Here is a bit about the naming of Crazy Woman Canyon:
Native Americans have lived in this part of the American West for thousands of years, long before the settlement of Europeans. Because of Wyoming’s cultural heritage, numerous legends surround the land. One of those is the story of “Crazy Woman.”
One legend tells the story of the Morgan family traveling in a covered wagon when Sioux people attacked and killed the three children and father.
The mother survived and went crazy after witnessing such horror. She turned on the warriors, grabbed an ax, and killed four of them as they fled the bloody scene.
Mrs. Morgan refused to leave her family. A man named Johnson came along and buried her family members. He also built Mrs. Morgan a small cabin, but later, he found her frozen body, dead from starvation. The stream near where she and her family died was named Crazy Woman Creek.
And these:
Another legend that could stem from this first story is about a trader who sold “firewater,” otherwise known as whiskey, to the Native Americans. When they ran out and returned for more, he didn’t have any left to give them.
The Native Americans killed him, but his wife escaped. She wandered along the creek, eventually losing her mind. A man named Johnson was also said to care for her.
A third legend tells the story of a young woman whose village was attacked, and she was subsequently killed. The Crow Tribe believed she could be seen on moonlit nights at the creek. They also thought she brought good luck.