Little Bighorn National Battlefield, Montana

That evening after leaving the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming, I found myself in a small town in Montana call Bridger some 80 miles away. I was a really cool town. There were young hot looking girls all over the place, and they were all very friendly. Right across the street from my motel was a bar/restaurant/casino. It seems that gambling has been legal in the great state of Montana for years. So, everywhere one goes in Montana, one sees a casino or slot machines. If it weren’t for the extreme winters in Montana, I think I would be very happy living in a place like Bridger, Montana.

The next morning, I left Bridger for the Little Bighorn Battlefield which was less than a 100 miles to the east of Bridger. It was another spectacular warm sunny Montana summer day. About 30 miles east of Billings, Montana, I found myself driving down I-90 along side the west side of the Little Bighorn River which flows south east in a hilly valley with high bluffs and mountains on both sides of the valley.

The battlefield is situated high on the rolling hills along the east side of the Little Bighorn River. Just like it was during the time of the battle, the hills were covered with greasy grass. This is how the battle got its Indian name the Battle of the Greasy Grass.

The battlefield spans for approximately 6 miles. I thought this battlefield was poorly done compared to some of the major battlefields of the Civil War. For instance, Reno’s skirmish line was not included as part of the official battlefield tour. Yet, this is where everything started. To get to this part of the battlefield you literally have leave the national battlefield area and drive some three miles. At the location of Reno’s skirmish line there a museum and a monument dedicated to the battle. What’s sad is that the surrounding land is all Crow Indian reservation, and it’s huge. The land was given to the Crow Indians as an appreciation for helping with the defeat and suppression of the Lakota Indians. Back then, the Lakota and Crow Indians hated each other immensely.

The museum is old, outdated, and small. It has a decent collection of Custer artifacts. I thought the museum could have had a lot more stuff, especially, when one considers all of the notoriety and the popularity of this well-known battle.

Unlike most of the Civil War battlefield, no pets were allowed anywhere on the battlefield site. The reason being, that the battlefield is one giant cemetery and memorial for both fallen troopers and braves. In fact, it was forbidden for anyone to walk anywhere off the designated path. I thought that this was a real tragedy, because I believe one could have really imagine what it must have been like if one was allowed to walk through the areas where some of fighting took place.

What I thought was really cool was how over the years using forensic science, they’ve been able to identify where many of the soldiers spent their final moments on earth. As a result of this, there are white markers scattered everywhere throughout the battlefield.