At Breakfast the next morning at the Trading Post, we overheard that this is the weekend (4 days) of the Crow Fair, a annual gathering of celebration of Crow heritage. It has rodeo, parades and other native american activities. Our waitress in the restaurant is excited to give us details and directions to the parade area that will be starting in just a few hours.
While we finish breakfast we decide it would be a great idea to witness this event, if we didn't feel like we were intruding. We are assured by several locals we would not be, so after breakfast we head into town to try and find where to park and watch the parade.
We got to the fair ground and we were confronted by a sea of Tepees and RV and didn't know where to go,fortunetly we asked a local and she got in her car and had us follow her and found us the perfect spot to watch the parade.
We were about an hour early so we just watched as the crowd grew and events started to unfold. The parade followed the roads that wound around this camping area. We were joined by an older native american gentleman (below) that initiated lots of conversations with us and was a warm and friendly as anyone we had ever met. He encyclopedic knowledge of the event and the area and we just listened.
As we waited for the ceremony I wondered around a bit and tried to capture some of the sites and people
enjoy, we did.
AMAZING!
After the parade which left us both a bit speechless we headed back over to the Battlefield to start to explore it properly.
Seeing the Native American Celebration first really colored the way I looked at the Battlefield and what I would learn about the history of the battle at Little Big Horn.
A powerful message greets you at the front of the visitors center.
Vicky and I needed our legs stretched after not moving much for a couple of days so we chose to start by walking all the trails in the park. They are not long, but take you down to several ravines where the initial scrimmages began
The weather was perfect, you could see a long way off the boardwalks
some typical prairie flowers are still in bloom around the monument
Left over heather
We took the time to attend and listen to the complete narrative of the day of battle and some speculation about the motivations of the participants.
the lecturer was very informative and captivating.
Afterward we again wondered around the monument hill. A striking part of the National Mounument is that there are grave stones all over the prairie. There is a marker where each of the soldiers fell during the battle and we were seeing what corresponded to what we had just heard about where and when during the day. I realized we were also walking around at the same time during the day and in the same season of the original battle. Today would not have seemed much different than 141 years ago on the day of the battle.
There is a Native American monument on the site as well that is very lovely
The narrative of the monument has changed to reflect the fact that they Native Americans were defending their home and way of life and it was the US Calvary that were the aggressor on the day.
The grave of George Armstrong Custer on the site he is supposed to have been killed sits among his men in the field below the monument.
The soldiers monument
A view of the Soldiers Monument from the Native American Monument
The battlefield is also the site of a National Cemetery which is not just for the battle of Little Big Horn but for all men and women that have served in the US Military throughout the years
Least you forget the price of freedom
Several nice vantage points where you can look out over the plains
We left the park and went back to the campsite for a few hours before dinner. When it started to get toward evening we returned to the monument to see it at dusk.
This gave a completely different perspective on the battlefield and the gravestones in the field.
I tried to be a bit "artsy" with some of the photos to try and capture the feeling of the evening.
The setting sun was gorgeous tonight as we stayed up on monument hill till sundown. Then it was down to eat at the Trading Post to try something different.
The pictures were beautiful as usual. However, the pictures of Native Americans in the crowd were really powerful! The whole area is so very historical that one cannot help but be moved by the scenes. Great job with the narrative once again, Craig.
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