Road Trip #2, Day 6 - Custer First then Rippin' it Home Ride - Montana/Wyoming/Colorado

July 20, 2010
Colorado, USA

Fort Collins, CO -- We were up early in Billings this morning, knowing we had a long ride ahead of us today. Thanks to Mother Nature, we didn't get as far down the road yesterday as we planned, but we were not worried about it - the last day of vacation is still vacation and we intended to enjoy our ride out of Montana and across Wyoming.

The day was a bit gray out the window but we thought those were just morning clouds as we walked down the hall to the breakfast room in our hotel. The Days Inn offered some hot food on their continental breakfast bar. Biscuits and gravy works for me any ol' time. We lingered over a couple of cups coffee and engaged in the usual motel morning chit-chat, answering tourist curiosity about where we had been and where we were headed on the Harley. When we arrived back in the room to finish packing, a glance out the window showed moisture on the ground and the cars in the parking lot. Maybe it was a light shower, maybe it was a heavy dew, maybe it was fog slime (condensation) - who knows? Anyway, it was damp and chilly riding out just after 7 am.

A few miles out on I-90 south, we noticed a sign that said Little Bighorn Battlefield. Since this was not the road we had originally planned to ride in this area, we had not noticed that this bit of history was on our route. Let's stop and check it out! OK!

We paid our $10 entry fee and rolled in, found a spot to park The Ride and shed our leather jackets. I wasn't prepared to see a National Cemetery at the battleground. We took a moment to take it all in... white markers spread out before us, some of them obviously very old. In the distance was the monument at the summit of Last Stand Hill.

The first thing we encountered as we began our stroll through the cemetery just about ruined Tim's morning. We disturbed a little snake (just over a foot long) sunning on the walk. Tim has this thing about snakes - he believes anything that slithers should be dispatched immediately - that means make it dead and quick. The only good snake is a dead snake was his reply to my comment I think it is just a regular ol' itty-bitty bull snake. It is a good thing there wasn't a hoe handy. He cautioned me not to get too close to it... so of course I had to get a couple of good pics... ha!


Custer National Cemetery

The Custer National Cemetery was established in 1879 to protect the graves of the Seventh Cavalrymen who fell in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. In 1886, President Grover Cleveland set aside more land and over the next decade the remains of soldiers and other military personnel were moved from various abandoned forts in Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas. Wives and children of military personnel are buried here, many of them dying of disease or in some accident at isolated frontier posts. The graves of many Indian scouts are here, too. Other sections of the cemetery contain the remains of veterans from other conflicts from the Spanish American War to World War I & II to the Korean War and Vietnam. The Stone Lodge near the entrance to the cemetery was built in 1893 as a home for the superintendent.

One of the legends of the battlefield: The first flag pole was erected in 1896. It was wooden. The Indians (this is Crow territory) called the superintendent the ghost herder. They believed that the soldiers rose from the grave every evening when the flag was lowered and returned to their graves when the flag was raised in the morning. The steel pole was erected in the early 1900s after lightning destroyed the original.

The cemetery is amazing to stroll through. There are nearly 5000 burials and the cemetery is officially closed (except for spaces reserved for spouses of the deceased). Just reading the names and dates is a lesson in history and humility - so many who gave their lives in service to this country. Many graves were marked with flags or plaques for those who earned the medal of honor.

Strolling up to the monument erected on Last Stand Hill, we noticed the markers. Markers are placed throughout the battlefield area where it is known a soldier or Indian fell. Custer's marker has a black face so that it stands out among the others. We noticed at least two other markers in this area with the name Custer. The Last Stand markers are fenced in below the monument. Others are scattered throughout the many acres in fields and along ravines and ridges. Some of the Indian Markers are of red stone.

The remains of about 220 soldiers, scouts and civilians that were originally buried where they fell were gathered up and buried at the base of the monument. Officers remains were moved to various cemeteries across the country. Custer's remains are buried at West Point. Nearby a marker designates an area where the remains of all the horses from the Seventh Calvary are buried. Signs are posted along the pathways with information about the significance of that particular location in the battleground. After investigating the area close to the monument and studying the plaques in the nearby Indian Memorial we spent some time in the museum looking at a very nice collection of artifacts. Before leaving the battleground, we cruised the five mile road that winds through the battlefield which is larger than you might expect.

OK - moving along now - hope I didn't bore you with the history lesson... but we found it all really interesting.

Tim - Little Bighorn Battlefield, MT

Vik - Little Bighorn Battlefield, MT

Back on the road again traveling I-90 south it wasn't long before we crossed the state line into Wyoming. We enjoyed a view on our right (west) of the Cloud Peak Wilderness area. Cloud Peak (elev 13,187) is in the Bighorn Mountains.

We stopped for gas and lunch in Sheridan, WY. Lunch was at the Country Kitchen Restaurant just off the interstate, not our first choice but the street leading to the downtown area of Sheridan was completely tore out... so we passed on looking for something more interesting. Several other bikers apparently decided the same thing.

The landscape in this part of Wyoming (between Buffalo and Casper) varies between wide open grasslands to sudden rock outcroppings and shallow canyons. It is rugged and wild and sparsely populated. We had shed our leathers at the battleground. The day had grown hot and bright and windy. Wind is a fact of life in Wyoming. By the time we rolled into Casper, we were hot, wind-burned and thirsty. We stopped for gas and water, but not for long. As we rolled east on I-25 (the number changes as the road splits just north of Buffalo) we noted with interest some of the changes, mainly new restaurants and stores that have sprung up since we moved from Casper in 2005. We live there for 2 and a half years - don't ever do that - ha!.

The landscape doesn't change between Casper and Cheyenne. Still rugged. The mountain range viewed far in the distance along this stretch is known as the Laramie Mountains. This area is a bit more populated, but the farm/ranch towns are not large. I-25 passes beside Glendo Reservoir which has more water in it that we've ever seen. We thought about taking a long and lonely road due south out of Casper into Laramie but it appeared the valley we would travel through along that route was getting some nasty weather and there is barely a sign of civilization along the way, so we stayed on the interstate. We stopped twice just before Wheatland, once at a rest stop for obvious reasons, next at a truck stop that houses an A&W Root beer. I called the folks to let them know we were getting close to home, so far so good. We had an ice cream cone and a root beer. In the short time it took to make this stop, a nasty little cloud had developed. We stopped for gas in Wheatland and got the heck out of there.

We should have put our jackets on at the last stop because as we rode along it got colder and colder. At Chugwater, it turned cold. The winds were still howling. We finally wussed out as we rode into Cheyenne and stopped to put on our jackets and chaps. So far we had managed to miss the rain by riding in the gap between clouds, although we rode on wet roads for a few miles.

From Cheyenne, it is 37 miles to Fort Collins. We made the rest of the ride in good time, arriving just after 8 pm, as the sun was sinking. Road Trip #2 2010 had come to an end. We rode 538 miles today.

Road Trip #2 stats: Six days, Five States, 2438 miles and smiles.

Of course, there are lots of pics from today although the Wyoming part of the trip is not as well documented because of the wind...

Slide show of today's ride, Custer National Cemetery and Little Big Horn Battlefield (120 photos):

Indian Memorial Plaques and Museum (30 photos):