Eventually one gets to the Medicine Wheel to fulfill one's life.
- Old Mouse, Arikara
Way up high in the Big Horn Mountains at nearly 10,000 feet above sea
level, lies the Medicine Wheel, a place that is known as a place of worship, a
National Historic Site, and perhaps above all, an archeological mystery.
It is believed that between 1200-1700 A.D. literally hundreds of limestone rocks were
placed in the shape of a wheel that measures about 80 feet in diameter. Twenty
eight spokes radiate from a central cairn to six smaller cairns around the rim.
The mystery is who created this and why?
While no one knows for sure, Native American beliefs and archaeological
evidence hint to its possible use as a spiritual site. Many people still come
to the Medicine Wheel and Medicine Mountain for inspiration, solitude and
meditation
The Medicine Wheel was given protection and nominated to the National
Register by local Big Horn Basin communities. The site is protected by federal
antiquity laws under the administration of the Forest Service.
There is a sign that reads:
We live, we die, and like the grass and trees, renew ourselves from the
soft earth of the grave. Stones crumble and decay, faiths grow old and they are
forgotten, but new beliefs are born. The faith of the villages is dust now...
but it will grow again... like the trees.
