The University of Wyoming campus is filled with plaques and statues, each one holding a unique meaning. One of UW’s most prominent, perhaps, is the dining hall’s statue of Chief Washakie.
The statue features the chief sitting on his appaloosa horse named Trosper outside of the dining hall, dedicated to his memory. He is wearing the headpiece of his people with a flag blowing in the wind as he leads into battle.
The metal statue was a $500,000 gift to the University of Wyoming in 2005 from the Wyoming legislature. It was sculpted by Dave McGary and is titled “The Battle of Two Hearts.”
The battle itself, the Battle of Crowheart Butte, was fought in 1866 between the Shoshone and Crow tribes over hunting rights in the Wind River Range. The range, which is off I-80, is over 100 miles long.
It took place over a five-day period after Chief Washakie of the Shoshone tribe and Chief Big Robber of the Crow tribe agreed to a duel to decide who would win the hunting rights.
It is unclear what happened during the five-day fray, but one person shone above the rest—Chief Washakie, who emerged from the fight victorious.
There are rumors that Washakie cut out Chief Big Robber’s heart at some point during the battle, and it is still up for debate if he ate it or not.
His famous quote from the battle’s aftermath was, “I fought to keep our land, our water, and our hunting grounds- today, education is the weapon my people will need to protect them,” is now on the front of his statue.
The Shoshone tribe was housed in many states during Washakie’s time, including Utah, Nevada, Idaho, and of course, Wyoming. In the 1700s, there were an average of 4,500 members of the tribe.
Today, there are approximately 10,000 Shoshone tribe members. They live on reservations in Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming, where the largest reservation, the Wind River Reservation, is housed.
It is unclear when Washakie became Chief, but his name is first mentioned in historical works in 1840. Aside from the Battle of Crowheart Butte, he is also known for all the times he led his tribe to the council meetings at the Treaty of Fort Laramie.
