Monday, October 14

Today marks our final week of travel for this trip across the northwestern part of the United States. Today, we started the day at the Mono Creek Campground near Polaris, Montana. It was COLD outside last night. We were the only campers in the area. With temperatures dipping down into the 20’s overnight, it was easy to feel winter setting in. We ran our propane heater throughout the night to keep warm, but the floor of the RV was still ice cold this morning.

We’d wanted to drive along the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway as we drove in last night because this area is so beautiful, but it was too dark outside to see much. This morning before we left the area, we decided to check it out. Campsites, fishing access points and hiking trails dotted the roadway. I can imagine this area is popular in both the summer and winter months — we just happen to be visiting during the fall, between the warm sunshine and accumulating snowfall seasons.

After about thirty minutes of exploring from the roadway, we continued on toward Butte, Montana where we’d connect up with Interstate 90 and make the long slog back across eastern Montana.

On our way through in September, we’d passed by a sign on the interstate for the Little Bighorn Battlefield, but we were anxious to get to Glacier National Park at the time. Now, on our way home, Andi and I thought the national monument would be an educational stopover. From Butte, it was a four-hour drive to Little Bighorn Battlefield.

Two hours into the drive, we stopped at Gil’s Goods in Livingston, MT for lunch. Gil’s Goods is one of Andi’s favorite restaurants and he never passes through the area without stopping for a bite to eat. I ordered a bowl of chili with a side salad for lunch. Tory and Aden split a cheese pizza, and Andi had a burger. A waitress stopped by and gave the kids two chocolate chip cookies - warm from the oven! - for an after-lunch treat.

We’d taken Interstate 94 through North Dakota on our way to Montana in September, but now we planned to take Interstate 90 on the way home. This route would take us to the Little Bighorn Battlefield, through the Black Hills of South Dakota and Minnesota. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get from Livingston, MT to Crow Agency, MT.

Andi and I were pleasantly surprised to learn our Annual National Park pass also gained us admittance into the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. We pulled onto the grounds, found a parking spot, and walked inside the visitor center to learn more about this place.

I collected Junior Ranger packets from the front desk, then the four of us spent about an hour looking at exhibits and learning more about the famous battle that took place here between George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Calvary and the Lakota-Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho. Admittedly, I’d learned about the Battle of Little Bighorn in school, but didn’t fully understand the significance. It was very moving today to visit the site of the battle and hear stories from both sides of conflict.

After touring the exhibits inside the visitor center, the four of us walked outside in the cemetery. Since the late 1880’s, this site has been recognized as “Custer National Cemetery” — a memorial of the lives of the US Calvary members lost in the Battle of Little Bighorn. It wasn’t until 1976 when the American Indian Movement protested the centennial celebration of the cemetery that members of the Lakota-Northern and Arapaho tribes were rightfully honored. Many people view the Battle of Little Bighorn as a massacre of Native Americans being pushed from their lands during the expansion into the American West. In 1999, an Indian memorial with granite headstone were added near Last Stand Hill.

Perhaps the historical significance of this site was lost on Tory and Aden (as it was lost on Andi and I when we first learned about the battle in elementary school), but today Andi and I’s hearts were heavy with sorrow for the Native Americans displaced, lost and forgotten during this conflict. Maybe one day the kids will look back on pictures of our visit and remember the stories they heard today.

To conclude our visit to the Battle of Little Bighorn, Tory and Aden returned their completed Junior Ranger booklets and earned another badge for their vests.

The sky was beautiful as we left the national monument and drove 1 1/2 hours to the KOA Campground in Buffalo, WY. Andi and I talked as we drove about what we’d learned today and how much history we’d learned about our country since traveling across the country with our kids in the RV. This time together and all that we’ve seen and experienced has truly been a gift.

We arrived at the KOA in Buffalo around 6:00pm, just as it was getting dark. The campground wasn’t anything fancy, but it would allow us to plug into power, do a load of laundry, and take showers.

You know you’re in Wyoming when …

Lots of hunters camping at the KOA this time of year.