Sitting Bull Falls in springs further down the canyon or joins the Pecos Valley underground water supply. The area around Sitting Bull Falls is the remnant of a reef system known as the Capitan Great Barrier Reef dating from the Permian period. Approximately 250 million years ago, the region was located near the edge of an inland sea. The origin of the name Sitting Bull Falls remains uncertain. One version holds that the falls were named after a Sioux medicine man. The Apache name for the area was gostahanagunti which means "hidden gulch". A number of hiking trails allow visitors access to the
Snoqualmie Indian Tribe they anticipated from the BIA, and disbanded the department. The tribe now contracts law enforcement out to the King County Sheriff's Office on a "calls for service" only basis. The Sheriff's Office does not actively patrol the casino—no one is assigned there—but the Sheriff's Office will respond to calls when needed and the tribe is billed per call for service. The tribe lost federal recognition in 1953. In October 1999, the Bureau of Indian Affairs once again granted recognition to the Snoqualmie. According to one source, the Snoqualmie Tribe currently has approximately 597 members. Another source puts the membership at