Crazy Mountains

Spanning a distance of 40 miles (64 km), the Crazy Mountains are located between the Musselshell and Yellowstone rivers. The highest peak is Crazy Peak at {{convert|11214|ft|m|0}}. Rising over {{convert|7000|ft|m|-1}} above the Great Plains to the east, the Crazies dominate their surroundings and are plainly visible just north of Interstate 90.

The Crazy Mountains form an isolated island range east of the Continental Divide. Other isolated ranges in Montana include the Castle Mountains, Little Belt Mountains, Big Snowy Mountains, Little Snowy Mountains, Bears Paw Mountains, Judith Mountains, North and South Moccasin Mountains, Highwood Mountains, Little Rocky Mountains, Sweet Grass Hills, Bull Mountains and, in the southeastern corner of the state near Ekalaka, the Long Pines.

The Big Timber Stock, a large igneous intrusion, forms the bedrock in the Crazy Mountains.[https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_77001.htm Preliminary geologic map of the Ringling 30' x 60' quadrangle, central Montana], by McDonald, Catherine, Lopez, D.A., Berg, R.B., and Gibson, R. I., Publishing Organization: Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, Series and Number: Open-File Reports 511. Publication Date: 2005

Map Scale: 1:100,000 The stock is of Tertiary age, and consists of diorite and gabbro with zones of Quartz Monzodiorite, which has been intruded by many dikes and sills.

Geological features of the Crazy Mountains include:

• Shields River
• South Fork Musselshell River
• Sweet Grass Creek
• Crazy Peak

• Meagher County, Montana - north
• Sweet Grass County, Montana - east
• Park County, Montana - west, south

Due to the eastern location, these mountains are drier and less densely forested than other mountain ranges in Montana. There are at least 40 alpine lakes in the range, 15 of which are named. The Crazy Mountains sit in both Gallatin National Forest and Lewis and Clark National Forest. The Crazies support a healthy herd of mountain goats and the occasional elusive wolverine.

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In 1916, the Crazy Mountains were proposed as a location for a national park, yet Congress failed to pass the legislation. National Park Service officials considered the area again in 1935, yet they reported that a national park would not be feasible because "half of the land, every alternate section, is owned by the Northern Pacific Railroad or is in private hands."{{cite journal |last1=Dilsaver |first1=Lary M. |last2=Wyckoff |first2=William |title=Failed National Parks in the Last Best Place |journal=Montana The Magazine of Western History |date=Autumn 2009 |volume=59 |issue=3 |page=5 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40543651 |access-date=9 February 2021}}

The Crazies are almost completely surrounded by private lands making access into the mountains somewhat difficult, especially in the southern section where the highest peaks are located.{{cite news|last1=Reel|first1=Monte|title=This Land Is No Longer Your Land|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-10-25/this-land-is-no-longer-your-land|publisher=Bloomberg|accessdate=23 January 2018}}{{cite news|last1=McLaughlin|first1=Kathleen|title=Class war in the American west: the rich landowners blocking access to public lands|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/21/public-land-battle-private-landowners-montana|accessdate=23 January 2018|agency=Guardian News|date=21 Jan 2018}}

The name Crazy Mountains is said to be a shortened form of the name "Crazy Woman Mountains" given them in complement to their original Crow name, after a woman who went insane and lived in them after her family was killed in the westward settlement movement.* (This is an apocryphal account likely based more on myth than reality. The name is said to have arisen out of a translation error between early white explorers and the Crow natives who valued the Crazy Mountains as a location for vision quests. They attempted to convey this to the explorers, who, likely confused by the notions of vision quest, came to understand the Crazies as a place where one goes crazy.) {{cite book |last=Melroy |first=Mark |title=Islands on the Prairie-The Mountain Ranges of Eastern Montana-Montana Geographic Series #13 |publisher=Montana Magazine |location=Helena, Montana |year=1986 |isbn=0-938314-24-6 |page=100}}

The Crow people called the mountains ''Awaxaawippíia', roughly translated as "Ominous Mountains", or even more roughly, "Crazy Mountains". They were famous to the Crow people for having metaphysical powers and being unpredictable—a place used for vision quests.{{cite web |title= Foundation Document for Honoring Tribal Legacies: An Epic Journey of Healing |publisher= University of Oregon and National Park Service |url=http://npshistory.com/publications/honoring-tribal-legacies-1.pdf |accessdate= 24 December 2016}}

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|title=Images of the Crazy Mountains

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|Image:Crazy Mountains2.jpg|Crazy Peak (left background) rises above a relatively barren region

|File:PeaksinCrazyMountains.jpg|Peaks in the Crazy Mountains as viewed from Wilsall, Montana

|File:NorthEndofCrazyMountains.jpg|The northern reaches of the Crazy Mountains as seen from the foothills of the Castle Mountains

|File:Crazy Mountains Montana August 2017.jpg|Air photo facing north, August 2017

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File:South Face of Crazy Mountains from Livingston January 2015.jpg

File:East Face of Crazy Mountains January 2015.jpg

• List of mountain ranges in Montana

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070806015951/http://www.sweetgrasscounty.com/recreation/CRAZYMTS.htm Crazy Mountains: Backdrop to Big Timber] SweetgrassCounty.Com
• [http://www.bigskyfishing.com/Mountain-Fishing/crazy_mountains.htm Fishing, Hiking and Camping in the Crazy Mountains] BigSkyFishing.Com
• {{cite peakbagger |rid=14245 |name=Crazy Mountains}}

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Category:Mountain ranges of Montana

Category:Ranges of the Rocky Mountains

Category:Landforms of Sweet Grass County, Montana

Category:Landforms of Park County, Montana

Category:Gallatin National Forest

Category:Lewis and Clark National Forest