This is the third in a series of posts sharing photos from a 21-day road trip I did with my big brother, this June.
After making the two-day drive from Madison, Wisconsin to Badlands National Park in South Dakota, (700 miles) our next destination was the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in the Crow Agency near Hardin, Montana. Along the way, Steve and I drove through the Black Hills, stopping in Deadwood, South Dakota.
We visited the Adams Museum and learned about several of Deadwood’s most famous – or infamous, as the case may be – residents, including Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane and Potato Creek Johnny. Potato Creek Johnny’s 7-ounce gold nugget is a featured exhibit. After learning a bit about the history of the area, we walked historic downtown Deadwood to get a feel for the community’s look in the late 1800s. That made us a bit peckish.
After lunch, we visited the historic Adams house. It’s a home preserved as it was in the 1920s. Built by Deadwood pioneers Harris and Anna Franklin in 1892, the house featured several modern luxuries of the day, including electric lights and indoor plumbing. William E. Adams purchased the house and resided there until his death in 1934. Adams’ second wife, Mary, kept it exactly as it was in memorial to his legacy…for more than 50 years. The home was purchased by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission in 1992 and restored to its condition at the time W. E. Adams lived there. The house is open for daily tours.
Just a few blocks from the Adams house is the Mount Moriah Cemetery where Wild Bill and Calamity Jane reside in eternal peace. Wild Bill was gunned down while playing poker. The cards he was holding, aces & eights, have since been known as the dead man’s hand. Calamity lived a full life and, at the end, her wish to be buried next to Wild Bill was granted.
Our stopover in Deadwood at an end, we got back on the road, reaching Hardin, Montana (343 miles from Wall, SD) late on June 13th.
Steve and I spent most of the next day at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. It wasn’t our first time at the battlefield. Our parents had taken us and our younger brother, Dave, there in 1974 as part of a family move from Southern California to Wisconsin. That visit left me with fleeting memories of headstones, a large monument, and expansive grassy fields. Much has changed over the last four decades.
The area memorializes the US Army’s 7th Cavalry, Crow and Arikara scouts, and the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors who battled there on June 25-26, 1876. 263 soldiers including Lt. Colonel George Custer’s entire battalion and an estimated 50 warriors (estimates range from 30 to 300) died in battle with most casualties occurring on June 25.
In 1881, a granite monument was erected on what became known as, Last Stand Hill, where 40 of the 210 men under Custer’s direct command had been cornered and killed during the battle. Toward the end of the fight, at least 28 men made a desperate attempt to escape slaughter by running for Deep Ravine some 300 yards downhill to the west. All were caught and killed.
A monument to the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors was built within walking distance of the 7th Cavalry Memorial in the early 2000s. The Northern Plains Indians were defending not just their village but also their way of life and right to exist. While they won a great victory against the 7th Cavalry, most of the Indians surrendered within a year of the battle. The Black Hills were taken by the US government without compensation to the Lakota.
While driving the Tour Road from Custer Hill to the Reno-Benteen Battlefield site – roughly 3 miles to the south, we saw horses grazing the summer grass. Arguably, the horse is second only to North American bison as the animal most closely associated with Northern Plains Tribes. It seems altogether fitting that these beautiful animals should make their home in this place, today.
The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is a mournful place. Seeing the cemetery, the stone markers memorializing where soldiers and warriors had fallen, and walking the trails across the battlefield it is difficult to feel anything but a deep sadness; sadness at the high cost in lives and at the despicable US government policy of eradication of the Northern Plains Indians that led to the battle.
Most of the photos from our stop in Deadwood were made with my smartphone. Most of the images from our time at the Little Bighorn Battlefield were made with my Fuji X-T20. I used my Nikon D500 w/ 200-500mm zoom to make the horse photos.
The fence encloses the area where 40 soldiers under Custer's command in the 7th Cavalry fell during the battle of the Little Bighorn.
Stone markers have been placed where Lt. Col. Custer and 40 cavalrymen fell at the Little Bighorn.
Built in 1881, the granite obelisk atop Last Stand Hill is a memorial to the 220 soldiers, scouts, and civilians who died in the battle. Today, the number has been confirmed at 268 officers, troopers and scouts.
Dedicated in 2003, the Indian Memorial recognizes the Northern Plains Indians who fought to defend their village and way of life in the battle of the Greasy Grass, the Crow name for river.
A pair of horses graze on summer grass at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
Horses gather to graze the summer grass at the Little Bighorn Battlefield.
A pony joins other horses grazing the Little Bighorn Battlefield.
In 1999, the first stone markers were installed memorializing the locations where Indian warriors fell during the battle. This marker is for Mato Heton, Bear with Horns, who died defending the Lakota way of life.
In 1890, wooden stakes marking the locations of the fallen were replaced with stone markers. Most of the bodies were not able to be positively identified.
Thomas Meador was a Kentucky farmer by birth, about 5'5" in height and had enlisted in the US Army in 1872. He served under Captain Frederick Benteen and died on Reno Hill. The Little Bighorn River is visible in the distance.
