Skip to main content

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 13; Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

By
Following reaching I-90/US 87/US 212 at from Montana State Route 47 I headed east towards Crow Agency where I turned onto US 212 at I-90 Exit 510 eastbound to Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.


This blog serves as Part 13 in the 2016 Summer Trip Series; Part 12 can be found here:

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Series Part 12; Theodore Roosevelt National Park, I-94, and Old US 10 

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument is located above the Little Bighorn River in Big Horn County Montana.  The National Monument preserves the site of the Battle of Little Bighorn which took place on June 25th/26th of 1876.  Little Bighorn is one of the best known battles of the American Frontier and Great Sioux War of 1876.  The Battle of Little Bighorn pitted the U.S. Calvary of Lt. Col. George S. Custer against the combined tribal forces of the; Lakota, Cheyanne, and Northern Cheyanne.

Military battles nor questionable ethics in history are not my forte so I'll paraphrase the Battle of Little Bighorn as best I can.  The U.S. Calvary under command of Custer was about 700 strong facing a combined tribal battalion of 2,500.  The U.S. Calvary was routed during the Battle of Little Bighorn resulting in the death of Custer and 268 members of it's force.  The combined tribal forces of Little Bighorn conversely only lost 31 fighters.  The Battle of Little Bighorn became known as Custer's Last Stand which ultimately led to increased U.S. Army presence in Montana Territory.  While initially glorified modern view of Custer and the actions of the U.S. Army during the Great Sioux War have heavily been reexamined in modern times.

Administrative history at Little Bighorn began in 1879 when the Battlefield was declared a National Cemetery.  By 1940 custody of the Little Bighorn Battlefield was transferred to the National Park Service and by 1946 it was renamed Custer Battlefield National Monument.  In 1991 the site was renamed Little Bighorn National Monument.

The National Monument site still houses a cemetery for the fallen U.S. Calvary.





There are markers showing where both members of the U.S. Calvary and tribal forces died.



The National Park access road explores the entire Little Bighorn Battlefield site is largely in open range which is obvious from large amount of wild horses.





After leaving Little Bighorn I backtracked west on I-90/US 87/US 212 to Hardin where I stayed the night.  The following morning I would follow US 212 over the Beartooth Highway to Yellowstone National Park.

Part 14 of this blog series can be found here:

2016 Summer Mountain Trip Part 14; US 212 on the Beartooth Highway
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Legend of the Ridge Route; a history of crossing the mountains between the Los Angeles Basin and San Joaquin Valley from wagon trails to Interstates

By
Over the past two decades I've crossed the Interstate 5 corridor from Los Angeles north over the Sierra Pelona Mountains and Tehachapi Range to San Joaquin Valley what seems to be an immeasurable number of times.  While Interstate 5 from Castaic Junction to Grapevine via Tejon Pass today is known to most as "The Grapevine" it occupies a corridor which has been traversed by numerous historic highways.  The most notable of these highways is known as the "Ridge Route."  This article is dedicated to the Ridge Route and the various highways that preceded it.  This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page Ridge Route corridor introdution The Ridge Route as originally envisioned was a segment of highway which was completed in 1915 between the northern Los Angeles city limit
1 comment
Read more

Establishing the numbering conventions of California's chargeable Interstates

By
The Federal Highway Aid Act of 1956 brought the Interstate Highway System into existence which would largely be constructed by Federal Highway Administration fund matching.  The Interstate Highway System was deliberately numbered to run opposite the established conventions of the US Route System.  While the Interstate Highway numbering conventions are now well established there was a period during the late 1950s where they were still being finalized.  This blog examines the history of the establishing of the chargeable Interstate Highway route numbers in California.  The above blog cover depicts the Interstate Highway route numbers requested by the Division of Highways in the Los Angeles area during November 1957.  The establishment of the numbering conventions of California's chargeable Interstates The Interstate Highway System was not created in a vacuum by way of the passage of the 1956 Federal Highway Aid Act.  The beginning of the Interstate Highway System can be found in the
1 comment
Read more

California State Route 210 (legacy of California State Route 30)

By
  California State Route 210 is a forty-mile-long limited access State Highway located in Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County.  California State Route 210 exists as a non-Interstate continuation of Interstate 210 and the Foothill Freeway between California State Route 57 in San Dimas east to Interstate 10 Redlands.  California State Route 210 was previously designated as California State Route 30 until the passage of 1998 Assembly Bill 2388, Chapter 221.  Since 2009 the entirety of what was California State Route 30 has been signed as California State Route 210 upon the completion of the Foothill Freeway extension.  Below westbound California State Route 210 can be seen crossing the Santa Ana River as the blog cover.  California State Route 30 can be seen for the last time on the 2005 Caltrans Map below.  Part 1; the evolution of California State Route 30 into California State Route 210 What was to become California State Route 30 (CA 30) entered the State Highway System duri
Post a Comment
Read more