Aug 12 – Custer’s Last Stand

Today we left Three Forks around 10 AM. I had called and talked to Dad & Mom. Dad “should have been putting a toilet in the new Pep Community Center, not laying in bed with nothing wrong with him”. Mom seemed better too – the doctor had come in and said things looked OK, he would do an angiogram/plasty – I can never remember which – Wed morning and perhaps put in a stint or two. Maybe… if no stints, then Dad would go home on Wed. If he got stints then he’d go home on Thursday. There is a very, very slight chance of heart surgery but they wouldn’t know that until after the angio-whatever. That should take place Wed morning around 7 AM.

Again Dad insisted we not change plans & I not try to fly down there. So, we headed to Billings, MT then on to the Little Bighorn Battlefield. We camped in a nice little campground just out of Garryowen, MT – The 7th Ranch RV Camp. It is spread up a hill facing west (fantastic sunset!!), with 41 pull thru sites with water/electric and some with sewer and about 20 tent sites. There are also 4 small cabins for rent. The views cannot be beat – of course we don’t have anyone sitting in front of us so that helps.

7th Ranch RV Camp

The Battlefield is open until 7:30 but the driving tour loop is closed at 7 PM. My advice is to get the driving tour CD – it outlines what you are looking at in much greater detail than the plaques along the way (7th Ranch RV will loan one to you free of charge). I also wouldn’t go up the loop in an RV but people did. It is really a desolate place, serene and beautiful. I can’t imagine the battle that ensued on those lonely hills and ravines. The stark white markers show where the soldiers had fallen but all bodies have been moved to either the National Cemetery there or to a mass grave located on “Custer’s Hill”. There are few red markers marking the fallen Native American scouts, mostly Crow, that were helping the US Army forces. The Native Americans picked up their dead & wounded and disposed of their remains as their traditions dictated. Most US soldiers were originally buried in shallow graves where they had fallen within three days of their deaths. A very tragic piece of history, not only for the US Calvary but to the Native Americans. While this proved a great victory for them, it didn’t help them much in the end of this black part of American history.

National Cemetery at Little Bighorn Battlefield


Trail past markers of fallen US Calvery men at the Battle of Little Bighorn
Markers show the soliders that fell on "Custer's Hill".

Tomorrow we head to Cody, WY if news of Dad is good. From there we’ll explore the Beartooth Mountains and take a trip over Beartooth Pass.