Wyoming

We crossed the corners of Wyoming through the entire roadtrip except for Yellowstone where we spent three days. The north east corner of Wyoming has two key attractions. The Little Bighorn Battlefield and Devil’s Tower.

Devils Tower stands out like ‘dog’s balls’ (as a good Aussie would say). You can see it for miles, it stands big and tall on the landscape.  Another President Theodore Roosevelt legacy, he proclaimed Devils Tower the first national monument under his new Antiquities Act. Wyoming was now the home of the first national park (Yellowstone) and national monument. I sucked at geology in high school but the short story is that about 50 million years ago, molten magma was forced into sedimentary rocks above it and cooled underground As it cooled, it contracted and fractured into columns. Over millions of years, erosion of the sedimentary rock exposed Devils Tower. The tower is 867 feet (264m) high and the area on top is 1.5 acres. It's pretty huge basically. We walked the trail around the tower and you see the different rock formations in the rock. Rock climbers take to like bees to honey and this is a sacred site to Indians who often have ceremonies at the tower. 

Several Indian tribes tell a similar legend as follows:

Eight children were there at play, seven sisters and their brother. Suddenly the boy was struck dumb, he trembled and began to run upon his hands and feet. His fingers became claws, and his body was covered with fur. Directly there was a bear where the boy had been. The sisters were terrified, they ran, and the bear after them. They came to the stump of a great tree, and the tree spoke to them. It bade them to climb upon it, and as they did so it began to rise into the air. The bear came to kill them, but they were just beyond its reach. It reared against the tree and scored the bark all around with its claws. The seven sisters were borne into the sky and they became the stars of the Pleiades.

 

At the entrance to the park, there is an area that is home to Praire Dogs. These little fellas are very cute. They make little screeching barking noises when threats are around. They use a different pitch or bark for different threats. 

 

We also visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield. We knew nothing on arrival but left with a better understanding and appreciation of the battle and the Indians. This was the final battle of General Custer - Custer's Last Stand. I cannot do the history justice in this blog but the express version is that on 25 June 1876, the battle took place. In recent years, the various Inidan tribes lived on the lands around Wyoming, Montana and more south. They lived off the buffalo. As the buffalo died, the tribes moved to new buffalo grounds. However the US was growing and pioneers were moving West encroaching on Indian lands. The US Government and Indians signed a treat where the Indians could live on a reservation near North Dakota. The Indians didn't like this and some chiefs lived off the reservation and continued to live their ways in their culture. The US Government didn't like this and suffice to say, several battles took place. Thus the names of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull come to fame. 

The battle of Little Bighorn took place on the Little Bighorn River. General Custer and his soldiers came to defeat the Indians (Dakota, Lakota, Nakota tribes) once and for all and force them back to the reservation. We drove around the battlefield reading the tour guide to learn the series of events that unfolded. We also watched a video in the visitor centre which as excellent in explaining the history and the battle. Ultimately, the Indians outnumbered the soldiers and Custer suffered his final defeat. On the hill where he died, he and his soldiers were circled by Indians and realising this was the end, they each shot themselves. This was Custer's Last Stand. There is a memorial (laid in 1881) on the hill for the soldiers of the 7th Calvary under Custer (about 220 men). The other two regiments lost about 100. The Indians lost no more than 100. Over the battlefield there are headstones where soldiers were found. Recently, headstones for Indians have been laid.

 

In 1988, in response to a lack of recognition of the Native American participation in the Battle of Little Bighorn, a metal plaque was placed on the 7th Calvary memorial at Last Stand Hill. In 2003 (over 100 years after the US Army memorial was laid), the Indian Memorial was dedicated. The relevancy and significance of this memorial is further highlighted as it is the only national memorial to the Native American experience mandated by Congress and constructed with Federal Funds.

We enjoyed seeing this memorial and having been to Crazy Horse the previous day, it further broadened our knowledge of the American Indians. And now I know the meaning behind Custer's Last Stand.