We are adjusting our itinerary again; we've decided to back track to South Dakota's southwestern section as soon as the Sturgis thing is over. There are several places in that area we really want to visit. Today though we drove another 235 miles and are now in Buffalo, Wyoming at the base of the Bighorn Mountains.
At 8:50 this morning we saw a herd of Pronghorns along the road. If we had noticed them sooner, the photos would have been better but hopefully you will enjoy them almost as much as I enjoyed seeing them.
We drove along the lovely Yellowstone River for much of the morning.
The highlight of the day though was our stop at the site of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. Even though the day was blisteringly hot, we ran the generator for the air conditioning so The Girls would be okay while we walked up to Last Stand Hill and over to the Indian Monument.
The following picture is of Last Stand Hill where Custer and his men lost their battle. These marble memorial markers are placed where the men fell; Custer's is the one near the center with black on its front. There is also a closeup of the Custer memorial marker.
The soldiers had to shoot their horses to use them as breastplates. A diorama in the Visitor Center depicts the battle and on Last Stand Hill there is a marker recognizing the role of the horses in this famous battle.
The monuments marking the spots where Indians died in the battle are made of red granite. Surviving Indians removed the bodies of the dead warriors so there is little accurate information about the number and location of those losses.
From the top of Last Stand Hill, I took this photo looking down at the Visitor Center to show how vast is the land where this battle was fought. If you look very closely you can see our RV. It is the second one from the right edge of the photo.
After we left the Battlefield there were many scenes of great beauty as we drove through southeast Montana into northeast Wyoming.
It is much less humid and the temps cooled down enough this evening that we walked a short distance to dinner and even sat outside for a little while...until it was time to watch the Olympics, of course!
Lovin' Life ~~ Visiting Historical Sites
Hi Sis! When we were there last year, I was amazed at the acres and acres that made up the entire battlefield. Now it is so peaceful and even has horses wandering on a good part of the land. When you drive and walk around the entire battlefield area, it is hard to imagine that so many died there. Glad you are getting to see so many great things and reminding me of all that we saw last year. Have fun!
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