While visiting our friends in Spokane, Doug and Gail talked about their trip cross country. (They recently moved there from West Chester, PA) One of the highlights was a stop at Little Big Horn National Park in Montana and a tour narrated by a student from Little Big Horn Community College. She was so passionate explaining the Native American fight for their way of life and the land they were promised that it opened their eyes to a part of history not often taught.
Since this was something that we were also interested in, we made plans to stay at a campground in southeast Montana when we left Glacier. At Glacier we met folks from Colorado who had just come from Little Big Horn. The father was a history buff and they spent several days there. We only had half a day to take in whatever we could.
The land looked much as it did when Custer was there. Few trees, prairie grasses, gentle hills and coulees. ( Our guide explained that a coulee was like a ravine with a U shape; a ravine has a V shaped bottom. Both carry water runoff during a rainy season.) Up on the hill it was eerie to see the white headstones that marked where men fell and died. The hasty shallow graves were dug up shortly after the battle and the remains were moved. Headstones were placed where they died. Among unknown Cavalry soldiers was the stone marking George Custer. His remains were moved to West Point.
The park was formerly known as "Custer's Last Stand National Park" In an age of political correctness it was changed to reflect a more "balanced" fight between the Native Americans and the white man. We displaced them to land we didn't want, not suited for their lifestyle. Forced them on reservations and tried to push our culture on them, stripping them of their own. Then gold was discovered in this area so treaties were broken pushing them again. Sitting Bull and some others had enough and pushed back. They won the battle, none of Custer's men survived, but they lost the war. Outrage over the "massacre" made people want revenge. It was the end of the culture for the people. Put on reservations, made dependant on the U.S. Government. The damage has not been undone by renaming this site.
Among the prairie grass are a few newer red granite stones. They mark the place that Native Americans lost lives. There are far fewer of those. They were recently placed there to show that it was not only the whites who suffered loss. Most of the white stones were on Last Stand Hill. Across from there was a modern kiva-like structure, a memorial to the Native Americans of all tribes who lost their lives at the Battle of Little Big Horn.
The National Park is actually on Crow Reservation. Students from Little Big Horn Community College give a fairly unbiased view of the war on their bus tour. Back then the Crow were scouts for the U.S. Cavalry. They were not traders to their people, the U.S. were fighting with Sioux and Cheyenne, enemies of the Crow.
Our guide was informative, but not as passionate as the woman Doug and Gail had. It was still a moving experience as I realized that it marked the beginning of the end of the Native American way of life. The culture of "the People" has always been of interest to me. I want to know more and would like to visit more native cultural sites. Crow Fair would be a fabulous place to continue this journey, but we were there a few weeks too soon.
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