Stepping Back in Time

Relaxing in the Cody Lobby

Another fantastic day on our adventure. We had a great breakfast at The Cody which was a very nice hotel.  The weather was clear, sunny skies and a high of 79 degrees, quite a change from the day before.

We headed to nearby  Tecumseh's Trading Post for some shopping.  We met Jerry Fick, the proprietor, who spent a lifetime creating a miniature town and museum at the back of the store.  The dioramas depict the history of Wyoming and Montana. This was a really unique kind of place and we were so glad we stopped.  So far, the hospitality we have experienced has been terrific.

Buffalo herd in diorama

We did not get a chance to do to much in Cody, but we did see the Rodeo grounds and Buffalo Bill's Irma Hotel named for his daughter.
We were surprised at how dry this part of Wyoming was compared to Yellowstone.

Montana farm

We then set off on our trip to Little Bighorn.  The roads were great and the speed limit is 75 so we covered quite a bit of ground.  The only sizeable town we experienced was Billings, Montana which has 80,000 people. 

Little Bighorn was a terrific place, more than we both expected.  A ranger, who clearly likes what he does, gave a terrific 45 minute talk on the battle that kept our attention the whole time.

Site of Indian encampment (green area)

Then we drove the battlefield area which covers a pretty large area.  The great part about this site is that this area looks virtually the same as it did at the time of the battle in 1876.  Most of the area is covered in wild grass that grows about a foot tall.  The grass has grasshoppers and rattlesnakes.

We listened to an audio tape as we drove and visited different markers describing the fight as shown on the right.  Its hard to believe the Indian encampment here in 1876 was estimated at around 8,000 people since there is nothing here but grass.  They came here following the buffalo which was their main food source and they wanted to stay free and off of the reservations.

Driving the battlefield, you can see how both the terrain and the distance between the forces of the 7th calvary made it difficult for them to coordinate their efforts.  

A unique feature of this battlefield is that the men were originally buried where they died and markers were erected at these sites.  The graves were later moved to Last Stand Hill. Recently, they have added Indian markers in a different color stone to give more balance to the story.

Markers show where men died

Calvary Marker

Indian markers were added in late 1990s

 The drive ends at Last Stand Hill where most of Custer's men were killed.  They had the high ground, but there was no place to hide.  There is a monument erected here and a graveyard with the soldiers.  General Custer's marker has a black face on it.  He was later reburied at West Point.

Marker at Last Stand Hill

Cemetery at Last Stand Hill

There was no monument for a mass grave of Indian's buried on the battlefield until 2003 when an Indian memorial was dedicated across from Last Stand Hill.  On a semi-circular "weeping " wall there are plaques honoring the names of the Indians who died from each tribe in the encampment.  On the other side is a sculpture depicting Spirit warriors.  It was very well executed.

Near the Battlefield was another Trading Post.We were like kids going in the tepee and fort and even dressing the parts.  

Fort David

She makes a good squaw

Whoa.  We're getting too authentic.

Indian Handicapped Parking

Back to Wyoming

We traveled through the Crow Nation reservation back into Wyoming traveling through the Bighorn mountains.

We settled in for the night at the Holiday Inn in Buffalo, Wyoming.







For dinner we went to the Historic Occidental Hotel in Buffalo and had dinner in the Virginian restaurant.  The Virginian is named for Owen Wister's novel of the same name about the Old West.

Since we were in Buffalo, we decided to be brave and have the Bison Medallians Occidental.  Buffalo meat is leaner and tastier than beef, but we found it to be a little chewy.  It was a nice atmosphere.

The Occidental Hotel (built in 1880)

The cussin part was tough for her