Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Montana - April 30th to May 1st, 2022
We usually seek out National Park Service sites, whether they are national parks, national monuments, or historical sites, because they rarely disappoint. Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is not really near anything else, but it was not really out of our way either. It was worth the visit to learn more about our nation’s history.
It was cold Saturday morning as we hit the road to drive from Custer State Park, across the corner of Wyoming, and into Montana to the 7th Ranch RV Camp in Garryowen. The temperatures slowly warmed up during the day. While still in the Black Hills, we passed through Jewel Cave National Monument. We did not stop to visit this time, we’ll save that for a future trip.
During our time in the Black Hills, we noticed a lot of burn areas from wildfires. Along our drive, there were a couple of slash piles burning. We assume they were a part of fire mitigation efforts. As we left the Black Hills, the mountain peaks of the Bighorn National Forest came into view.
We checked into 7th Ranch RV Camp in the late afternoon. We were not sure exactly what to expect. The campground appears to be out in the middle of nowhere, on a ranch, but not far from I-90. We were pleasantly surprised. The staff was very friendly. A couple of ice cream tokens are handed out to guests at check in. In addition to ice cream novelties, the store is supplied with wonderful, homemade goodies like pies, lasagna, and chicken enchiladas along with local fresh ground beef. Ann will be back with her grocery list.
The campsites are located on a hillside, with wide open views of the surrounding area. A short walking trail behind the campsites leads up to the top of two hills with beautiful views. There was a constant chirping of birds all around us, with the lovely songs of the western meadowlark.
After dinner, we walked back to the campground office to exchange our tokens for huckleberry ice cream bars. Yes, we were back in huckleberry territory again! We first experienced huckleberries in northern Utah at the start of Season Three (Flaming Gorge National Recreational Area, Utah - June 3rd to 5th, 2021). It was relaxing to sit in the chairs outside the store, eating our dessert, enjoying the warm temperatures and the view. A resident dog spotted us and excitingly came over to visit us. He sized us up pretty quickly and realized we were not going to share our ice cream with him, so he disappointingly walked away with his tail between his legs. Sorry, huckleberry is too good to share.
Sunday was spent learning about the battle at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. The monument is only a few miles north of the 7th Ranch RV Camp. The battlefield is named for the river where the battle took place. It is also known as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and Custer’s Last Stand. Over the course of two days, June 25th and 26th, 1876, the Lakota, Dakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho successfully held off an attack on their village by the U.S. Army, but lost the war.
There is a small museum about the battle inside the visitor center. Unfortunately, there was no video being shown. Signs indicated there was a video out on YouTube (Triumph & Tragedy Along the Little Bighorn). After exploring the museum, we headed back out to our Red Tail Lodge (our van) to eat lunch and watch the video. We found the video, but it seemed like it ended abruptly, like the last part of it was truncated. It was a nice video up to that point.
The Lakota and Cheyenne were in the Unceded Territory which was set aside for the exclusive use of the native peoples according to the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 between the U.S. and the Sioux (Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota) and Arapahoe. The territory provided them with a place to hunt for food for their tribes, and a way to carry on their traditional ways of life, giving them access to resources not available on the reservations. However, after gold was discovered in the Black Hills, the U.S. decided to order all tribes back to the reservations by January 31, 1876 or be treated as hostiles. Not only did many of the native people defy the order, many who were already on the reservations left to support them. On June 25th, there were close to 10,000 American Indians camped in the village along the banks of the Little Bighorn River, including about 1000 to 2000 warriors. They were gathered for the annual Sun Dance ceremony.
The 7th Cavalry of the United States Army was part of a campaign to round up the “hostiles”. The cavalry along with some Crow and Arikara scouts had about 700 men. They split up in three groups to attack the village from three sides. The warriors became aware of the cavalry’s approach and attacked them before they could reach the village. None of the men in Custer’s group survived.
The national monument includes a couple of short trails that go past markers indicating where people died in battle. White stone markers indicate the known locations where people who were fighting for the United States fell. Red stone markers indicate the locations where the warriors defending the village fell. About 270 cavalrymen and scouts parished in the battle while about 30 to 130 warriors died. After the battle, the families removed the fallen warriors and placed them in tipis and on scaffolds and hillsides. Most of the soldiers are buried in a mass grave at the base of the memorial shaft bearing their names. The Indian Memorial lists the names of the fallen warriors.
It was interesting to see the landscape and imagine what the battle must have been like. It is sad to think that we could not peacefully resolve the conflict between white man’s hunger for gold and the native American’s desire to retain their culture and traditional way of life.
Back at the campground, we purchased some goodies at the camp store. One of them was a small blueberry pie. It was frozen, but the store/office had a large toaster oven that they allowed people to use to reheat the pies. The hot pie was a great treat. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Somehow the ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches they had just wouldn’t serve the same purpose.
If you find yourself passing through Montana, consider stopping at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, even if just for a couple of hours. If you need a place to stay, we would recommend 7th Ranch RV Camp as a friendly place with a great view.
Check out our related video: Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Montana
(Ann)