Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Montana

This stop was another bucket list place for Jeff. If you do not already know, he is a huge history buff, and wanted to see the place of Custer’s Last Stand. We are staying in the adjacent town called Garryowen, MT, on the Crow Indian Reservation, that is three miles from the national monument.

I feel so honored to have seen this piece of history in person. It really was put into perspective to stand on the ground on top of this hill and look down at the headstones of the soldiers and Indians that were killed throughout the valley. This was the last armed efforts of the Northern Plains Indians to preserve their land and way of life. The battle was in June 1876 and lasted for two very hot days. Lt. Col. Custer and his men were trapped on a hilltop by thousands of Indians surrounding them on all sides of the valley. More that 260 U.S. Army soldiers were killed during the battle. They were buried where they were killed and fell. Lt. Col. Custer’s headstone is surrounded by those of his troops that rushed to his rescue. The white headstones are soldiers and the brown ones are Indians. There is also a mass grave site where the horses that were killed in battle are buried in a mass grave and an Indian Memorial.

The large adjoining cemetery is a National Veteran’s cemetery. 🇺🇸

We stopped at the Crow Indian Trading Post on our way out and checked out all the arts and crafts of the local tribespeople. There was a full grown taxidermy bison and authentic teepees among other cool things. 😬👍🏻