The Battle of Little Bighorn

Trip Start Aug 12, 2008
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Trip End Aug 21, 2008

Flag of United States  , Montana,
Thursday, August 21, 2008

We saw Ed Bearss at his finest today. Ed is famous for his intricate knowledge of US history and near total recall, but what he loves best is to literally walk in the footsteps of those before us. "You can't understand a battle without walking the terrain," he says. And he's right. Ed admitted that his opinion of George Armstrong Custer changed about 10 years ago. (Remember that Ed is 85.) After a lifetime of research and scholarship, he looks more favorably on Custer than he did at the age of 75. "What made you change your mind?" we asked. "I just starting seeing things differently the more I went to Little Bighorn." But he also added that he thinks Custer would have been lost to history if not for his death there.

From Wikipedia: "...In 1866, [Custer] was appointed to the Regular U.S. Army rank of Lieutenant Colonel, leading the 7th U.S. Cavalry and served in the Indian Wars. He was defeated and killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, against a coalition of Native American tribes composed almost exclusively of Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors, and led by the Sioux chiefs Crazy Horse and Gall and by the Hunkpapa seer and medicine man, Sitting Bull. This confrontation has come to be popularly known in American history as Custer's Last Stand." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Armstrong_Custer

The Battle of Little Bighorn is well documented; I won't recount that here. Montana sky
Montana sky
 For us, it was the wonder of being lead through miles and miles of terrain (again, a coach bus on gravel roads as well as a lot of walking), envisioning the 1,000 tipis along the Little Bighorn River, the bravery and brilliance of the Sioux and Cheyenne, the inspiration of Sitting Bull and the ferocity of Crazy Horse. The terrain and views are essentially the same as they were in 1876, and the Park has seen some important improvements in the past couple of decades, including a moving Indian Memorial. We noted that a memorial to the fallen US Army horses preceeded one to the Native Americans by many decades.

We spent a whole day at the battelfield and its environs, and it was not enough time. I guess we'll have to go back.

We did have some excitement around noon with a flat tire, but Eric, our intrepid driver, took the bus away for a while and got the tire replaced. We have been searching for an appropriate Indian name for him (Ed is "Walks With Stick"): Floats on Roads, Flat Moccasin, No Lead Foot...

We ended our tour with a fantastic dinner at a local restaurant. The highlight was a spontaneous speech from one of the quietest, and certainly the nicest of the participants. Kent McNabb is a retired history teacher, and very soft spoken. Yesterday was his birthday, and we sang. Later he stood up at his table and in his finest teacher/coach voice, gave a speech that had everyone laughing so hard that we were holding our sides. Then he sat down and became quiet Kent again. Priceless. So if you are still reading, I have to encourage you to check out Marty Gane's tours - she is a consummate professional and we couldn't have had a better time. Her company is www.southmountainexpeditions.com
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