D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • S U M M E R 2 0 1 7
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ROCKS GRASPING FOR THE SKY
e story of the Pryor wild horses does not begin with the horses
themselves; it begins with the earth on which they trod. East Pryor
Mountain and its brother, Big Pryor Mountain, are distinct from
their Beartooth cousins 40 miles to the west. ese sloping mountains
were formed by the erosion of uplifted limestone, while the Beartooth
Mountains, comprised of granite, were carved by glaciers.
According to geologist Gary ompson, writing for the Pryors
Coalition, 500 million years ago much of the Pryor area was
Running Fr:
T
HE PRYOR MOUNTAIN WILD HORSE RANGE, located
along the Montana-Wyoming border about 40 miles south
of Billings and 13 miles north of Lovell, Wyoming, is home to a
population of about 162 wild horses. Confined to the 39,000 acres
that is the Pryor wild horse range, these horses are wedded to the
landscape. Many are clothed with the very colors of the Pryor
Mountains themselves. Horses the color of dampened limestone,
faded grass, mudstone, and shaded juniper are scattered across the
Pryor desert.
by
JESSIANNE WRIGHT
