Caribbean as the John Crow or Carrion Crow...
.