Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument - June 2017

Day 8 on our 2017 out west vacation was one of our longest days on the trip with over 7 hours of driving but with some amazing memories.  I've broken this day into to two posts.  Our first planned stop that day: The Little Bighorn Battlefield and National Cemetery.

BUT....  thanks to reading through my favorite resource - Moon Yellowstone/Grand Teton Guidebook , I had discovered something that by pure coincidence would be a memory our family would never forget.  The Battle of Little Bighorn (Custer's Last Stand) occurred on June 25th, 1876, and every year on the weekend nearest that date, the Real Bird family hosts the Battle of the Little Bighorn Reenactment.  The cost is very reasonable ($20 per car) and the history and entertainment value is tremendous.  There are bleachers for spectators to sit in and a narrator reads the story of the events leading up to the battle.  Actors posing as Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Two Moons, and General Custer among others bring the battle to life!

Prior to the reenactment, part of the narration talks about the wild horses on the plains.  This was a great visual when the horses ran out in front of us with the beautiful sky and surroundings in the background.

The Lakota's name for the conflict is The Battle of the Greasy Grass.  The battleground is on current Native American land so we were right where the start of the battle actually happened - including the Little Bighorn in the background with the Calvary crossing the river during the battle.

The Lakota, led by Crazy Horse and Two Moons, swarmed the Calvary from all sides leading to the massacre - celebrating with the flag of their enemies.

The reenactment last about 90 minutes.  There are concessions available and afterward you can go out onto the battlefield to meet the actors.

It is a short drive from the reenactment location to the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.  The Visitor Center has a great museum with lots of historical artifacts.  This is also home a National Cemetery.

There is a short walk on a paved trail to the hill where Custer actually took his last stand (and breath).  His place of death is marked on the hill and he was originally buried near by - along with numerous Calvary members and Sioux warriors.

 Of course, our group of Junior Rangers completed their tasks here and were all sworn in at the visitor center!

 Again, a big shout-out to the Moon guide book as well as great accidental planning to just happen to be there on the right day, but this turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip.