Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
 |
| The words of Crazy Horse |
I took this photo inside the Indian Memorial at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument near Billings, Montana. The words are those of Crazy Horse and yet I can't help thinking they could, with minor changes, apply to conflict situations everywhere across the centuries to the present day. Sadly, it would appear that we are destined to repeat the sins of our forefathers, over and over again. The discovery of large deposits of gold in the Black Hills, an areas sacred to the Indians and protected under treaty , prompted a near bankrupt government to change the course of history. Money, Money Money, like I said, somethings never change. Gold, Oil, strategic land mass and waters.......
Yesterday we were on our way to Yellowstone enjoy everything it has to offer, to do less driving and get active. I will officially start my training for Kilimanjaro on October 1st.. We stopped in Bozeman, Montana, to (a) have some lunch and (b) look at travelling east for Little Bighorn or south for Yellowstone. Yellowstone, 80 miles to the south would put us on our homeward trail towards Albuquerque. Little Bighorn would bring us over 200 miles further eastwards. I really wanted to see the site of this famous battle. I grew up with movies, books and comics depicting the native American as the 'bad guys'. I read accounts from others who had visited the site and this convinced Brenda and me that we should make the detour. Yellowstone has to wait.
WOW, what a day. We spent nearly six hours on the location of the battle of Little Bighorn. What an experience. You start out at the visitors centre where they have a short film outlining the background to the conflict between the US Army and the Lakota, Cheyenne, Sioux and other tribes of the great plains, the ensuing battle and the consequences for all. I do not intend to go into the detail here but rather to tell you about our experience.
After the film you can listen to one of the Rangers tell the story of the battle, sometimes in graphic detail. They pull no punches and paint Custer as an arrogant commander who made many bad decisions and paid the ultimate price for his failure. Unfortunately, more that 260 soldiers under his command also died because of his decisions.
You then drive 5 miles out across the battlefield. There are numerous point to stop along the rolling hills. Stop points include painted images of the battles that took place there or directly below where you stand. As you move along the story unfolds and you begin to get a sense of what it must have been like for both sides of the conflict. There were many Irish in the US Army and among the dead and wounded at the end of the two day on June 25th and 26th 1876.
 |
| 28 soldiers at this location as they retreated against superior numbers. The bodies of some soldiers lay undiscovered for many years. |
The photo above is just one example of the information plaques located across the battlefield. They include a painting of what the battle scene looked like and often comments from US Army Officers and Indian Chiefs.
The photo below shows this same notice and how it looks over the actual gorge where this part of the battle took place.
 |
| The actual gorge at the top of the photo and the information, showing this same gorge at the bottom of the photo. |
White marble headstones are scattered all over the hills where soldiers died in battle. A few scattered red marble headstones show where Indians died. Most of the Indian casualties were removed by their own warriors.
 |
| The site of Custer's last stand |
The photo above shows where General Custer and 41 soldiers made their last stand. They shot their own horses and used them as shields against the oncoming warriors.
I took this photo from our elavated position on the hills. You see the plains below and the Little Bighorn river (lower right side) as it meanders between the trees. This is where 8000 native american Indans, men women and children, and their 20,000 horses had set up their camp. This too was what the Indian scouts for General Custer witnessed and immediately reported.
The changing Seasons
On a brighter note. Over the past few days and since entering Montana we have noticed the bright yellows, gold and brown leaves on the decidious trees mingling wth the green conifers. It is a beautiful sight. I'm sure, as we travel further south over the next few weeks we will witness some spectacular images particularly in Yellowstone and later in the Rockies of Colorado.
Some of our images on the day we visited the battlefield
No comments:
Post a Comment
Enter your comments here: