DAY #11 - JUNE 20, 2021 - BILLINGS, MONTANA - GILLETTE, WYOMING - CUSTER'S LAST STAND AND A CHANGE IN PLANS - 255 - MILES (3,425)

(GILLITTE, WYOMING) Day 11 of this adventure started in Billing’s Montana, and it came with a big change of plans. I had originally planned to continue west toward Bozeman and Butte, but this being the height of the summer travel season Hotel were at a premium. Both Glacier and Yellowstone are relatively close and that with the overwhelming number of people traveling to them this year most of the hotels are sold out for several weeks to come. The hotels that have rooms available either require a multi-night stay or jack the rates up so high that I could not justify the expense. One Holiday Inn I checked listed their base rate at $456 per night. A Comfort Inn was almost as bad at $312 per night. So instead of continuing west, I have decided to head south and then eventually back east. For the next couple of day, I will be playing it by ear, but I am not ready to end this adventure, just going to change course. I checked out of the Hotel a little after 7 a.m. this morning and headed southeast on Interstate 90. I stopped for Coffee and gas in the small town of Hardin, Montana and while I was pumping gas a deputy sheriff pulled in beside me and we got to talking. During the conversation I mentioned that I thought a friend and former co-worker lived here in Hardin Many years ago. Come to find out the deputy knew my old friend Harold “Bud” English. Bud retired from Virginia and Moved to Montana and took a job dispatching for the Local Sheriff’s office a few days a week. We spent the next 30-minutes sharing stories of out Mutual Friendship with Bud. Bud later moved away from Hardin and Passed away a few years back. Taking to this deputy brought back many fond memories of my time in First Division and old 311 or as Bud would say “Trey, Ace, Ace – Richmond.” Just another example of what a small world it really is. Ok enough of my reminiscing and rambling. After leaving Hardin, it was just a short drive down to the Little Big Horn Battlefield. The site of Custer’s Last Stand. This was a bucket list stop for me, so I spend most of the day driving around the battlefield. I didn’t want to miss anything, so while driving the battlefield I also took several hikes down into the coulee’s and to the sites where Custer, Benteen and Reno were confronted by more than 7,000 Indians that were camped here along the banks of the Little Big Horn. Custer and the 7th Cavalry left Fort Lincoln on May 17, 1876, and it took them a little more than 3-weeks to travel the more than 400 miles to the Little Big Horn. Once in the area his scouts reported back that they had seen signs of a large Indian Camp, but they didn’t know just how out numbered they were. About a week after arriving at the Little Big Horn the Indians attack and over the next two days (June 25-26, 1876) the entire 7th Cavalry was wiped out. It was the last victory that the Indians would experience. There are so many back stories here I have plenty of material for several Sunday Stories when I get back home. After spending all morning at the Battlefield, it was early afternoon when I departed and headed south toward my hotel, some 150-miles away. Along the way another one of those Brown Signs beckoned to me and off I went to the Explore Fort Phil Kearney and the Fetterman Massacre Sits. Fort Phil Kearney was built to aid and protect travelers along the Bozeman Trail. Captain William Fetterman was assigned to the fort when on a Bitter cold December day in 1866, he and his detachment encountered a group of Indians. During the ensuing fight Fetterman and all 81 of his men were killed. This resulted in what is known as Red Clouds War and over the next two years conflict between the Indian and travelers along the Bozeman Trail intensified. Finally, the treaty of Fort Laramie was agreed to and all the forts along the Bozeman were abandoned. Soon after Fort Kearney was abandoned the Cheyenne burned it and some to the other forts to the ground. The treaty held and the area was at peace for the Next 10-years. It was the Custer exposition to the Little Big Horn that broke the treaty and resulted in a renewed conflict between the army and Indian. The renewed fight would rage for the next 14 years, finally ending with the Massacre at Wounded Knee. But that is a story for another time. After leaving Fort Kearney it was an uneventful 80-mile drive to my hotel where I am plotting my next move. The adventure continues.