We arrived in Hardin, Montana Wednesday afternoon after a short drive from Cody, Wyoming.   We arrived in time to visit the Little Big Horn Battlefield.  For those of you that aren't familiar with Little Big Horn, that is where Lt. Col. Custer, and about 300 military officers and enlisted men, and several civilians, lost a battle against a large combined Indian force.  Some refer to the battle as Custer's Last Stand.  Custer was outnumbered by a much larger Indian force than was reported.  There are many different ideas as to what happened on June 25 & 26, 1876, but no one really knows what transpired prior to the final fight.

The picture below is the memorial erected in memory of 220 men that were killed at Little Big Horn.  There were others killed in battles around Little Big Horn that were buried in other locations.

This plaque tells when the remains of the soldiers were moved to the single site and placed in a mass grave.   Officers were removed to cemeteries throughout the country.

The markers below indicate where the men under Custer's command were found on June 27, when General Cook, and the rest of the military force arrived at Little Big Horn.  The marker in the middle with the black face is where Custer was found.

In 2002, a memorial to the Indians that gave there lives defending their way of life was dedicated.  It was heralded as finally recognizing what the many Indian tribes had done to try a prevent the forced removal to reservations.  It took five years after Little Big Horn for the last of the Indians that fought the battle surrendered, and moved onto reservations.

Also, about the same time, markers were placed at the places where several of the Indian Chiefs had died..

 In 1886 a National Cemetery was started at Little Big Horn.

 This is a view from the Little Big Horn Memorial overlooking the area where the Indians fought from.

On Friday morning we went of a sightseeing tour of the rest of the area around Hardin, Montana.  We located a very nice little museum at the Hardin visitors center.  The museum contains information about old Fort Custer, and early history on the city of Hardin.

Fort Custer was established just outside of where the town of Hardin is located.  As you can see it only lasted for 22 years, longer than Custer's military career.  There are many artifacts in the Hardin Museum from Fort Custer.  Unlike many other old military forts on the frontier, there are no remaining structures of Fort Custer.  One of the volunteers at the museum told us that there is a plaque at the original site that was placed there by the Daughters of the Revolution. 

Here a couple of pictures of some of the artifacts that have been found, and some donated from ancestors of soldiers, located in the museum.

Outside on the grounds of the museum there are several buildings that have been relocated to the museum from other parts of the town, and county.

This is an original log cabin belonging to a settler in the town.

This railroad station was relocated from Lodge Grass, a town some twenty miles, or more, from Hardin.

This church was originally located in downtown Hardin.  It was built in 1917.  This building was replaced by a more modern one in 1947.

I just liked the barn full of old tractors.

Sharon found a seat that fits her.  They were all too small for me. 

The picture below is the Yellowtail Dam.  The dam is located in the Big Horn National Park, about 40 miles from Hardin.  The drive to the dam went through a lot of farm land.  I told you all about our trip to the Heart Mountain Relocation Camp in Cody, well the Japanese that were there taught the farmers of Wyoming how to irrigate their land.  Many canals were built along the rivers that took water to the fields.  I saw acres and acres of wheat, corn, and sugar beets.  There has not been any rain here in about three weeks, but with irrigation, the crops looked great.  The wheat was being harvested.

We took off Saturday and rested.  But, on Sunday we went to Pompeys Pillar for the Clark Days Festival.  The Clark Days are named after William Clark, of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804 - 1806.  Clark, and his men, were on a separate route from Lewis at the time he stopped at the pillar.  I'll let you look up where the name came from, it's a long story.

This is a picture of the pillar.  You can see on the right side, and half way up, the observation deck where you can see where W Clark chiseled his name into the stone.

It is well protected by being enclosed in glass.  This is the only known such markings made by Clark  on the expedition.

This is a view from the top of the pillar.

The two gentlemen below were giving demonstrations on loading and firing muskets and rifled black powder rifles.  They did not load the guns with shot, but just fired the powder.  Very interesting.

 

 

 

We really enjoyed our time in Hardin, and the surrounding area.  We are now getting ready to travel to Custer City, South Dakota.  There we plan on seeing the Chief Crazy Horse sculpture, and Mount Rushmore.  Until the next leg of our journey, you all take care, and remember,

 

God Loves You,

 

Gary