The abundance of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep led Indians to name this mountain range after those animals. Several native Indian tribes later competed with settlers for access to the mountains and surrounding river basins, and settlers eventually took possession of the land. Excessive hunting and introduced diseases nearly eliminated the once abundant bighorn sheep from this area by the turn of the century, but today bighorn sheep are being reintroduced to the Big Horn Mountains. The range supports diverse wildlife and habitats, with high-elevation mountain meadows and timber stands providing food and summer habitat for elk and mule deer, willow stands providing forage for moose, forests housing black bears, snowshoe hares, marmots, chipmunks, and blue grouse, and lower elevations, foothills, riparian zones, cottonwood stands, and cropland supporting white-tailed deer, mountain lions, sharp-tailed grouse, wild turkeys, black-billed magpies, and over 300 other kinds of wildlife.