Into Montana

8th August Travel to Buffalo

We set off on our way to Montana.  We passed a few motorbikes on the I-90 but not as many as previous days.  I guess most were staying in South Dakota for the rest of the week.  We spent the night camped at a place just past Buffalo near Lake DeSmet.

9^th August Little Bighorn Battlefield

We set off early in the morning and shortly after driving into Montana we stopped for coffee at the site of the Little Bighorn National Battlefield.  This was the last Battle that the American Indians won in June 1876, when Lt Col Custer and around 260 soldiers from the 7^th Cavalry went up against around 2000 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors.  This is a highly studied battlefield and so much information has been gathered over the years.

There are memorials to the soldiers and there horses. And to the Indians who died defending their way of life. 

A National Cemetery with 5000 plots for service personnel and spouses is also at this site.  We only spent a couple of hours here as we had visited the site back in 2008.

We moved onto our campsite in Hardin.  In the afternoon there was a horrendous thunderstorm with rain and hail lashing down. 

10^th August Big Horn Canyon

We visited the Big Horn County Museum in Hardin which had numerous old building, machinery and equipment from Pioneer Days.  It was well laid out and a pleasant walk around on a sunny morning.

In the afternoon we drove down to Big Horn Canyon Nat Rec Area.  The Yellowtail Dam was built across the Big Horn River to create a 71 mile long reservoir out of the Canyon.  We took their 10 miles scenic drive to the Marina.  Being a Sunday it was very busy with boaters.