Crow Agency. Anyone familiar with the area? (Billings, Hardin: sales, apartment)

[danattherock]

I am a travel nurse and looking for my next assignment. I have always wanted to visit Montana and found out there may be potential for me to get a job in Crow Agency in the coming months.

I am not familiar with Montana so I am online begging for info. Would value any and all insights of course. My interest are camping, flyfishing, and photography.

I know it is a small community and that is fine. My wife and I are both travel nurses and spent two years in arctic NW Alaska before spending 4 years here on Nantucket. We love small and remote places and have met some wonderful people as a result of our 7 years working as travel nurses. I work ER and my wife works M/S. Curious to hear anything about Crow Agency, the people that live there, the history of the place, and recreational opportunities. Thanks in advance for any comment.



-Dan


danattherock @hotmail.com

[ElkHunter]

First and foremost, you won't be able to live there. Your choices are Hardin, Billings, or Sheridan. Crow Agency is about half way between Sheridan and Billings. Hardin is doable, but I wouldn't live there. Several bars and Casino's and not really much else. For fast food there is a Dairy Queen, a McDonalds and a Taco Johns. There is also a Subway inside the truck stop.

Billings is a very large town, as towns go around here. Sheridan is a town of about 15,000, but has decent restaurants, shopping and such. Either one would cost you a 60+ mile commute to work in Crow. Crow really doesn't have any restaurants other then the once Casino and a small mom and pop breakfast lunch type coffe cafe.

You would be very limited on camping as Crow is on the reservation and you'd have to travel. Sheridan is nestled up against the Big Horn Mountains which gives you outstanding fishing, hiking, hunting, camping, wildlife, photo op's, etc...

[danattherock]

Thanks for the input. I really appreciate it. We would be living in Hardin. However, we could have our travel company pursue housing elsewhere of course and I had not thought about Sheridan,Wy or Billings,Mt. Sounds like Sheridan is in a nice area, but it would make a 2.5 hour drive to Ft. Smith. We plan on doing lots of flyfishing in this area so that would make long fishing days with 5 hours of driving factored in.

With that said, an apartment/motel in east Billings or west Sheridan might put us in a nicer area if I am following you correctly. That might also offer slightly under one hour drive to work in Crow Agency based on Mapquest. Something we are open minded to for sure.

You mention some good fly fishing, camping, etc.. near Sheridan. Any more info on that would be great. We work three 12 hour shifts per week so will have lots of time to get outdoors and fish, camp, etc.. Is Sheridan a better locale for this than Billings? Any other nice towns closer to Crow Agency? Thanks for any further comment.


-Dan

[ElkHunter]

IMHO, I would look at Ranchester or Dayton. I live between the two along the Tongue River.

I am retired and do a lot of fishing. I have to walk all of about 150 ft to the River. I catch 4 or 5 trout in 30 minutes. The neighbor does a lot of fly fishing and he has really good luck.

There is the Tongue River that runs through both Ranchester and Dayton. Ther eis also the Little Horn which comes down off the mountains North of here. You actually have to go into Montana and then take a gravel road that runs into a two track road but you end up coming back into Wyoming exactly at the 45th parallel. I've fly fished the Little Horn and it's a very challenging river to say the least. Lots of fun and you will catch fish. It's an outstanding hike and very beautiful area.

In Sheridan is Little Goose Creek, Big Goose Creek and once they merge it's Goose Creek. Going toward Story is even more fishing opportunities, although I haven't done a lot over there.

Ranchester is 700 people and Dayton is 650. From Sheridan it's 15 miles to Ranchester which means 15 miles closer to Crow Agency. Right up the interstate. Should the interstate be iffy due to weather, the old Highway 345 runs along side of it. But the old Highway lays down in a valley that is better protected making winter travel a lot easier. Dayton is about 6 miles straight West of Ranchester on Highway 14.

When traveling 14 you hit Dayton and then you climb into the Big Horn Mountains. Once on top there is excellent fishing, camping to be had. I go up on top every opportunity I get during the summer. But even being summer it gets a tad chilly up there at night due to elevation. in 2008 I camped up there on Aug 29 and got snowed on and that night it got into the 20's. But during the day we were in t-shirts running our 4 wheelers.

Ranchester and Dayton, both, have small stores that you can pick up immediate things like milk, eggs, bread, etc... However, they are expensive. We do our shopping in Sheridan at Wal-Mart super center, Albertsons, Safeway, or Praire Market. There is a Home Depot, a Kneckt, Ace Hardware for building, plumbing supplies. Several mom and pop shops down town. Great Ranchers supply (Shiptons Big R) for clothes, hunting and fishing needs. Sheridan has a theater (stage with actors) that also has other events. There is a movie theater with, I think, 6 different movies going at any given time. The County Fair Grounds are there so there is always something going on there during the summer months and even during the winter months there is something 2 or 3 times a month. There is a YMCA. 6 or 7 major car dealers that handle Chevy, Ford, Toyota, GMC, Buick, Jeep, Honda, etc... Just about anything you could need.

A lot of people do major shopping in Billings because of the big box stores and even a Cabela's. And Billings doesn't have a sales tax. So folks will run up there for a day trip and have lunch at Fudruckers, do some shopping for major items, maybe stop at Red Lobster for supper and then head back to Sheridan or the surrounding area. Not a bad trip with Interstate all the way.

Sheridan has a good hospital, and a VA, many medical facilities (cancer center, ortho, etc...).

All in all, a pretty nice area. Lots to do.

[danattherock]

That is great info man. Thank you!!!

The hard part will be finding a place to rent. Would be awesome to find a cabin in this area. Looking in Ranchester, I saw a cabin in a campground. Got me wondering. Doubt it has electrical though. The wife might not like that for 3-6 months. If you know of any folks that might have a cabin for rent, do tell. We are wide open to suggestion as you can tell. We are not excited about living in Hardin in a motel room. Would love to find a place somewhere near Sheridan. The Bighorn area looks like it has much to offer in the way of fly fishing and camping. Thanks for any comment.


-Dan

[ElkHunter]

Check the Realtors in Sheridan. Most all rentals are handled by realtors around here. That way they can do credit check and background checks easier. Reators are already set up for that sort of thing.

I live in a cabin and love it. It's all electric. It's well insulated and fixed up pretty nice. My electric runs me about $70 a month during the winter. I found it through a Realtor.

Just google for realitors in Sheridan.

[danattherock]

Will do, thanks for the suggestion. I never would have thought to check with realtors about renting. Where I have lived, they only sell. I appreciate the tip.

-Dan

[NDak15]

I would look at Sheridan or the little towns surrounding it. Hardin seems like a seedy town to me being so close to the reservation. Sheridan seems like a wonderful town to me.

[danattherock]

Thanks for the input. Still waiting to find out if I have the job or not. Wheels are turning slow but fingers are crossed. I would love to spend some time in Montana this summer/fall.


-Dan

[KCKnight]

DO NOT LIVE IN CROW!! I lived in Hardin for most of my life and in Crow for 4 years. It's a crime ridden little village. My vehicle was broken into the first week I moved there. People are very rude, and some are very racist. I am Native, but if your not Crow you are trash to them. They especially dislike white people, and Mexicans. You'll often hear racial slurs in that town.

The area is very trashy. Packs of dogs run wild and attack people. The train runs right threw the middle of town like every 20 minutes in the summer time. And, if it's not the train it's the damn sirens. Every night the ambulance or the highway patrol come into to town sirens blaring. Drunk driving is so common there it's practically an occupation. Gangs can be an issue at times, especially in the Spring when all the rats come out of hibernation. Another problem is drugs. I can honestly say I was offered drugs at least two times a week. I hope you don't have children.

You'd be better off living here in Billings. My family and I moved here 2 years ago, and all I can say is "I'm so happy to get out of Crow and Hardin". I know people are saying "Sheridan", but personally I think Billings is ten times better and allot of people in Sheridan would agree with me. Not including the commute between Sheridan and the Montana state line can be complete hell in winter.

P.S.
My mom worked at the IHS in Crow. Where I suspect you'll be working. Just to give you a heads up. Be very careful there. The people are very deceitful, and new nurses rarely last longer than a year or two. They either quit, or are fired for doing their jobs. Good nurses are usually targeted first. Trust me. My mom was put through that crap for over 10 years. I've seen it all.

If you have any questions please fill free to ask! I never sugar coat anything. )