Being sort of in the area, just a couple hours off our loosely planned route, we decided to visit Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, and were very glad we did. Being a longer driving day we got onto the I90 to have a faster more direct route (we had been mostly avoiding the interstates, but it made sense that day).
The nearest RV park to the monument is 7th Ranch RV park in Garryowen (it is a working ranch – the owners live just down the hill and are available to the campers after hours in an emergency). We arrived late in the day and checked in with the hosts, a very friendly couple who had been there for a year and were leaving for home next day. After a brief chat and some travel advice for our next destination, we were given two tokens for free ice cream bars and then they escorted us to our site. We had a choice and decided on an upper site near a short trail and fields where we were told Cedar could run off leash. The RV park is small, all the sites are pull throughs with full hook-ups, lined with pea gravel and a spot of grass. The washrooms were clean and laundry area adequate but expensive. We stayed two nights.
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
Also known as “Custer’ Last Stand” the area memorializes the US Army’s 7th Cavalry and the Lakotas and Cheyennes in one of the Indian’s last armed efforts to preserve their way of life. Gold had been discovered on their land, the treaty was broken by miners and military, and then the Government offered to buy their land to secure the gold for themselves – the offer was rejected. The situation erupted when the Sioux were ordered to report to a reservation by Jan 31, 1876. On June 25 and 26 of 1876, 263 soldiers, including Lt. Col. George A. Custer, died fighting several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors.
With our National Parks pass we had free entry. At the visitor center and gift shop, I showed the pass and was given a map/tour guide of the battlefield. A couple days earlier I stumbled upon the National Parks Service site which provides detailed information for every park, along with audio tours for those that have them. We downloaded the app. As you walk or drive through the battlefield, signposts provide a bar code, or a number to access an audio tour. It worked great and was very informative.
We first walked along the paths through the cemetery where the fallen soldiers were buried. Along with these soldiers were graves of soldiers and their families from other wars that had applied to be buried in the cemetery – we saw many markers from the Great wars, Vietnam, and Korean wars.
The 4.5 mile tour road has waysides with written information and audio stories which provide a detailed account of how the battle unfolded, where each regiment of troops were situated, where the soldiers and Lakota/Cheyenne encampments were, and on which hills or ravines significant fighting took place. Along the way are also grave markers where some of the tribal warriors and some US soldiers fell. With a little imagination the drive provides a good overview of what the battle would have looked like.