Big Horn is located along the valley of Little Goose Creek. From 1866-68 the military cut-off route of the Bozeman Trail crossed Little Goose Creek where Big Horn was later located. The trail was used by travelers going to gold fields in Montana, but was plagued by attacks of the Lakota tribe under Red Cloud. Fort Phil Kearney was established on Piney Creek, but continued harassment by the Lakota led to the abandonment of the Fort and the withdrawal of the US Army from the Powder River Country under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. According to local historian Glenn Sweem, the main route of the Bozeman Trail did not pass through the site where Big Horn was later founded. Instead, the main trail lay farther to the east and followed Prairie Dog Creek on a course that is now occupied by 5th street in Sheridan, Wyoming. From there the trail crossed Goose Creek and continued out Soldier Creek to present day Keystone Road, eventually crossing Tongue River between Ranchester and Dayton, Wyoming. Little Goose Creek was the site of General Crook's camp after the Battle of the Rosebud against the Sioux and Cheyenne on June 17, 1876. Crook was fishing in the Big Horn Mountains on Tepee Creek while Gen. George Custer was making his last stand at the Little Bighorn, some 70 miles to the north. The first settler in the Big Horn area was Oliver Perry Hanna, an adventurer, prospector, buffalo hunter, and Indian fighter who built a cabin on Hanna Creek in 1878. During the winter of 1878 and 1879 he rode his horse north on the frozen Tongue River to hunt buffalo in the Yellowstone River Country. He participated in the massive-hide harvest that wiped out the buffalo on the northern plains. His published recollections told of entire steamships loaded with buffalo hides floating down the Yellowstone River, as well as entire freight trains loaded with buffalo bones. After the buffalo hunting dried up Hanna made a 400 mile round trip to Fort Laramie to buy seed and a plow, thereby becoming the first farmer to carve a furrow in what became Sheridan County. Hanna attracted many of the first settlers to Big Horn City, which was established in 1882. He operated the Oriental Hotel directly across the street from the Big Horn Mercantile for many years. Local legend states that Frank James and Big Nose George were hiding out along Little Goose Creek in 1878. Apparently things got too hot for them in the Black Hills, and so they headed for the unsettled country near the Big Horn Mountains, where they encountered O.P. Hanna. This story has been passed down in the written recollections of early homesteaders, but has not been corroborated with outside historical references or the chronology of the James Gang. Polo was first played in the area at a summer fair in Sheridan in 1893. Among the players in the match were ex-members the English Cavalry who had brought polo from India. http://www.flyinghpolo.com/history.htm Polo History At one time Big Horn had nearly 1,000 residents and boasted a college, a brick factory, a newspaper, two churches, a hotel, a livery barn, two saloons, and a mercantile. Big Horn made a bid to be the seat of Sheridan County, but an run-off election gave the title to Sheridan in 1888. An exodus of residents and businesses occured around 1891 when it was learned that the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad was being surveyed through Sheridan. Since that time Big Horn has been a satellite community of Sheridan. Today Big Horn has a mercantile, two bars, a Fly-fishing/outfitting shop, several bed and breakfasts, women's club, Bozeman Trail Museum housed in a blacksmith shop, a park, and an art museum located several miles up Little Goose Creek at the Moncreiffe/Bradford Brinton Ranch. Queen Elizabeth II of England stayed in Big Horn in October 1984 during a visit with her relatives at the Wallop Ranch. The event attracted national media who were interested in recording the visit of an international dignitary to a small western town. Residents who were interviewed by the press said they were happy for Big Horn to host the Queen, so long as the increased security and motorcade traffic didn't interfere with huntin' season. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Horn%2C_Wyoming