Washakie

The stone says born about 1804, and that is one estimate among several. A missionary wrote down 1798 in 1883, and his biographer Henry Stamm puts the year between 1804 and 1810. Family history gives him a Salish (Flathead) father and an Agaidika, or Lemhi, Shoshone mother. After a Blackfeet raid killed his father he grew up among his mother's people, and later among the Green River Shoshone. His birth name is given as Pinaquana, smell of sugar. Washakie came later, from a rattle he made, a name translated as gourd rattle or gambler's gourd.

What the plaque says

Washakie The Great Shoshone Chief, a skilled hunter, strategist, and warrior against his tribal enemies was noted for his friendship towards the white men. He united his people. He was born about 1804 and died February 20, 1900. Shoshone Indian Reservation was created by the Great Treaty of July 3, 1868. Fort Washakie, 1879-1909, was a military post. Erected by The Historical Landmark Commission of Wyoming 1956

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Chief Washakie's Grave — steps away
  The Army buried the Eastern Shoshone leader with full honors in 1900; his gravestone praises his loyalty to whites and leaves the rest out.
• Sinks Canyon State Park — 19 mi
  A river that vanishes into a limestone cave and comes back a quarter mile on, slower than it should, warmer, and with more water than went in.