The Community of Ten Sleep

Ten Sleep: Population 350 (est.)

Nestled in the foothills of the scenic Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming, Ten Sleep is also home of the world famous Ten Sleep 4th of July Parade and Rodeo. You will not find a more authentic Western rodeo anywhere.

Gateway to the Big Horns

Nestled at the base of the Big Horn Mountains in the Nowood Valley, 26 miles east of Worland on US Highway 16, Ten Sleep long ago staked its claim to a share of Wyoming’s and Washakie County’s colored history. Ten Sleep received its name because of the method of measuring distance that was used by Indians.


There was once a large Sioux Indian camp on the banks of the Platte River, and another large Indian camp on the Clark’s Fork River to the North, near present-day Bridger, Montana. These camps were important to Indians and settlers due to the trails leading to and from them in all directions across the West. According to the reckoning of the Indians, it was twenty “sleeps,” or nights, between the two camps.

It took ten “sleeps” to get halfway between them. This became the location of the present town of Ten Sleep.

Spring Creek Raid

The last armed conflict between cattlemen and sheep growers occurred in the Nowood Valley at Spring Creek, 7 miles southeast of Ten Sleep. During the “Spring Creek Raid,” seven masked riders raided Joe Allemand’s sheep camp, killing Allemand, his nephew Joe Lazier and Jules Emge and burning their two sheep wagons. The raid was supposedly motivated by Allemand’s bringing his herd of 5,000 sheep into the Nowood Valley which cattle interests had declared off limits to sheep. (Author’s note: The usual rule is, “Fence sheep in, fence cattle out.”)

In March 1909, Herbert Brink, Tommy Dixon, Milton Alexander, George Henry Saban, and Ed Eaton, local cowboys were brought to trial in Basin for participation in the killings. Two others, Charles Ferris and Albert Keyes turned state’s evidence and were not charged. Brink was convicted of first degree murder. Alexander and Saban were convicted of second degree murder. Dixon and Eaton each plead guilty to arson. Eaton died in state custody. Saban escaped in 1913 and was never recaptured. Dixon was paroled in 1912. Brink and Alexander were paroled in 1914. The public reaction to the raid resulted in the ending of such violence on the open range. An historical monument now marks the site of the raid.

The Spring Creek raid was not the only incident of such violence, it was merely the last. “Sheep dead lines,” such as that in the Nowood Valley, were proclaimed by other cattlemen.

Although the Nowood Valley is growing in population, Ten Sleep remains much the way it was a hundred years ago, many ranches are still operated by the families who took them over and developed them as the “foreign capital owners” cut their losses and left in the late 1800’s. Small independent business people continue to keep the community prospering.

Travelers approaching the big, friendly Big Horn Mountains from the east have an abundance of campgrounds, picnic areas, lodges, fishing holes, wildlife viewing and recreational opportunities. From the west as you drop into the Nowood Valley, Ten Sleep opens before you, to your right as you enter town are the rodeo grounds. If you’re lucky enough to be there on the 4th of July you will find an old fashioned rodeo reminiscent of the original ranch rodeo it sprung from in 1946. N43*57.322 W107*23.298