8.10.26 Reed Point, MT--8.12.26 Garryowen, MT---8.19.26 Miles City, MT

 8.10.26 Travel Day! Moved to Reed Point, MT. This could officially be the smallest town we've ever stayed in with a population of 96. There was an open post office but no one was working there. There was a coffee shop but it wasn't open when we walked through the town. There was a saloon but it wasn't open yet either. This was a very laid back stop. Al had several chats with Jeremy, the campground owner. Jeremy and Ivy were the owners of the Old West Campground.

The post office right behind the campground.

The Saloon...not open until 5:00

The coffee shop...not open.

The town library...only open on Wednesdays from 1:30-4:00

We left Reed Point and went under this bridge rather than backtrack 7 miles to the next on-ramp. Jeremy, at the campground, said just stay to the right and you'll be fine. Our Mona is 13' 6" tall. We both ducked going under!

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8.12.26 Travel Day! We moved to Garryowen MT and 7^th Ranch RV Camp

Site H28 was a GREAT site! Quiet, shaded, no neighbors. First time in a long while that I slept 8 hours! This was a great place to relax a while.

It was a wonderfully peaceful week.

The Cross on the hill behind our camper.

8.13.26 We visited the Little Bighorn Battle Site National Monument. 

We felt like we shouldn't be smiling here.

We visited the Little Bighorn Battle Site National Monument. The Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument memorializes one of the last armed efforts of the Northern Plains Indians to preserve their ancestral way of life. It happened in the valley of the Little Bighorn River on two hot June days in 1876. More than 260 soldiers and other personnel of the U.S. Army died at the hands of several thousand Lakota and Cheyenne warriors. Among those who perished were Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and every member of his immediate command. Of course, we know that even though the Indians won this battle, they ultimately lost the war against the military’s effort to end their independent, nomadic way of life.

In 1868, believing it “cheaper to feed than to fight the Indians.” The U.S. government signed a treaty with the Lakota, Cheyenne, and other tribes of the Great Plains designating a large area of eastern Wyoming a permanent Indian reservation. The government promised to protect the Indians “against the commission of all depredations by people of the United States.”

As with many others, the treaty didn’t last long. In 1874 gold was discovered in the Black Hills in the heart of the new Indian reservation. News of the gold strike spread quickly and soon thousands of eager gold seekers swarmed into the region in violation of the For Laramie Treaty. The army tried keeping them out and tried, unsuccessfully, buying the Black Hills from the Indians to avoid another confrontation. The Lakota and Cheyenne resorted to raids on settlements along the fringes of Indian domain. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs ordered the tribes to stop and return to the reservation before January 31, 1876 or be treated as hostiles. The Indians didn’t comply and the Army was called in to enforce order. This led to the Little Bighorn Battle.

In the end, there are between 60-100 red granite markers representing the Lakota and Cheyenne; and 249 white markers representing the Cavalry soldiers lost. It was a very somber experience walking and driving through the memorial. 

These wild horses were standing above the road as we drove by.

The Indian Memorial is a mound open in the center with four openings. You walk in through one of the openings and the inside is gorgeous granite etchings all around with the metal sculpture of three warriors and one woman on the top. A very cool memorial.

Click the link to see the full explanation of the design by the National Park Service

The Indian Memorial Design (NPS)

Inside the Indian Memorial

We stopped at the trading post outside the Battlefield.

One side is a restaurant.

We ate Indian Fry Bread Tacos...YUM!!! 

It was as big as a dinner plate!

Al got a new hat and I found a magnet and hat pin.

8.14.26 Went to Billings for RV parts, Walmart, diesel, Megan’s huckleberry vodka and to Wade & Kayla’s for lunch. OMG the steak and sides were so delicious! We had a nice visit!

We came back to Mona and we were invited by the campground owner to join them, their family, parents, neighbors, who are all Mennonite, and other campers, for dinner. We had wood fried pizza made right there in front of us, salad and homemade ice cream! All was scrumptious and the company was wonderful. We had a great visit!

We spent a lot of time talking to an older couple who happened to be the parents of the campground owners. They said that they think their beliefs are very similar to the Lutheran religion.

8.19.26 Travel Day! Moved to Miles City, MT

We went down town to the Montana Store to find more huckleberry items and to Scoops Ice Cream for huckleberry ice cream.

8.20.26 Happy Birthday to Marley!!! 

We went to the Range Rider Museum and walked around for 2 ½ hours! We came back and got Marley and went to Walmart and the car wash and for diesel. Then Al went and got the dog wash from the community area and Marley got a bath! Al went to the pool and then we grilled brats for supper.

The Range Rider Museum was interesting. They had a lot of artifacts and history of the area.

These are ice skates. I wonder how fast Cashton could play hocky on these!?!

The beading on the Native artifacts always amazes me. The patience it must take!

Al's sunrise.

No video today!

As we leave Montana and all the huckleberries, I must share...

Huckleberries

Huckleberries are the same genus as commercial blueberries but it is said that huckleberries have a first sensation of tart followed by sweet explosion. Berries make up 15% of bears’ yearly diet in the Glacier area, but in July it’s up to 50%. While in the Glacier area we sampled all things huckleberry including milkshakes, ales, pie, bear claws Chapstick, jam, syrup, huckleberry pie ice cream (and other variations several times!), huckleberry coffee, caramels, chocolate covered huckleberries, huckleberry soda, huckleberry ice cream sandwiches, huckleberry chocolate bars, huckleberry BBQ Sauce and huckleberry vodka (Megan made us buy this because she tried it somewhere)…One thing we couldn’t find anywhere is a huckleberry post card or magnet!

 Some research below to peruse if you choose!

Range Riders Museum

I stumbled on this next one and found it interesting...

20 Most Dangerous Women of the Old West

 

More interesting videos about the battle below:

The History Channel: Battle of the Little Bighorn

After 135 years shocking secrets unearthed at Custers Last Stand site

Battle of the Little Bighorn: A Native American History

How accurate are the grave markers at the Little Bighorn?

Little Bighorn Battlefield

An interesting perspective: The truth about the Battle of Little Bighorn

12 Montana Trivia Facts

1. Montana entered the Union as the 41st state on November 8, 1889. Its name comes from the Spanish word montaña, meaning mountainous. It ranks as the 4th largest state by area, but has more cows than people.

2. The lowest temperature ever recorded in the continental United States was -70°F at Rogers Pass in 1954.

3. Giant Snowflake: The largest snowflake ever officially observed was 15 inches wide, recorded near Missoula in 1887.

4. Montana has one area code for the whole state: 406. And that’s why “The 406” is also sometimes used as a nickname for the state (and why many Montana businesses and products have 406 in their name).

5. Missoula is in Missoula County, but there’s no Bozeman County or Billings County. Deer Lodge the town is not in Deer Lodge County, but Cascade the town is in Cascade County, although it’s not the main town. And Chouteau is a county, but Choteau is a town (which is not in Chouteau County).

6. About 30 percent of Montana’s land is owned by the federal government, including all of the national monuments, national parks, national forests, and so forth. Another six percent is owned by the state, which includes all of the state parks. Compared to other western states (two thirds of Idaho and 80 percent of Nevada are public land!).

7. Montana’s highest point is Granite Peak. With a summit of 12,807 feet, this peak sits in the Beartooth Mountains in southcentral Montana.

8. The lowest point in Montana is the Kootenai River. You might expect Montana’s lowest point to be out in the flat eastern part of the state. But it’s actually found in the far northwest corner, where the Kootenai River flows past the little town of Troy. Of course, at 1,820 feet, it’s still far higher than the highest point in many states!

9. The Yellowstone River is the longest undammed river in the Lower 48.

10. Montana is the only state that allows double-proxy marriages. A few states allow for proxy marriages, in which only one partner is physically present at the wedding ceremony. But only Montana allows for marriages without either partner being present. How does that work? Both parties fill out paperwork beforehand, and their designated proxies attend a ceremony on their behalf. Proxy marriages are largely used by members of the military, as well as in instances of illness, immigration complications, or financial difficulty.

11. Libby, Montana (we stayed here), was the site of one of the country’s worst man-made disasters. This is another devastating piece of Montana history that can’t go unmentioned, a disaster that has repeatedly made national and international news. For nearly 70 years, the chemical conglomerate Grace operated an asbestos-laced vermiculite mine in the northwest corner of Montana, poisoning its employees, their families, and most of the rest of the town of Libby. When the mine finally closed in 1990, it was declared an EPA Superfund site, and the clean-up took another 30 years. Hundreds of people in the Libby area, even those who never worked in the mine, have contracted cancer and lung disease – the rate of which is still 50 times higher than the national average.

12. Many of the U.S.’s nuclear weapons are buried in Montana. Along with Wyoming and South Dakota, Montana is the nuclear capital of the country. We love to say that if Montana were an independent country, it would be one of the world’s leading nuclear powers.