Hanging Woman Creek empties into the Tongue at Birney, Montana, about 91 miles (146 km) above the mouth of the Tongue, and its headwaters are 35 miles (56 km) away in northern Wyoming. Otter Creek enters the Tongue River near Ashland, Montana, about 68 miles (109 km) upstream of the mouth of the river, and its headwaters are near the Wyoming–Montana state line about 40 miles (64 km) to the south. Pumpkin Creek meets the Tongue about 13 miles (21 km) above the mouth of the river, and extends for 71 miles (114 km) into the Custer National Forest the small community of Sonnette, Montana is at the headwaters. All of these tributaries enter on the eastern side of the river, and all flow in a northerly direction. The major tributaries of the Tongue are Pumpkin Creek, Otter Creek, Hanging Woman Creek, Prairie Dog Creek and Goose Creek. The term "Tongue River Canyon" can refer to either the river's mountain canyon in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming, or the river's prairie canyon in Montana, located downstream from the Tongue River Dam and Reservoir. On forested buttes lying between the Tongue River and Pumpkin Creek is the Ashland Ranger District of the Custer National Forest, which has three separate ranger districts, the other two being the Beartooth Ranger District located in the area of the Beartooth uplift, and the Sioux Ranger District located in the southeast corner of Montana and the northwest corner of South Dakota. The Tongue River headwaters are on the Bighorn National Forest. The Tongue River Valley near Decker, Montana also contains the southeast corner of the large Crow Indian Reservation. The river forms the eastern boundary of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation from about 25 miles (40 km) north of the reservoir to a point 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Ashland, Montana, after which the river continues to flow in a broad valley to its mouth on the Yellowstone River near Miles City, Montana.
![mud river dog bed mud river dog bed](https://images.bedsdog.com/l-m/mudriver-4-memory-foam-dog-bed-regular.jpg)
Continuing northeast from the reservoir, the river flows through a prairie canyon and the Tongue River breaks, passing Birney, Montana. The river then flows eastward, past Ranchester, Wyoming, and merges with Goose Creek, after which the Tongue turns to flow northeast into Montana, where it is dammed, forming the Tongue River Reservoir. The river descends the eastern side of the mountains and emerges from a canyon near Dayton, Wyoming. The source of the Tongue River is in the highlands of the Big Horn Mountains in north-central Wyoming. The river is generally frozen during the winter months. The flow of water in the upper river during the summer is generally steady, but in the later months of a dry summer, irrigation can reduce the lower river to a few pools of water connected by a small trickle. The river level rises in March and April due to snowmelt in the lower elevations, and again in June as summer weather melts the higher-elevation snowpack. The Tongue River is fed by winter snowpack from the higher elevations of the Big Horn Mountains, early snow runoff of the lower elevations in the drainage basin, and ground water from springs in the drainage basin. The river's name corresponds to Cheyenne /vetanoveo'he/, where /vetanove/ means "tongue" and /o'he'e/ means "river".
![mud river dog bed mud river dog bed](https://www.tmesickphotography.com/img/s/v-10/p2677911921-4.jpg)
The headwaters lie on the Bighorn National Forest, and the watershed encompasses the Ashland Ranger District of the Custer National Forest. The Tongue River watershed encompasses parts of the Cheyenne and Crow Reservations.
![mud river dog bed mud river dog bed](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b8/fa/e3/b8fae3c0b4d1446e015fd2ff07206c21--gander-mountain-mountain-dogs.jpg)
Most of the course of the river is through the beautiful and varied landscapes of eastern Montana, including the Tongue River Canyon, the Tongue River breaks, the pine hills of southern Montana, and the buttes and grasslands that were formerly the home of vast migratory herds of American bison. The Tongue rises in Wyoming in the Big Horn Mountains, flows generally northeast through northern Wyoming and southeastern Montana, and empties into the Yellowstone River at Miles City, Montana. The Tongue River is a tributary of the Yellowstone River, approximately 265 mi (426 km) long, in the U.S. Pumpkin Creek, Otter Creek, Hanging Woman Creek, Prairie Dog Creek, Goose Creek, Wolf Creek