Little Bighorn Battlefield

Fall colors adorn the trees along Little Bighorn River near the site of Custer's Last Stand.

As a young boy, I was interested in western movies, gunfights and the wild west like most kids my age. "Custer's Last Stand" was one of those stories that stuck with me not only because of the interesting story of heroism but also because of it happening fairly close to where I grew up, unlike all other famous battles that happened overseas or on the East Coast. As I grew older and learned more of the battles between the Native Americans and the US Army, the details that often were left out of the grade school history narratives even intrigued me more. Documentaries like "The West" opened my eyes to a lot more of the Native American side of the story. With all that in mind, I made some time to recently visit the famous site of the last stand at Little Bighorn National Monument in Montana. Here are some photos of the afternoon. One of the things that I really liked was the markers of the fallen calvary as well as various Indian warrior markers. I think it really helped get a sense of where and how the battle unfolded. I recommend making the stop to anyone who drives by this place. It is just off I-90 and definitely worth the time. A great story and some great history of our young nation can be found here.

A couple more scenic shots of the Little Bighorn looking west from the battlefield hills.

A marker of a fallen soldier with the last stand monument in the background.

This a view of the last stand area with the monument to my back. To the right is the visitor center with the national cemetery. The white stones are where the calvary fell and the one that is left center with brown plaque is where General Custer fell. (Click on the image for a larger file to view)

The monument.