"PRIDE GOES BEFORE DESTRUCTION.."

Spencer
2 days ago
7 min read

CLOSING THE DOOR ON MONTANA:

Before leaving Billings, our last stop in the Big Sky State, there was a historic location I had longed to visit. It's been on my bucket list since I was old enough to read a history book: Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

This is the battlefield that gave rise to the mythos of "Custer's Last Stand". In fact, up until 1991, this site was officially known as Custer's Battlefield National Monument. Usually, it's the victor that writes the history, but in this instance the defeated was falsely glorified as an innocent but courageous martyr.

But more on this in a minute..

DREAMS CAN COME TRUE:

As I have said many times, I cannot believe how blessed I am to be living the life we've created. While, life in an RV has its drawbacks, it has afforded us the ability to travel to the four corners of the contiguous US (we've camped in all 48 states) and across Canada, from Vancouver Island to Cape Breton. States that were once just one-dimensional shapes on a paper map, have now been traversed multiple times. How many travelers can say they've been through Nebraska three times?! (Why would anybody want to, is a whole other question!) Stories from America's past have come alive as we've been able to put "boots on the ground". We've walked portions of the Trail of Tears, Oregon Trail, Lewis and Clark Trail, Continental Divide Trail and the Mother Road: Route 66. We've been to places of great slaughter and deep sorrow; fields of victory and furrows of defeats; shameful greed and noble philanthropy. Attractions of quirky creativity and streets littered with poverty. We've seen the highs and the lows. And we've come to learn that our great country's past is very complicated and multi-layered and must be judged on the whole instead on the basis of hand-picked pieces. A flawed country (in a flawed world), with a flawed history, pushed along by flawed people. Some of our nation's sins are seasonal and some generational. We cannot undue the past nor can we reward or punish those long dead [They now stand before the eternal, omniscient God who rightly weighs the heart. At death, the time for excuses is over and no new evidence can be introduced. The earthly curtain has drawn to a close, the lights have been turned up and the gavel has thundered. God will render a final and eternal judgement, not based on the feelings of us the living, but according to their [our] individual choices measured against his unchanging standard].

In the movie The Revenant, there is a scene where a placard is hung around a murdered character's neck, it read: "On est tous des sauvages", which translates into "we are all savages". Tragically, I believe this to be true and had I been alive "back in the day" I can't say with certainty that we wouldn't have mirrored the dominant narrative. Of course, I like to think I would be more high-minded than our ancestors, but I'm sure our ancestors thought of themselves as more high-minded than their ancestors and look at what that got us. Therefore I feel we must learn from our past, mourn its injustices, be proud of its accomplishments and, examine our own thinking to purify our nature of any misjudgments we may carry towards those that live and think differently from us.

Enough editorializing, now back to our regularly scheduled program:

LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD / BATTLE OF THE GREASY GRASS

There is a strange "heaviness" that hangs over this area like a thick grey rain cloud. I felt it as soon as I stepped from my truck. Even the warm winds that tumble across these plains seems to whisper, "Shhhh!!" Your bones know that a deep tragedy occurred here, and it demands nothing less than your full attention and deepest respect.

Last known photograph of George A. Custer taken 2 months before his death.

I won't go into the grim details of this horrific 1876 battle, but the low-lights are that Lt. Colonel Custer (perhaps seeking to polish a fading reputation) ignored the advice of his scouts, overestimated his military prowess and died a brutal death as the result. Sadly, it also resulted in the deaths of the 268 soldiers along with many Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors.

It was a deeply moving experience walking these hills. It is a memorial to the long trail of "if onlys" that happen throughout history. I deeply appreciated our (Native American) Park Guide who said you can't judge the past, by standards of the present. Given the treatment the Native Americans received at the hands of multiple administrations, I was moved by his/their ability to forgive and put the injustices of the past behind them. Very admirable

If American history is of interest to you, please put this National Monument on your bucket list.

NEXT STOP: MILES CITY

Never heard of it? Neither had we.

After passing through long stretches of beautiful rolling plains, Miles City rises up like an oasis on the wind-swept prairie. The campground we chose was Big Sky Camp and RV Park.

At the time of our stay, on June 2019, this campground was very tired and in need of a face lift. The roads and pad were dirt, which increases the amount of dirt in your RV, and the sites were not quite level. But, the owners were nice and it served our purposes as a short-term stopover.

Miles City sits along the legendary Yellowstone River — which we learned is the longest undammed river in the contiguous United States! It draws plenty of anglers as well. It's not uncommon to find people standing knee-deep in her rushing waters casting for walleye, catfish, and smallmouth bass. I keep telling Lorraine that I will take up fishing if she agrees to clean and cook the fish, she "shel-fishly" has not taken me up on my offer.

A TOWN FOUNDED UPON TRAGEDY:

After Custer met his fate, the U.S. Army began building a string of forts in eastern Montana to watch over the settlers, trappers and prospectors moving westward, and to prevent the Cheyenne and Sioux from moving eastward. Fort Keogh was established at this location in August, 1876. As the fort grew from a few tents into a large enclave, the needs of the encampment attracted those types of people that profit from meeting the needs of hungry and thirsty soldiers. The settlement, named after the fort's commander General Nelson A. Miles, quickly became a major hub for the cattle trade. Today, that ranching heritage is still very much alive and well.

In fact, each May, they have the Bucking Horse Sale — from what we heard, it's part rodeo, part street fair, and 100% Western. People come from across the region to buy and sell bucking horses, while the town celebrates with parades, live music, and plenty of cowboy hats. It sounds like a lot of fun.

WIDE OPEN SPACES:

While the town itself is rather uninspiring, what is most impressive is what surrounds it: space. Travel just a few minutes outside of town and you’re immersed in a landscape of open prairies, gently rolling hills and crystal clear lakes and streams.

Although our visit here was short, Miles City, can give you an authentic taste of the "forgotten west". It is a good stopover for road trippers looking to experience rugged frontier culture.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Quick.. What's the least densely populated state in the US? If you had said Montana, you'd be wrong.. but you'd be close. Montana ranks third, behind Alaska and Wyoming. As an example of how uninhabited this state is, there was an occasion when Lorraine and I were driving on a major Montana highway and we did not pass another vehicle for at least twenty minutes! It became very unnerving as we wondered aloud if some sort of cataclysmic disaster had taken place and nobody told us!

Never having visited Alaska, I would have to say this is the most intrinsically beautiful state in which we have been. It's filled with friendly people, gently rolling hills, majestic wilderness, wide open spaces and "big sky", making for multiple reasons to fall in love with this state.. that is, until winter hits! Then it's a whole other story. There are swathes of Montana where it begins snowing in September and doesn't stop until June (perhaps a slight exaggeration on my part, but you get the idea). We were sorry to leave such beauty and hope to be able to return in the future. (Spoiler alert: we do!)

Good bye, Montana.

Hello, North Dakota!

"I have always said I would not have been President had it not been for my experience in North Dakota." - President Theodore Roosevelt

I'm expecting big things from this visit!

DICKINSON, N.D.

About an hour inside of North Dakota, lies the town of Dickinson. I don't recall how we came to add this location to our schedule but we are glad we did.

The RV park we chose was North Park Campground. For those keeping track at home, this is the 97th campground at which we have stayed since leaving Delaware in October, 2017. This was a very nice park with well maintained dirt roads and level spots. We would recommend it to anyone visiting this area.

AN UNEXPECTED SURPRISE:

We always consider ourselves very fortunate when our visits also coincide with local celebrations. Attending these events makes us feel part of the community. The week we arrived, Dickinson was having their "First on First Summer Nights Festival".

It is one of those festivals where streets are closed to vehicles, vendors and food-trucks arrive along with musicians and the locals. These events are always fun and in our quest to support local businesses, usually find something that interests us enough to wiggle a few dollars from our wallet.

And as a "double bonus", Dickinson was also celebrating its "Roughrider Days"! Can life get any better!!

The highlight for us was the Rough Rider Rodeo. It was the most enjoyable rodeo to which we have ever been. It was an evening filled with robust patriotism, feats of courage, skill, and, I'm guessing, spinal injuries! We had a blast. The bravery of these riders was astonishing. It left us speechless.