Big Sky Country

Cooney State Reservoir, Montana

Driving out of South Dakota we had to stop by the “Geographic Center of the Nation” in Belle Fourche, SD.  This includes Alaska and Hawaii.  A couple of years ago we were at the “Center of the Contiguous U.S.”. I believe that was in Nebraska.  Anyhow, check that one off the list.  

Driving the backroads of Montana a restaurant that tells it like it is.  

We stopped by Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.  We thought it was just going to be a marker on the road or at most a small visitors center and a plaque.  We had no idea it was such a big attraction.  There were hundreds of people there.  Ironically, the Battle known as Custer’s Land Stand happened on June 25-26th, 1876.  Almost 142 years ago to the day.  Being history buffs we knew it would be interesting, but I had no idea it would also be a very emotional and moving experience.  

The park did a really great job explaining both sides of what led up to the battle;  including what was going on economically and politically in the U.S. at the time, what the Native Americans were experiencing, tribal alignments, timelines, and actual facts about this specific battle.  

This is a diorama of the battle and replicas of what the Calvary and Native Americans wore into battle. (Sorry for the reflection and poor quality, hard to get a good picture behind glass with lots of lights). 

We watched a very informative 30 minute movie about the battle and learned about General Custer, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota tribes.  Sitting Bull clearly understood that they won the battle, but lost the war and the ramifications of this - the end of the Lakota Nation. He understood and fought to keep Native Americans from being forced onto reservations knowing that would end their way of life. It was so incredibly sad.  We spent quite awhile walking the battlefield and visiting the gravestones of the Cavalry and the Native Americans. This park really does a great job honoring all who fought and died here.

The large obelisk is the Cavalry Memorial.

Visiting the Indian Memorial was very moving and quite emotional.  I have to admit that both of us got teary eyed.  The Indian Memorial stands just east of the Calvary Monument and is a circular earthwork carved into the prairie.  Once inside the memorial you can see a view of the Cavalry obelisk through a “spirit gate” window.  Symbolically, the spirit gate welcomes the departed Cavalry soldiers into the memorial circle.  What an incredibly moving gesture. 

For many tribes  a circle is sacred and it remains open for ceremonial events.  The surrounding inside walls display the names of those who fought here as well as the words of some who fought in the battle.  

This.  

We continued on through Big Sky Country finally pulling into Cooney Reservoir tonight.  As we drove down the dirt road to get here, Ned and I both looked at each other and said, “I think we’ve camped here before.”  Checked our blog...yep - September 18, 2009.  The campground is flooded and many sites are blocked off.  Ironically, we are set up in the exact same site we were back in 2009.  We don’t have any cell signal so tonight’s biking adventure will be riding uphill until we find some.  If you got this, you know we were successful.