Birthday Trip Continued

In addition to spending time with my mom, visiting friends, and checking out some of the local shops and restaurants, Vince & I spent some time checking out some historical places outside of Billings that were really extraordinary.

Our first stop outside of town was Pompey's Pillar

and its accompanying visitor's center / museum

Dugout canoes

Information and displays inside the museum

Bullboats (small boats made of buffalo hides)

…and Pompey's Pillar- a beautiful rock formation named 

after Sacajawea's son. This landmark was a great sign for

Lewis & Clark and their Core of Discovery team

Here is where William Clark carved his initials on the pillar- so cool!

After visiting Pompey's Pillar, we headed to the Bighorn County 

Museum in Hardin, MT. These cabins were modeled after cabins 

used by Custer's troops at Fort Custer

A beautiful teepee replica

Painting of Custer's Last Stand

Various arrowheads, spearheads, and hide-scrapers

Just a few of the many gorgeous black-and-white photos

Some articles from the troops

Uniforms

…and weapons- pretty cool. Next stop: the real scene of the battle!

Here is where Custer's Last Stand took place

Some information about the site

Photos of Teddy Roosevelt and Sitting Bull

Short summary of the battle

Wow- this would take some getting used to!

Awe-inspiring

Another perspective of the battle

Vince and I near one of the large memorial stones

In addition to visiting the main burial area and the visitors' center,
you also have the option to walk along a path that depicts the battle…
which to me was the best part. This sign was near the start of the trail- ssss!

The red markers were for the Native American warriors

Signs along the trail did a great job depicting the battle

The white markers were for Custer's troops

Pretty amazing- I had no idea of the distance covered by
this battle. It was a very educational and evocative visit; so 
glad we had the opportunity to go here :)

Another great place we saw was the Madison Buffalo Jump

Some information about the site

Although many buffalo were killed this way, everything was used

…and the jump itself; how neat! We stopped here on 
our drive back to Washington, and it was a great last major 
"landmark" stop before our return. We are definitely looking forward 
to our next visit to Big Sky country :)