Little Bighorn

After a 108 mile drive today we arrived in Garryowen, Montana.  We eventually found our destination for the next two nights, the 7th Ranch RV Camp.  It is named for Custer's 7th Cavalry. We are camped only 4 miles from the Little Bighorn Memorial.  It wasn't an easy place to find.  We had to drive past it, circle back on the frontage road for 3 miles, then drive about a mile on a dirt road, then turn at the fork in the road, and drive uphill before we found the Ranch.  It really was worth the effort, this is a beautiful place.

After lunch while I was napping, Kathe and Jim drove to the Little Bighorn Monument.  It was a very emotional day as they listened to a Ranger who talked about the historical events that took place here. Kathe and Jim came home with a better understanding of the motives of the Native Americans and the European Americans and how this clash of cultures came about.

Kathe and Jim first watched a film at the visitors center that helped identify where the various battles and retreats took place, as the battlefield looks today exactly as it did in 1876.

After watching the film they walked to the actual Monument which has the names of all of the men of the 7th who died engraved upon it.  There are also headstones marking the actual places where soldiers fell as well as recently placed markers of the Native Americans who also died in the battle.

They were able to drive a 5 mile loop around the valley and using their cell phones to key into the various points of interest and listen to a ranger describe the movements of the three columns of troops and the positions of the Indian camps.

Below the summit of last stand hill is a circular monument to the Native Americans who fought at the Little Bighorn.  As you walk through this memorial you realize the force faced by the 7th Cavalry. Not only were Sioux present in all their various tribes, they were joined by the members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho as well.  It is estimated that there were over 7000 Native Americans at the battle including 1,500 to 2,000 warriors in the encampment.