The wind has been our nemesis almost from the beginning of our trip.  Today has been no exception.  Yesterday just about dark, the wind picked up and it began to rain.  It continued all night.  This morning the sun was shining brightly; but the wind was still blowing.  We left Cody, Wyo headed to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana.  Before we got to far down the road, it began to rain again.  For these four southerners it has been a cold, wet day.

Even with that, we found the Little Bighorn Battlefield very interesting.  We took a van tour of the battlefield, watched a short film and attended a ranger talk.  The ranger was fascinating.  He is a retired history teacher.  He brought the battle to life.  He had such an extensive knowledge of the battle as well as the background of both the Native Indians (especially Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse) and the soldiers (Custer & others).   It was really a battle between two extremely different cultures where the Indians won the battle, but eventually lost the war.

All over the battlefield are white headstones and red/brown headstones.  These mark where soldiers/scouts/civilians (white) and Indians (red/brown) fell and died.  Custer's has a black shield on it.  The original burial sites were shallow.  The remains were later re-interred. Custer's remains are buried at West Point.  Some of the others were transferred to eastern cemeteries, the rest were buried in a mass grave around the base of the memorial.  After the battle, the Indians removed their dead. 

We left there headed back into Wyo to Sheridan.  Wyoming and Montana are beautiful.  Shortly before we got to the Wyoming border, the sun came out, but the wind continued to blow.  It's been a good day -- looking forward to tomorrow.

Custer (black shield) & other markers on Last Stand Hill

base of memorial on Last Stand Hill

 

Montana/Wyoming landscape

We began our day in Wyo, drove to Montana & ended our day back in Wyo.