Day 11, September 10, 2019 -- Northwest Mountain Expedition

Day 11, September 10, 2019 –Little Big Horn National Monument and Devil’s Tower

This morning we left Red Lodge, heading north to Billings and then down to the Little Big Horn National Monument.  This is the location where the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne forces led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse overwhelmed General Custer and his cavalry on June 25, 1876.  The tribes were fighting to preserve their traditional way of life as nomadic buffalo hunters. The US Army was carrying out the Grant Administration’s orders to remove the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne to the Reservation in Dakota Territory.  As one goes along the ridge of the battlefield, white markers indicate the places of fallen soldiers; red markers indicate the believed places of fallen Native American warriors.  We viewed a video on the strategic actions of the battle, then listened to a Park Ranger explain what brought about the battle – why the cavalry was there and why the Indian Nations were gathered there.  It was very detailed and informative –Brave men on both sides fought and died for what they believed in on these grounds; a sad time in our nation’s history.

From here we took the back roads to Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, first going east through the rolling hills and ravines of the high plains of the Crow Indian Reservation, then through the Custer National Forest. We again see a lot of cattle grazing on these plains, scattered dots of green evergreens, yellow grasses and beautiful vistas that can be seen for miles from the tops of the hills.  Diane and I enjoyed the afternoon spotting antelope, attempting to get that most perfect picture (I never did get a great one!).  We saw many herds of antelope, too numerous to count – some larger herds, some smaller herds, some grazing, some lying down, some all by their lonesome!  We were giddy with excitement at seeing all these wild beauties!

Devil's Tower

Then, there in front of us, is the towering Devil’s Tower.  It rises up 1,267 feet from the base, making the summit 5,112 feet above sea level.  President Theodore Roosevelt declared it the First National Monument of the United States in 1906. The Indians found the name of this sacred place to be quite offensive and have made several attempts in recent years to change the name to Bear Lodge; however, that name change was never approved.  I found the American Indian Legends about this anomaly quite fascinating.  According to an article published in the March 21 2018 USA Today Travel Tips by Jason Chavis, these are two of those legends:

American Indian Legend

According to American Indian legend, the Devils Tower was created when six Sioux girls picking flowers in the forest were chased by bears. To save their lives, the Great Spirit lifted the ground underneath the girls. The bears attempted to climb the rock, but could not reach the girls at the top. Their attempts left scratch marks along the side of the monument.

Another American Indian tale tells of two Sioux boys who wandered away from their village. A giant bear named Mato attempted to eat them when Wakan Tanka the Creator raised the ground beneath them. Mato clawed at the side of the rock but then wandered off, forming Bear Butte near the Black Hills. Wanblee the Eagle lifted the boys off the monument and helped them back to the village.

We didn’t stay there very long – only long enough to breeze through the visitor’s center and take a few pictures – because by now it was raining quite hard.  A couple hours later we arrived at our home for the next few days in Rapid City, SD, having once again enjoyed a day of exploring and learning fascinating facts about our great country.  It would seem that driving for most of the day is actually more exhausting than all-day sightseeing, so after dinner it was another early to bed night knowing tomorrow will provide another opportunity to enjoy the mountains!

(From Devil’s Tower we heard of tornado watches; however, by time we arrived in Rapid City, the sun was shining. We learned later of the devastating tornado touchdowns near Sioux Falls. We’re paying for all those impacted by that tragedy.)