Phil Konstantin's 2003 Vacation Through Washington, Idaho, Wyoming,
Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana - Page K
Page 2003 - K
Rosebud Battlefield to Little Bighorn Battlefield, Montana
Click on the smaller pictures to see a larger version of it.
I got up early on May 21st. The entrance to the Little Big Horn Battleground was still closed, so I decided to visit the Rosebud Battlefield first. The Little Big Horn is on the Crow Indian reservation. The Rosebud is on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.
This is the entry from my book for June 17, 1876: "General George Crook was in the field with less than 1,000 men to force the Cheyenne and the Sioux back to the reservation. On this day, Crook’s men encountered Crazy Horse near the Rosebud River in Montana. Rather than risk a frontal attack, or the traditional riding-in-a-ring around the enemy, Crazy Horse and his mounted warriors keep attacking Crook’s flanks. This change in strategy confused the soldiers. During the battle, “Chief Comes In Sight’s horse was shot out from under him in front of the soldiers.” He was rescued by his sister, Buffalo Calf Road Woman. Although the soldiers called this the Battle of the Rosebud, the Indians named it the Battle Where the Girl Saves Her Brother. The Indians won the day. Crook decided to return to his supply camp on Goose Creek until he could be reinforced. First Sergeants Michael A. McGann, Company F, Joseph Robinson, Company D, John Shingle, Troop I ,and trumpeter Elmer Snow, Company M, Third Cavalry, would be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their actions during the fighting. According to army reports, eleven Indians and nine soldiers were killed. Captain G. V. Henry and twenty other soldiers were wounded."
The fencing made it very hard to get a good picture. The site has been vandalized many times in the past.
"Here lie the remains of Two Moons, Chief of the Cheyenne Indians who led his men against General Custer in the Battle of Little Big Horn June 25, 1876."
Curly's grave. He was a Crow scout who accompanied Custer. Some say he was the only true survivor of the battle who fought with (not against) Custer. Others say Curly was the last surviving person on the Army's side to see Custer alive. Others say he left the area before the fighting started. In any case, he became one of the most photographed Indians of his era.
This is the entry from my book for August 1, 1867: "After continued incursions into Indian lands, Indians wanted to teach the whites a lesson along the Bozeman Trail. After fasting and other ceremonies, the Indians decided to attack one of the forts along the trail. But no agreement could be reached as to which fort to attack. The Cheyenne decided to attack Fort C. F. Smith in southern Montana (near modern Bighorn Lake). Thirty soldiers and civilians were working in a field of hay a few miles from the fort when a little over 500 Cheyenne warriors come across the group. A frontal attack was repulsed at great loss to the Cheyenne because the soldiers had repeating rifles. The Indians then set fire to the hay. The soldiers were inside a log-walled enclosure when they observed a wall of flames forty feet high approaching them. Luck was on the soldiers’ side, though. Just before the fire reached the soldiers, it died out. Taking this as an omen, the Cheyenne gave up the attack. According to army records, one officer (Lieutenant Sigismund Sternberg), one enlisted man, one civilian, and eight Indians were killed. Thirty Indians were wounded in the fighting."
Page 2003: Spokane, Washington to Grangeville, Idaho
Page 2003a: Grangeville, Idaho to Kamiah, Idaho
Page 2003b: Kamiah to Lolo Pass
Page 2003c: Lolo, Montana to Salmon, Idaho
Page 2003d: Salmon, Idaho to Gilmore Summit, Idaho
Page 2003e: Kilgore, Idaho to Yellowstone National Park
Page 2003f: More Yellowstone
Page 2003g: Grand Tetons to Lander, Wyoming
Page 2003h: Wind River Canyon to Legend Rock, Wyoming
Page 2003i: Medicine Lodge State Archaeological Site to Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite, Wyoming
Page 2003j: Shell Creek Falls to Wagon Box Battlefield, Wyoming
Page 2003k: Rosebud Battlefield to Little Bighorn Battlefield, Montana
Page 2003l: Little Bighorn Battlefield to Crow Agency, Montana
Page 2003m: Fetterman Battlfield to Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming
Page 2003n: Crazy Woman Creek to Fort Fetterman, Wyoming
Page 2003o: Oregon Trail to Fort Laramie, Wyoming
Page 2003p: Grattan Battlefield, Wyoming to Fort Robinson, Nebraska
Page 2003q: Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed, Nebraska to Crazy Horse Monument, South Dakota
Page 2003r: Devil's Tower, Wyoming
Page 2003s: Rapid City to Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Page 2003t: Eagle Butte Powwow to the Blessing Ceremony
Page 2003u: Sakakawea Monument to Fort Buford
Page 2003v: Fort Union to Old Fort Peck
Page 2003w: Cree Crossing to Fort Assiniboine
Page 2003x: Glacier Park
Page 2003y: Glacier #2 to Missoula, Montana
Page 2003z: blank (so far)
