Oct 17–Day 3--Little Bighorn Battlefield aka Custer's Last Stand

We spent some time exploring the National Monument at the Little Bighorn Battlefield south of Billings today.  I learned some things about the people and the events leading up to the battle that I had never heard before.  I was really impressed that, along with the monument to the Seventh Cavalry soldiers who died, there is now a monument to the Native Americans who died there as well.  All in all, a very worthwhile stop in our travels.  I took a lot of pictures, trying to show the landscape and what the scene of the battles looked like.  You will have to use your imagination, as the grass would have been green in June of

1876, and there would have been men fighting and dying on these hills.

This is the monument erected to the memory of the soldiers & civilians who died at this place.

These markers show where Custer's troops & the civilians who were with them fell and died.  These are not gravestones, but place markers.

This is the view beyond the photo just above.  The line of trees is the Little Bighorn River, where the Native Americans were encamped with their families (not as a war party).

 The monument to the Native Americans is recessed into the top of a hill very near the US Cavalry monument.  All around the inside are engraved pictures & quotes from the Native Americans of that time and also from their descendants.

This is one of the entrances to the circular memorial, views of the plaques below.

This amazing metal sculpture shows up beautifully against the blue sky!

Here are a couple pictures marking the place of death for some of the Cavalry troops and also some of the Native Americans.  I found it interesting that the Native Americans knew just who fell where, and have attached names to their stones, while many of Custer's men were not identified by name on the stones.

Cavalry markers.  These were scattered around the hills, not just in the little fenced off area of the second photo.

Native American markers are also scattered around, but they didn't lose nearly as many men as did the Cavalry.

This display has information about an archeological dig that was done in 1984, and shows some of the artifacts that were recovered. 

Tomorrow will probably not be nearly as exciting as today, but we are looking forward to seeing the beauties of Wyoming!