September 14, 2007 –Little Bighorn Battlefield

The road through the battlefield is five miles long and you can take your own vehicle or the bus tour (or both). We decided to take the bus tour since we would get much more history about the area – and it was fantastic. Our tour guide took us through the history of the United States at that time and also the history of the Native Americans and why/how this battled happened. As we made the stops along the road, she explained what happened in that area. It made it so real for us.

This battle took place on June 25-26, 1876 and more than 260 soldiers and attached personnel of the Army as well as 60-100 Lakota/Cheyenne died. Among the dead were Lt. Col. George A. Custer and every member of his immediate command.

When back-up arrived on June 27, 1876, they buried the bodies where they were and put up markers. In 1877, Custer and his officers were removed to eastern cemeteries (Custer is buried at West Point, NY). In 1881, all the other remains were put in a mass burial site and longer lasting markers were put on the areas where they died. In the 1900’s, markers were put on sites where the Indians died. (The Indians took their dead that day before they moved on.)

Mass Burial Site:
Custer’s Marker:

Cheyenne Warrior Marker:

U.S. Solder Marker:

Horse Marker:

Indian Memorial:

Markers on the Battlefield:


After the tour, we went to the National Park Video on the Battlefield, took some of the trails to the various sites and then took our own car on the road. (I wanted to stop and get some pictures).

Another extremely interesting day!! One thing we did notice is that everything presented had a balanced view – both sides are represented since this battle is both in the US and Indian history.

We stopped at a local café and met up with our neighbors – so we all had a late lunch together. I tried fry bread for the first time – very good!!

The rest of the day was relaxing and getting the blog caught up. Tomorrow we head towards South Dakota. Stay tuned.

September 13, 2007 – Pictograph Caves and Little Bighorn Battlefield

This morning we visited the Pictograph Caves State Park. It is an archaeological site with many cave paintings thousands of years old. Excavation of the floor of the caves revealed over 30,000 artifacts from pre-historic times. Digs from the area in front of the caves revealed many Indian artifacts.

Pictograph Cave:
Some of the pictographs (they were hard to see):

Ghost cave (no one knows the origin of the name):

Views from the caves:


We took the interpretive trail to each of the caves (middle cave was closed) and the surrounding area – what an interesting morning.

We then traveled to Garryowen and set up camp at the 7th Ranch RV Camp - another really nice private campground.

Once we set up we went to Little Bighorn Battlefield (our main reason for being here).

We stopped at the visitor center and found out we were too late for the bus tour. So we did the museum and went to the Ranger Talk on the battle. What was so fascinating is how real he made it for us. As he talked and told us about the battle, he was able to point to the different areas of the battlefield.

Here is a picture of Custer’s last stand:

We also visited the National Cemetery that is next to the visitor center. The cemetery contains the remains of ~5000 veterans and their families from the Indian Wars, Spanish American War, WWI and II, Korean War and the Vietnam War.

We have decided to stay another day and explore this area, take the tour and the trails.

This evening we met our neighbors and had a nice chat while we were watching the sunset. It is beautiful here - the skies are so clear and so blue during the day and so starry at night. When the sun sets, it turns the wheat colored grasses to an orange/red color. (Sorry, no pictures, it was hard to capture the color change.)

Miles Traveled: 67
Routes Traveled:
Montana: I-90