You may have heard the news about the major rain forecast at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming All the rain at Yellowstone National Park will flow downhill in the Yellowstone River to Montana. We are camped next to the Yellowstone River, just a few feet above the river itself. This is something we will keep track of in the next few days.
Sunday, June 12: The rain made it to Billings, Montana. It is too wet to spend a day at Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument so we are taking a day to rest. Bob will catch up on his work. I will work on editing photos and getting ready to write more blogs. Laundry is a necessity today, too. Gotta take care of the chores! I took a few more photos of Billings KOA Holiday campground, too.
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| The playground. |
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| There is a large dog park at KOA Billings RV Park. |
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| Saw this set-up camped here. |
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| I think this person likes to BBQ!!! |
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| Tent sites are right across from our site. |
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| Very nice tent sites next to the Yellowstone River. |
Monday, June 13: The weather looked good this morning, so we headed to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. The gate and Visitor Center opened at 8:00 am and we were there by 8:30 am. The weather was pleasant and we didn't need our coats.
Our plan was to visit the museum first and then drive through the park to look at the sites where the battle took place and hike a few of the interpretive trails. I knew from previous experience here that it could get quite hot. There is no shade out in the park. It's all high plains and grasslands. We wanted to get out and about before it got too hot.
The Visitor Center Museum: As you may remember, this park used to be popularly referred to as "Custer's Last Stand." It is now also recognized as the last stand of the Plains Indians (who called it the Battle of the Greasy Grass). The battle was fought June 25-26, 1876.
From the National Parks Traveler website:
"Much to the disgust of the Plains Indians who fought to save their families and way of life, "Custer's Last Stand" became a cultural icon portraying the 7th Cavalry troopers as heroes and the Indians as bloodthirsty savages. The battlefield property, which was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service in 1940, was redesignated Custer Battlefield National Monument in 1946. It wasn't until December 10, 1991, that the park was finally renamed Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument via legislation that also called for an Indian memorial to be built near Last Stand Hill."
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Bob studying a timeline of the Little Bighorn
Battle. |
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Scene of the "Last Stand." The description of
this scene is in the photo below. |
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| Description of the "Last Stand." |
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Sioux and Cheyenne warrior, 1876.
See description below. |
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| See photo above. |
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| About Chief Sitting Bull's life. |
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| General George Armstrong Custer. |
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| Gall Phizi and Wooden Leg. |
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"White Man Runs Him," Crow scout
for Custer. |
Battlefield Road Driving Dour: There are 17 stops on this self-guided nine-mile, round-trip driving tour. Each stop has a written history marker. In addition, there is a cell phone audio tour you can play along the way.
NOTE: There is limited parking at Last Stand Hill and the Indian Memorial. Before we started the audio tour, we walked up to those two most popular places in the park.
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Bob is walking the Ravine Trail. I had done it
in 2018 and did not do it again today. |
When you do the audio tour, only Stop 1 is on the way out to the end of the road. The end of the road is the Reno-Benteen Battlefield which is the second engagement of the battle. (The Battle of Rosebud on June 17 was the first.) We walked the paved interpretive trail which the sign says will take 45 minutes. I think we walked it in 20 minutes. The rest of the battle was waged from the Reno-Benteen Battlefield back toward Last Stand Hill. The Native Americans were the decisive winners of the battle at Little Bighorn, but overall losers in keeping their way of life.
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| Wild turkeys roam the grasslands. |
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| We also saw this herd of horses. |
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This National Monument is on the Crow Indian
Reservation, so these horses belong to them. |
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| An adorable colt. |
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Reno's Valley Fight was the first skirmish of
the Little Bighorn Battle. |
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The timber fight.
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Reno retreated into the forest.
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| The Little Bighorn River. |
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The paved trail at the Reno-Benteen
battlefield. |
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This walk was very pleasant and the weather
was very nice, bordering on cool. |
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| The wildflowers were in bloom! |
Scarlet globemallow (Sphaereacea coccinea).
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| Hi from Montana. |
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| Canada milk-vetch (Astragalus canadensis). |
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| White mariposa lily (Calochortus eurycarpus). |
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| Deep Coulee fight. |
The most popular spot on the driving tour is Last Stand Hill. It's right near the beginning of the driving tour, and we had actually stopped at Last Stand Hill and the Indian Memorial first.
According to the Friends of the Little Bighorn Battle organization, "The proper way to enter the Memorial is from the east entrance and exit from the west…When you enter the Memorial, you enter another world--somber, deep, retrospective, and sacred. The Memorial is in the shape of a perfect circle. In the center is a circle of red dirt. Around it is a circled stone walkway. On the inner walls sit panels for each tribe that fought in the battle (Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Arikara). Each tribe lists their dead and there are some pictographs…"
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Spirit Warrior Sculpture, © Colleen Cutschall
(AKA Sister Wolf), Oglala Sioux artist. |
Below are two photos of the Custer National Cemetery.
This was an excellent excursion today. It warms my heart that the Native American side of the battle was added to the stories. It gives a more balanced look at what transpired in 1876.
It was lunchtime when we left Little Bighorn. Just a few miles down the road, we found a Dairy Queen for lunch.
From there, we went back to Pompeys Pillar so I could get stamps for my National Park Passport book. Bob stayed in the pickup while I ran into the Visitor Center.
On the way into the Visitor Center, marmots were all over the grassy area. If you know me, I had to take photos of those cuties.
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Yellow-bellied marmots. I think this rock is
their bathroom! |
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| Marmots eating the grass. |
I stamped my book and bought a couple of things in the gift shop. When I got ready to leave, it was POURING rain outside. I didn't have an umbrella with me. I called Bob and asked him to drive over to the Visitor Center. I made a run for the truck and got soaking wet!
It was time to go back to the RV park. When we arrived, the rain had let up. I took my camera and headed to the Yellowstone River to see how high it was.
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The Yellowstone River usually is not flowing here!
Yesterday, it was 100' to the river, out beyond the trees. |
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| We had a rainbow visible from the campground. |
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The Yellowstone River is on the other side of
the concrete wall. Those are tent camping sites
where the red van is parked. |
The Yellowstone River is flowing so fast and high, we can hear it clearly from our site. The news had reports tonight of flooding in Yellowstone National Park and Red Lodge, Montana. That water is coming this way!
Tomorrow, we will be doing the Boot Hill 10 km Volksmarch. Stay tuned.
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