Wwoofing It: Battle of Little Bighorn, Montana

So today's adventure in Montana consisted of visiting the Pictograph Cave State Park and the Battle of Little Bighorn battlefield. I decided to get to the cave park around 11 am so I would have time to see all the caves and then spend enough time at the battlefield as well. The Pictograph Cave State Park is about 20 minutes south of Billings (the city that I am staying in) and even at 11am it was 23 degrees outside and everything was covered in snow and frost. The caves are at the back of this long, winding road through farms and down in a valley. Pictograph caves are caves full of drawings from the prehistoric settlers of the area; usually hunters and gatherers of the region. The drawings in these caves dated back to almost 10,000 years ago. The cave park is a National Historic Landmark of Montana so I was really excited to see such a big part of history up close. When I got to the park, there were only a few other people there, and the park ranger. I had to pay a small fee because I am not a Montana state resident, but all state residents can see the caves for free, so it makes a nice little hiking trail for people. The whole tour is about a 1 mile walk in a large circle, where all the caves are visible from the trail. Inside the visitor center you can learn more about the history of pictographs as well as what to expect to see and what to look for. I thought the cave drawings were going to be really easy to see and very brightly lit with vivid colors, but the information explained that because the drawings were so old, it was really hard to preserve what was left, so they are very faded and hard to see. The pigments used to draw the pictographs were made from berry and plant juices, charcoal, earth elements and sometimes even blood was added for color. All the pictographs were either in red or black, but the black ones had almost completely faded away. The red ones were a lot easier to see, and some pictures were actually carved into rocks. The pictographs were drawn for various reasons, such as to record important events and spiritual beliefs. The pictures were very simple and usually consisted of drawings of animals like horses, dogs, cows and birds, or stick figure warriors with shields and weapons. The first cave was really big and the red drawings were easy to see. You have to stand fairly far away from the actual wall because the state is still excavating the cave and there were probably still artifacts in the dirt that could be damaged by people. The second cave is called Ghost Cave because a lot of people have described seeing strange images in the their film after taking pictures of the cave. It was really hard to see any drawings in this cave, and it was a shallow cave that was smaller than the first. The hike is mostly uphill the first half, and because the snow had just melted, it was really muddy. But I wore my faithful cowboy boots so I didn't have a problem walking through the mud. One couple came after me and it seemed like they were just there for the hike. They didn't even stop to see the drawings. It was a fun hike and it was really fascinating to see such a unique and treasured part of our history. The whole tour takes about an hour at most and I would recommend bringing binoculars and hiking shoes. The park is nice, but it only consists of the caves so there is nothing else to do in the park. So after the cave park, I went further down the road about an hour to the Crow agency, where the Crow Indian reservation is, and explored the Battle of Little Bighorn. I remembered learning about the battle in middle school and I was kind of excited to see it in person. This was the battle between General Custer and Sitting Bull, where Custer lost to the Indians (Cheyenne and Lakota tribes). The battle ended on June 25, 1876 with General Custer and the last of his men surrounded by the Indian warriors, where he was defeated and killed on a hill, which is now called 'Last Stand Hill' due to General Custer's Last Stand. I arrived at the park and went inside the visitor center to talk to the ranger and get a map of the battlefield. The tour is a driving tour that is about 5 miles long, so that is a really large battlefield. At the visitor center is Custer National Cemetery, where there are thousands of graves honoring both U.S. and Indian warriors in the battle. Because it is a National Cemetery, immediate family also have the privilege of being buried there as well. The cemetery is beautiful and well-respected, and there were actually wild horses roaming through the cemetery eating the grasses that grow there. Surprisingly, most of the grave markers are blank because it was hard to identify each body after the battle, so there are unmarked graves. The unmarked gravestones read something like: "U.S. Soldier lies here, 7th calvary, June 25, 1876." Some of the Indian ones had no engravings at all, just a marble headstone. But the cemetery was very peaceful- not eerie at all. After visiting the cemetery, I started on the driving tour of the battlefield. The first stop is the top of the hill, which is Last Stand Hill. This is where the battle actually ended, and General George Custer's grave is at the top of this hill. There is a large memorial monument honoring the soldiers who fought, but next to it is a small graveyard where the headstones mark the actual spots where the soldiers died. Custer's grave is in that yard next to the other soldiers' but his headstone is white marble with black engraving; whereas the other soldiers' headstones are all white marble with white engraving. Custer's headstone doesn't stand out at first, and I expected it to be much larger than everyone else's, but once you see it, it begins to stand out. It was just strange looking at his grave and realizing that is the exact spot where he died. The top of the hill is where the Indians surrounded the calvary and defeated them. I then drove on through the tour, and realized how huge the battlefield was and tried to imagine all those men who had to fight their way across the field and what a long battle that must have been. Throughout the drive, I noticed random wild horses that would wander across the battlefield eating grass, and they were so beautiful. At the end of the battlefield-which is actually where the beginning of the battle took place- I turned around and had to drive back to the entrance of the park. So along the way out, I was stopped on this random piece of road by about 5 wild horses that were standing on the paved road and would not move. I figured if I kept driving by slowly, they would move. However, I was wrong. One horse actually came up to my truck and put his face on the hood of my truck. I think because it was warm and they were obviously cold because everything was covered in snow. So they wouldn't move and I couldn't go anywhere until they did. I got out of my truck to see if I could touch one of them, because I figured there would be no way they would let me. I held out a piece of bread in my hand and waited for the horse to come over and take it from me........AND HE DID. Yeah, totally caught me by surprise, but he ate the bread from me. And then the other horses saw that he was eating something, so they came over and ate bread too. They had really long hair that was not brushed or maintained, no shoes on their hooves, and wild, unruly manes and tails. There was a baby with them too, and he was so cute, but too timid to come up to me. I had an apple with me too, so I cut it into big pieces and gave it to them, but they didn't know what it was, so they didn't take it from me. So I pet them for a little bit, then I threw some bread and the apple to the side of the road so they would go get it and I could drive by, and it worked. I got back in my truck and they went of after the food, so I drove by and was on my way. But as I was driving by, I rolled down my window and one of the horses walked up to my window and let me pet his face again. It was such an amazing moment. That part alone was worth the whole trip. Seeing the battlefield and Custer's grave and the horses was a wonderful experience. I would recommend going to the battlefield because it really makes you appreciate our history and you get to see firsthand what you only really read about in history books. It was a great experience, and a wonderful memory of my trip so far. Other than that, the weather has been great (well, great for Montana in March I guess), and the people are extremely friendly. However, I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. Everyone knows instantly that I am not from Montana, and they all stare a lot. I went to the mall, and every store I went into, everyone knew I was not from around here. But they are all really friendly and welcoming and fascinated to hear about this wwoofing concept. The stores are clean and maintained. The Walmart in town is pristine; like eat-off-the-floor clean, and the employees are actually WORKING. What a concept! The aisles are clean and everything is on a shelf instead of thrown all over the floor. The town shuts down around sundown, but I asked a young waitress I had what there is to do around here on the weekends and she told me about a few cool places to check out. There is a country dancing bar called Wild West Saloon that is supposed to be fun, and a popular pool hall and a bar called Hooliganz, but it seems a little shady so I think I will pass on that. The men are dressed literally like cowboys everywhere I go, even in Walmart. They walk around in 10 gallon cowboy hats and cowboy boots, and every girl wears bumpits in her hair. Its pretty entertaining, but everyone is really nice so I am having a good time. I am very excited to officially start work on the ranch and learn as much as I can! Miss you all- please enjoy the sunshine for me. I most definitely miss it here!

Pictograph caves. The faded red blob in the middle is the pictograph drawing.

Main pictograph cave

The cave is really big

The indentations on this rock are actually carved out cave drawings.

The first pictograph cave is behind me to the left.

Ghost Cave. Its really hard to see the pictographs in this cave, but strange images have been reported on film taken of this cave. Can you see any ghosts?