Day Five & Six - The long drive to Miles City

Day Five - begins with a long drive from Caspar, Wyoming and ends at a beautiful KOA in Miles City, Montana.  The drive took all day - in fact we did not get set up until 8:30 in the evening.  I was extremely tired and grouchy.  It was unanimous that I needed a day of rest so we decided to stay at the KOA for a second day (Saturday). 

Day Six - I'm writing at the end of my "day of rest" following a good home cooked steak dinner.  Things are looking better.  Tomorrow morning we head for Glasgow to visit my Aunt Lona and cousin Don.  We will spend two or three days there and then head south through Yellowstone.  I met a lady today - at the Miles City Mosquito Festival - who told me that Glasgow is at the end of a long two lane road and once you get there, "you will look around and ask yourself why did I come here".

Towards the end of our Day Five drive, we stopped at the Little Big Horn Battlefields.  It is an amazing place to visit.  The interior of the building is full of artifacts from the battle but the real story is found outside the building.  We first listened to a 20 minute lecture from the Park Ranger.  The talk was outside so he could point out exactly how and where each battle took place.  There were actually 3 battles over two days - Custer's last stand being the most famous.  Although we all have been told that there were no survivors, actually 250 soldiers lived through the battles.  249 men lost there lives with Custer on June 28, 1876.

   

This photo was taken from the top of the hill, overlooking the spot where most of the soldiers were killed.  The soldiers took the high ground, shot their horses for protection and fought most of the day in 90 degree weather.  Each marker was placed where a soldier's body was found.  The battle site spreads over many acres.  There is a road that travels 5 miles around the "Hill" to the site of the other battles.

 

I'm standing in front of a monument with the name of each soldier that died that day.  There bodies were moved from the location where they died and buried in a mass grave under the monument.  There is also a mass grave and monument for the horses that were killed. 

This marker shows the location of the body of George Armstrong Custer.  His was the only body not ravaged by the Indians.  All others were mutilated.

Patti is standing in front of the Indian Memorial.  It is a fairly large area with stories about the Indians and the names of many of those who lost their lives in the battle.  The whole display is very sensitive to the Indian perspective.  It is unknown exactly how many Indians died in the battle as their people carried off the bodies.  It is estimated that somewhere between 60 and 100 lost their lives.

These are some of Custer's actual uniforms including a buckskin outfit he wore in the field.

For the sake of my grandson Jacob, GG is pointing at a tunnel.

Toby on the hood of Big Red - just outside the Battlefield.

I'm standing outside the Olive Hotel in Miles City, Montana.  In the series "Lonesome Dove", Gus died in the Olive Hotel in Miles City.  It is a very old historic site.  This is the middle of the day on Saturday and you can see how busy the road is.  Things are pretty slow around here.

This saddle is one of the finest examples of leather work I have ever seen.