BILLINGS to RAPID CITY – from Custer to Hickok

Sunday – it is raining again.  We have had rain on every day of this holiday.  In keeping with the sombre weather, today we have to find a place to check out our non working headlights.  Oh-no it’s Sunday.

There is not going to be any place open today. We decide to just play it by ear – see if we can find a garage to check out the lights and then get to Rapid City before dark just in case we cannot fix the lights.  Our first stop is a car place where Tyler gets some replacement fuses and luckily there is a Maccas right next door so all is not lost.  I go in to get a muffin and coffee but alas – the storm has knocked out the power – they have nothing at all and are not really open.  Tyler changes the fuses and surprise – no lights, no muffin – no coffee.

This day is shaping up well don’t you think?

Kylie calls AAA to be told that she has to take the car to a mechanic but they cannot tell us one – we are on our own.  Great service from that mob!  OK let’s hit the road and worry about this later.

Our first Place of Interest stop today is The Little Big Horn Battlefield where the ill-fated George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry made their last stand.  This was a stop we added after much deliberation on what we wanted to see.  We did not want to travel this far east but under the old adage ‘if we are going to be in that general direction we may as well see it’ we put it on the itinerary.

HISTORY LESSON: The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer’s Last Stand and, by the Native Americans involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army.

The battle, which occurred on June 25 and 26, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in eastern Montana Territory, was the most prominent action of the Great Sioux War of 1876. It was an overwhelming victory for the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho, led by several major war leaders, including Crazy Horse and Gall, inspired by the visions of Sitting Bull.

The U.S. Seventh Cavalry, including the Custer Battalion, a force of 700 men led by George Armstrong Custer, suffered a severe defeat. Five of the Seventh Cavalry’s companies were annihilated; Custer was killed, as were two of his brothers, a nephew, and a brother-in-law. The total U.S. casualty count, including scouts, was 268 dead and 55 injured.

The weather has cleared – that is good – so we enter and head to the Visitor Centre. Always take yourself off to these Centres before you actually visit anywhere.  You will learn lots of interesting facts and it will give you more of an understanding of what you will see and experience.  There are dioramas and paintings of the actual Battlefield to give you some idea of what it actually looked like and what took place on that fateful day.

Included in the Visitor Centre is a museum which has various items found on the Battlefield.  Ammunition etc.  There is also a display of Native American artefacts. Hides, artwork, clothing etc.

There is a lot to see in this small museum – it is not only the Battle from the US Army’s point of view – it gives a full understanding of the Native American’s way of life that was slowly being eroded.  We are reminded that when we venture forth to the Battlefield it is a grave site so to be mindful and stay on the designated pathways.  These pathways are designed to give us excellent viewing over the entire area.

Leaving the Centre we head on up to the top of Custer Hill.  At the top of the hill there is a memorial with a gated and fenced area.  This is Last Stand Hill – where Custer and some of his men fell and were buried in shallow graves.  The wind blows the tall tufts of grass and everything is so quiet.  You cannot even imagine the noise that must have been here on that day.  It is silent except for the occasional cry of a bird – the spirit of a warrior.

The Memorial reads ‘The remains of about 220 soldiers, scouts and civilians are buried around the base of this memorial.  The white marble headstones scattered over the battlefield denote where the slain troopers were found and originally buried.

In 1881 they were reinterred in a single grave on this site.  The officers’ remains were removed in 1877  to various cemeteries throughout the country – General Custer was buried at West Point.

In the photo of the headstones – General Custer’s place is marked with the headstone that has the black plaque.  It surely is a place to reflect on history and the battles that comes with it.

In 1999 the first of five red granite markers were placed to mark where the native American’s fell. This count is being added to and at this time there are now ten.  It is important to remember that these people were also fighting for their way of life and their homeland.  Even though in movies – thanks mainly to Hollywood, Custer is portrayed as the good guy.  My personal point of view – it was the native Americans who had right on their side and who were the true heroes of the American West.

Further down the trail is a monument to the Native American tribes and warriors who fought here on that day.  It is a circular open building and lists all the tribes who fought and the names of those warriors who died here.

There is a plaque that reads ‘We did not ask you white men to come here.  The Great Spirit gave us this country as a home.  You had yours – we did not interfere with you.  We do not want your civilization’. This was said by Crazy Horse – Lakota Chief.

This sculpture adorns the monument.  It was erected in 2003 and pays homage to those tribes who fought here and continue to fight to this day for their heritage.  It is a place of remembrance – no matter who you are or what your way of life.

Heading back towards the Visitor Centre we stop to pay homage to those souls who are buried in the Custer National Cemetery.  This is a place for those who passed after fighting in this battle – and for those who have some connection with this place.

At the Visitor Centre we purchase some postcards and books and of course the customary fridge magnet.

Time is marching and we must press on to get to Rapid City.  It is about five hours to Deadwood – our next stop.  This is the home of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.  The weather is rainy then fine then rainy then fine – can’t it make up its mind?  What a pain.

We are in Deadwood about 5.30pm and we have about another hour before Rapid City – but it is still light so unless the sun falls out of the sky we will be OK.  I have been singing ‘Oh the Deadwood Stage is a-rollin on over the plains’ from the movie with Doris Day and Howard Keel.  Yes, typical of Hollywood – not typical of old Wild Bill and Calam.

Deadwood is a typical small town – except for the fact that every 100 yards or so is a tourist trap or casino.  Our target is the Cemetery so up to Mount Moriah we go – arriving the same time as a sprinkle of rain. Yep just our luck.  Undaunted we go to the entrance and pay our entry fee – a fee to get into a cemetery, that’s a first and we head on up to say howdy to Wild Bill and Calam.  This is a very hilly graveyard let me say.

We are bushed by the time we find them and it doesn’t help that we are practically breaking into a trot as we do not want to get caught once the light starts to fade.

HISTORY LESSON: James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West. His skills as a gunfighter and scout, along with his reputation as a lawman, provided the basis for his fame, although some of his reported exploits are fictionalized.

Hickok came to the West as a fugitive from justice, first working as a stagecoach driver, before he became a lawman in the frontier territories of Kansas and Nebraska. He fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War, and gained publicity after the war as a scout, marksman, actor, and professional gambler. Between his law-enforcement duties and gambling, which easily overlapped, Hickok was involved in several notable shootouts. He was shot and killed while playing poker in the Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon in Deadwood.

In his enclosure people have left their own tributes to Wild Bill.  Aces and eights – the legendary hand that Wild Bill was holding when he got shot, cigarettes and little flowers.

Across the way from his gravesite is one for Calamity Jane.  HISTORY LESSON: Martha Jane Canary (May 1, 1852 – August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, and professional scout best known for her claim of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok, but also for having gained fame fighting Native Americans. She is said to have also exhibited kindness and compassion, especially to the sick and needy. This contrast helped to make her a famous and infamous frontier figure.

She always said she wanted to be buried with Wild Bill – well this is the closest she got.  Her grave is also adorned with posies and bits and pieces – so it’s good that she is remembered as well.

Time to leave and head off to our hotel for the night – The Best Western Town & Country Inn.  Sounds grand eh?  We are staying here for two nights so we can relax a bit – but tomorrow we have to find somewhere to get the car lights examined.  Arriving at our hotel we get our room and of course what is in our room – two double beds.  What is it with these hotels!

Kylie is on the phone and we are moved to a room with a bedroom and two double beds in the main part of the room.  Still no bigger beds but Kylie and Tyler can have a bed each and I will have the bedroom to myself so we should all get some sleep.

K&T are going to get up early and take the car to a mechanic – I will wait here and then we can take it from there.

Highlight of the day: Little Big Horn Battlefield