7/5/2014 Little Big Horn Battlefield, Crow Reservation Montana

Yellowstone River Billings, Montana

Day 8  - From Hill City, we continued north on Route 90, cut across the NE corner of Wyoming on Route 212 for 166 miles, then rejoined Route 90 outside Billings, Montana where we camped along the Yellowstone River. The temperature when we left Hill City was 53 degrees.  10 minutes later after descending several thousand feet to Rapid City, the temperature was 83 degrees.  

Taking about 2 days to cross Montana.  Big sky country, rolling hills as far as the eye can see.  Easy to go hundreds of miles and see nothing but cows, antelope, sheep, and horses.  Have to get gas just about every place you see a station since they are few and far between and we only get 10 to 12 miles a gallon depending on the terrain.  We goofed and had a gallon left at one point (I have no fingernails left).

Crow Reservation Horses, One Got Over the Fence

You can really understand why people in this part of the country think differently than the coastal areas where human density require massive resource and population management.  These folks can pretty much take care of themselves, a totally different mindset, hence not wanting government interference.

Stopped at Little Big Horn Battlefield (Custer's Last Stand) about one hour east of Billings, Montana.  Montana and the Crow tribe have done a nice job preserving and presenting this history.  Hard to imagine how the Calvary in the mid to late 1800's  traveled such vast desolate

Custer's Last Stand Monument Where He Fell

distances (see monument photo), back and forth between Forts for supplies and reinforcements while they systematically destroyed the Native American way of life.