The Bighorn Mountains, rising to over 13,000 feet, formed a western boundary for the core Crow territory.

The mountains provided refuge, timber, and the specific terrain features that made Crow defensive strategy effective.

An enemy approaching Crow territory from the west had to come through or around the Bighorns, and the Crow’s intimate knowledge of those passes and valleys gave them significant tactical advantages.

The northern plains that extended east and north from this core territory were the primary hunting ground for the bison that sustained Crow life.

The great herds that moved through this country in the early nineteenth century have been called incomprehensible in their scale — contemporary accounts describe seeing bison from horizon to horizon, taking days to pass a fixed point, covering territory in ways that would be almost unimaginable today.