For at least 10,000 years, the area where Medicine Lodge Creek flows out of the Bighorn Mountains has provided a home for humans. In 1968, the University of Wyoming began an eight-year archaeological study at Medicine Lodge, where teams excavated trenches along the cliff face and uncovered stone tools, projectile points, fire pits, bones, ceramics, and other artifacts. Everything prehistoric people needed to survive was located at or near this site, including plant resources for food, medicine, firewood, tools, and shelters, as well as abundant wildlife from wood rats to bison. Sixty cultural levels were discovered, dating from the Paleoindian, Archaic, and Late Prehistoric periods, from 10,000 years ago to around 150 years ago, and the oldest cultural evidence was found at a depth of about 23 feet.