On to Cody and Yellowstone

On Monday, June 29th, we loaded up and moved to Cody, WY near the entrance of Yellowstone. We took a road we thought would be shorter but found it was a corkscrew road through the mountains. The scenery was amazing but it took us much longer than we expected. We got to Cody in early afternoon, threw up the trailer and walked the dogs, so we could see the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. This is an amazing museum - actually 5 museums- western art museum, natural history museum, gun museum, Buffalo Bill Cody and Indian museums. Look at their website. http://www.bbhc.org/home/index.cfm?CFID=16876162&CFTOKEN=78399013 We wandered through it until I just wore out and sat out as Chuck went through the gun museum.

Our next stop was to be a resturant but we wandered off course and found the house my mother grew up in and my grandmother and aunt have talked about. I had a different picture of it but I can see that it would have fit my grandmother's personality.

Again, we started for a resturant and while trying to decide we found a trading post that had a" World of Minatures Museum" This was a large diorama exhibit done by an individual illustrating the history of the area with audio. Chuck was really impressed with it and started talking about how that was the sort of thing he wanted to do with all his lego projects. Whoops, there goes my house. I was particularly impressed with all the wonderful artifacts there. They were mostly Plains Indians tools, beading, clothing and stuffed prairie animals. Really a vast collection for the back room of a small shop. As we walked out, there was a rack of beaded leather coats that brought out the Annie Oakley in me. The coat just insisted I have it. The owner is going to try to get one my size. Whip-crack-away -- will I ever be western if I get it.

Finally we found a barbecue place and had a good dinner. The BBQ meet the standards of these Texans and was pronounced very good. Then there was a restocking mission at the Walmart merchantile because there will be few places to buy groceries in Yellowstone park. Tomorrow we will drive into the park and stay at a campground in the center called Fishing Bridge. Well, lets hope that the great caldera of the Yellowstone volcano remains quiet. Apparently the geo-thermal elements are more active than usual. This is the part of the trip I have really been looking forward to.

We will not be near WIFI until next week so this is a last post for a while. I'll post pictures on this when I can.

General Custer is dead ...and I'm not feeling too well myself.

When we came to Hardin 16 years ago to attend the Custer symposium, I valiantly sat through all the scholarly papers. Thinking I was not going to survive...I perked up when I heard the title of the last paper...General Custer is dead ...and I'm not feeling too well myself. A tongue-in- cheek exploration of Custer myths, this title summed up my feeling of Custer overload...and it has happened again.
Chuck participated in the Crow agency reenactment of the battle. Held on the land near the Little Big Horn River, where the village stood, it was important to Chuck. I sat in the bleachers for the 2 1/2 hour show during which it was interrupted 3 or four times for special blessings, songs and other activities. I discovered from the symposium and the 3 brothers who talked for a 1 1/2 hr, that Indians do not get in a hurry to tell their story. In the middle of all the hoopla, two planes buzzed the area and across the river 60 paratroopers fell from the sky. They were from S. Carolina and just returned from Iraq. Athough I don't know why they did it at the event, it was quite a sight.

The officers were picked up and rode in with Custer's command. They were commended and honored. When the rest of the detachment arrived, having to wade across the river, they were honored with more speeches and blessings and a dance. Much to the soldiers surprise, they had to dance a victory dance. (Let me add that this took place at 1:00 and it was hot!) Finally, the story began with Indian history through poetry...and it went on...and ...on. Then, at last, the cavalry arrived and battle started. The fighting Indians were all young boys about high school age. Those kids could ride! It was a grand melee of horses, Indians and soldiers. Finally it came time for Custer's Last Stand where Chuck had a part with Custer on Last Stand Hill. He was knocked down by a couple of Indians and played dead. His hat was part of the booty. The story had finally ended. The Indians had won this battle.

Chuck is in thse pictures. First picture, he is the soldier just coming in on the right and in the last picture he is in the middle of the fight. Will he keep his hair?

All the cavalry and Indians rode back across the river. People groaned as the made their way gingerly down the bleachers which were somewhat rickety. They were glad to be getting out of the heat. 15 minutes - no Chuck and I'm at the car waiting. 30 minutes and I'm getting worried. All the soldiers and Indians are leaving but still no Chuck. Finally I started off to find someone to ask when I recognized Chuck striding across the field - he was looking to retrieve his hat. Those that were dismounted and participated at the end with Custer had to walk up a hill and drive through the national park and down to the reservation in order to get back. Without horses, they couldn't get across the river. The experience was over and it was definitely an...experience.


I had never seen such riding as those Indian boys did...they were fearless, dashing around at full speed. The cavalry troops were more restrained but some of those men had just learned to ride the past week. There is a cavalry school held the week prior to this event which participants pay $1800 for.

The reenactment was exciting to watch but the heat was awful and the many delays and unrelated things made it one of those things you call ...an experience.

I will get a movie of the event composed and post it when I can.



General Custer is dead ...and I'm not feeling too well myself

Hardin and the Little Big Horn

We've arrived at Hardin, Montana to attend the Custer Battlefield and Museum Symposium. On Tuesday we drove about 6 hours to get here, a long trip for all of us. This is the weekend of the Anniversary of the Battle of the Little Big Horn or Custer's Last Stand. On June 25, we went to the National Park which had many activites going. There were talks by Indian tribes. We took a bus tour of the various battle sites. It was narrated by a young Indian woman who did a nice job. Unlike the previous trip we made here, the narration was pretty unbiased for both sides. The exhibits were equal and interesting and we attended a ranger talk. The ranger did a good job of presenting both sides, as well. Our previous visit was about 16 years ago. The interpretation was so heavily anti-white and military that we were left with a bad feeling about the whole park and those in charge of it. Things have changed and seem more even handed and we enjoyed the visit. Part of the park is a national cemetery where a number of famous people are buried.

Both Chuck and I attended the symposium which was from 9-3, a whole lot of Custer discussion. The main street has vendors, a parade and arts displays. In general, it is a big event for a little town. Chuck also went on the field trip which took them into the back country to see all the sites of the battle. It was in a yellow school bus --not built for big people--but apparently the large nice air conditioned buses couldn't have gotten to the sites. I stayed at the trailer with dogs since it was all day and we had a good time just lazing around .

Chuck plans to participate in the reenactment on the Crow reservation on Sunday. He was invited by Steve Alexander, a living historian who plays Custer and was the Custer look alike with Chuck. I will hope Chuck survives with the little hair he has left. I'll post pictures tomorrow. After we leave here we will not have much Internet access so posts will be spotty until we get to Washington.

Ft. Abraham Lincoln and more General Custer

Ft. Abraham Lincoln is at Mandan, North Dakota, not too far from Bismark, the state capitol. This is the fort on the Missouri River from which Custer embarked on his last fateful trip. Libbie Custer and other wives of the Seventh Cavalry waited here for their husbands. The fort is run by a historical foundation along with a restored Mandan Indian village. The state park is immense and beautiful. It was very crowded the weekend of their living history event. This was the first time I had seen the Missouri river and the phrase "across the wide Missouri" finally came into perspective. It was a wide as a lake in Texas and boats could navigate it. I could imagine a paddlewheel riverboat making it up the river. There were sandbars that evidently were left from the spring floods and served as the weekend party spot.

We participated in the Ft. Abraham Lincoln Festival in the Fort living history. The reenactors there were very nice and welcoming. We had a very good time. You can see some of the pictures in the video below. There is one picture of two rascals that attended the event. Can you spot them? The fort has restored the Custer House, the barracks and the granary. They have young people dressed in 19th century clothing who take you on guided tours of the Custer House which is furnished. They tell you when you step onto the boardwalk it is 1875 and they are in 1st person meaning they can talk about anything after 1875. We had a young man as a guide who was excellent and a lot of fun. The house is furnished quite nicely. There was also a Mandan village of earth lodges that were amazing...to think the women were the construction crew and owners of the lodges. Not to far from here was Ft Mandan where Lewis and Clark spent the winter with the Mandan Indians. We didn't get to see it but did go through a museum at Bismark, ND at the capital.

We will leave here to go Hardin, Montana, where Chuck will attend a Little Big Horn Battlefield symposium and field trip. After that we will head to Cody, Wyoming and Yellowstone. (Yellowstone is my big event of the trip. I've always wanted to see it!)

In the Black Hills and Custer Country

We drove into Rapid City, South Dakota and stayed at the Happy Holiday campground which was very crowded and tight. However it was just on the way to all the attractions in the Black Hills.

One day we went to Deadwood to wander like the tourists we are. The town is just about one large casino with a few historic areas interspersed among them. We drove through town and toured the Adams museum which had historic items and items from the Deadwood series.

Then we took a bus tour through the Mt. Moriah cemetery and saw the graves of Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickock.

On the way out of town we stopped at another museum which was full of guns, wagons, stagecoaches and Indian artifacts. There was a young lady there who really seemed to love her job and loved to talk. She gave us lots of other thing to see in the Black Hills.

After leaving Deadwood, we stopped at the Tatanka Heritage site which was built by Kevin Costner. He’s intended to build a hotel resort but it fizzled for lack of funding so he landscaped the site for the buffalo bronzes he had had made. They were amazing but we couldn’t stay too long because of the rain and lightning. It rained most afternoons of our stay. Some were full fledged thunderstorms but it kept it cooler. Sorry, Melissa, we didn't go to the movie prop where Kevin Costner stood this time. Remember that?

On Tuesday, we took the black hills 1880s train from Keystone to Hill City. About a 3 hour ride it reminded me of the Rusk-Palestine Texas Railroad. It chugged through woods and past nice vacation homes. It was a fun trip.

Of course, we could not be there without seeing Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. The national park has contracted vendors to run the parking and it was $10 to park which seemed pretty unreasonable.

The last day we were there we loaded up the dogs to drive to Custer State Park and the wildlife loop. The dogs just didn’t know what to make of the buffalo, one of which came right past the car. There were wild burros and people stopped in the middle of the road and got out to pet them. Look at this picture of a buffalo taken just outside my car door! I wasn't sure but that we might have an extra "big dog" with us before it was over.

We stopped at the Custer County museum and it had some really nice exhibits.
The final day of our stay we went into Rapid City and saw the Journey Museum which had many Indian artifacts. We met a really nice couple, headed the same way we are, named Mike and Joanne Capo. We went into Rapid City together and enjoyed Pizza Hut for the first time in a while. Then, we also went to the Prairie’s Edge store which is an outlook for Native American crafts. It had three stories full of amazing art, beadwork and jewelry. The one piece that just amazed Chuck and I was this paper sculpture of a buffalo jump. The detail was mindboggling and so was the price.

Our next stop is Ft. Abraham Lincoln near Mandan and Bismark North Dakota. There we will participate in their living history event and are really looking forward to it.

Rapid City, Deadwood and Custer

Rapid City, we are here! We enjoyed our trip through Nebraska to Rapid City where we plan to see Deadwood, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse monument and all the other sights. We were here about 15 years ago and there is so much more here now than before. We'll be here for 5 days before we move on to Ft. Abraham Lincoln in Mandan ND near Bismark where we will participate in a Living History there.Because of the rain everything is lush and green. The grass moves gently with the wind and looks like waves on the ocean. I think I would like to live in the areas we have traveled through. More to follow.

Nebraska, Ft. Robinson and Fur Trade

After leaving Ft. Laramie we traveled north to Ft. Robinson, NE. On the way we stopped at Agate Fossil National Monument which had dinosaur fossils and an Indian collection (which was closed because someone broke in and stole some of this massive collection of a local rancher family who was friends with Red Cloud and had artifacts he had given them. I guess the rotten apple theory is still in effect.

The state of Nebraska has turned an 1800's fort into state park that has an amazing amount of activities and fun. The old barracks are now hotel rooms, the officers quarters are rented to families, other buildings are museums and there are stage coach rides, horse rides, jeep tours, campfire dinners and a craft center. And then...we got lucky and arrived the same weekend of their annual Inter-tribal Gathering on the parade ground. We rode the stagecoach and took at jeep tour to the top of the bluffs. We went to one of their steak dinners where we were taken into the back country on a hay wagon for dinner and cowboy poetry. The campground was quite nice and the dogs loved the fact that we could let them go and they could chase each other in an open area that was part of the parade ground. This fort had a long history. Besides being established before the Civil War, it was where Crazy Horse was killed when he tried to escape. He had brought his people in to go to the reservation and was taken to jail. When he tried to leave a soldier bayonetted him and he died a few hours later. The Indian people were really badly treated by the government. After the Indian wars ended with Wounded Knee the fort became a remount center for cavalry horses through WWI. Then in WWII it housed German POWs who liked it so well that some of them came back and settled after the war. Before the final closing it was a USDA research center for cattle and horses. The state rescued it from destruction and restored the building for use as a state park and resort. It was a very busy place.

We arrived on the first day of the Inter-tribal Gathering, a native American pow-wow and celebration. They had put up arbors and bleachers and held dances and contests. It was very interesting to watch the dancing and look at the crafts.

Before leaving we drove to Chadron to see the Museum of the Fur Trade. It was the site of a trading post in the 1830s fur trade. The contents of the museum were amazing. There was an extensive gun collection, a textile collection of trade blankets, Indian trade items and artifacts and information about the voyagers who traveled the rivers in search of pelts. There was a reconstructed dugout trading post all set up to conduct trade.

These two days were filled with many enjoyable activities. The trip has been great. We will move on to Rapid City where we will spend five nights in the Black Hills area. Lots of things to do there as well.

Wagon Ruts, Register Cliff and Ft. Laramie

We moved east to the Ft. Laramie area. You can well imagine the difficulty the wagon trains had heading along the Oregon trail. We stopped at Guernsey to see the ruts left in the rock from the many wagon trains carrying settlers West. You can see from the pictures the depths of the ruts that the wagons left.

Then we stopped at Register Cliff, a camping place on the Oregon Trail where wagon trains rested and a few of the travelers left their "John Hancock" and date on the cliff there. Unfortunately, a number of 20th and 21st century idiots added their names to it as well making the pioneer names difficult to find.

We stayed in an RV park a few miles from Ft. Laramie NHS which was rather run down but had lots of room for the dogs to run. Next to it is a private Museum of the West which contains an eclectic collection of fossils, fur trade memorabilia and other pioneer and Indian artifacts.

Of course, a day at the NHS site of Ft. Laramie was a given. We toured the fort and spent a good while talking to one of the rangers. He recommended we talk to their librarian and she helped us with some information on the Ft. Lancaster officers. It will help me with my article on the women of Ft. Lancaster. We walked around the post which had about 3 living historians working that day: a sutler and a jail guard. The fort is beautifully restored with a furnished barracks, officers quarters, jail and bakery.

BOQ "Old Bedlam"

Commanding Officer's Quarters

The weather has been cool but raining since we've been gone. We have not had to use the air conditioning since we left Texas. Every afternoon big thundercloud build and the sky opens up. Our trip to Ft. Laramie was no different and we got caught in a real downpour as we got ready to leave and had to make a run for it.

We will head for Ft. Robinson, NE tomorrow which is another amazing place.

Cheyenne, Wyoming

We drove north Cheyenne and stayed at a KOA just outside of town. Coal trains came by at least every half hour. They are of amazing length and move on fast. We rested a bit when we arrived and the next day we went into Cheyenne to restock. The dogs nearly pulled our arms out of their sockets trying to catch the prairie dogs and explore their holes. Tuesday, we rode the Railway Depot trolley on a narrated tour of the city where we saw the capitol and other historic places. Wish we had more time to explore in depth. We moved on to Ft. Laramie which will appear in another blog. We move on to Ft. Robinson, NE where we will not have WIFI so it may be a few days before we are back online. I will return with pictures for this blog and an update on Ft. Laramie and Ft. Robinson.

Across the Colorado Plains

We left La Junta Monday morning and headed for Laramie, Wyoming. We bypassed the Interstate for roads less traveled that stretched for miles through some gorgeous prairie scenery. It was an amazingly green vista and the trip seemed to go on forever. We finally decided to stop at Cheyenne instead of going on to Laramie. We've discovered that there are many things to do here so we will leave Laramie for another time and stay here for two days before going on to Ft. Robinson.

Bent's Old Fort Living History Encampment, June 4, 5, 6, 7, 2009

One of the highlights of this trip for Chuck was to participate in a Living History immersion event at Bent's Old Fort. He will learn to use the antique surveying instruments and a sextant like the Topographical Engineers of the 1800s, staying in a tent and eating meals prepared over an open fire. He will have to remain in 1st person the entire time as though he were really in the time period of the fort. This is a National Park event and it looks like it will be fun but a little rugged. This is the entrance to Bent's Fort which was a civilian trading fort on the Santa Fe trail in the 1830s and 1840s.


Set up along the river bottom just outside of the fort is the Topographical Engineer camp. The scenario for the week is to map the Arkansas river, sketch the fort and lay out a map of the area. This is to be la learning session for new Engineers right out of West Point. One of the reasons the fort was able to be restored was that a Topographical Engineer, James Abert, spent a number of months there. He sketched and measured the area and left information in his journal. This is what the NPS used to reconstruct the fort and set up its living history program.



Inside the fort, everything is set up as a working trading post for trappers, Indians, and freighters on the Santa Fe Trail. The closest civilized city was St. Louis. There were many cultures at Bent's fort -- Indians, French, Spanish, Anglos and many of mixed heritage. Inside the fort, women are working as domestic laborers to feed those in the fort. There are craftsman who make what is needed for the wagons and those who take care of the livestock -horses and oxen. There are trappers and hunters camped outside the fort bringing in their furs for trade.

There is even an alarm and guard peacock. They screeched every time someone new came into the fort.

From what the reenactors said, the peacocks were on duty all night long and had no intent of letting anyone sleep for any length of time. They were even heard loud and clear on the river bottom. In those days dogs were more likely to be eaten than kept as pets or guards. That is why Autie and Ulysses never got to go out to the fort.

The fort is run by a manager for William Bent, who was portrayed by a professional living historian. He is quite a character and runs a tight ship. He considers dog a delicacy. There are traders and trappers who come into trade for goods. I think he is quite tough. It was all very interesting.

Domestic laborer women are paid 5 cents a day and their pay goes to their men. Chuck thinks I should do this next year since he was impressed that the women waited on the men hand and foot. Ha! You’d think he’d know by now that I’m not that trainable.

I am picking Chuck up at the fort on Sunday at noon. I’m sure he will be tired, hungry, dirty and smelly. But I'll bet he had a good time. We leave for Laramie, Wyoming tomorrow. Here is what the dogs spent their time doing while Chuck was gone.

PS: Chuck was very tired, hungry, dirty and smelly when I picked him up. He was ready for the 21st century and showers.

Road to Shangri-La ? or Alamosa

This was the view out our windshield as we headed to Alamosa from Chama. It reminded me of those Shangri-La movies about the lost Tibetain utopia. All you could see was the snow covered mountain top floating above the low clouds. The mountains didn't even seem to be attached to earth. We drove on through Alamosa and headed toward the La Veta pass. Climbing toward the summit put us into the clouds. The fog was such on the winding mountain roads that all you could do was follow the center line and hope that there wasn't a speed demon on your tail. The sheer drop-offs weren't visible, the mountainsides weren't visible nor were the cars in front of you--all you could see was white. Chuck didn't seem to like driving through it at all. It seemed a long time before we emerged from the white blanket. After we passed Walsenburg, we started across the plains again. It was the straightest road stretching on for miles and miles and miles with no curves whatsoever. It looked like it would go on forever. It even had the roads in west Texas beat. You could even see it further than roads between Midland and El Paso.

We did make one stop at Ft. Garland to see the adobe fort there. We had been there many years before and it had been restored to a very nice site since then. The docent was very kind to let the dogs come on to the parade ground sans leashes and they had a ball chasing each other. After nearly two weeks of continuously being on a leash, they provided the rangers with quite a show that they got a big kick out of. This was an important post in the area before and after the Civil War. Kit Carson was the commander of the fort for a while. We were very impressed with the displays that they had. We all really enjoy this stop.

We arrived at La Junta early afternoon and were ready to take it easy. On Thursday, Chuck begins his engineer encampment at Bent's Old Fort. I will babysit the dogs...the cable...and the wifi... while he sleeps in a tent and learns to be an topographical engineer. It'll be tough but I'm up to it. Just hope Chuck is.

Train ride back into time

Bright and early Sunday, May 31st we boarded a bus for Antonito, CO to catch the Chama bound train. The trip through the mountains allowed us to see deer and elk scurrying away from the roadway. We got to Chama around 10:00 and boarded the train. This is a steam train which

throws out cinders and smoke. By the end of the trip I felt like my hair was full of grit and my eyes were gritty. We were assigned a seat in one of the cars but both Chuck and I spent a lot of time in the open air gondola car where we had an unobstructed view. The train left the flat San Luis valley and chugged its way up to Osier where we had lunch. Lunch is now included in the train fee. It was quite good and we visited with some people from Kansas who were also staying at the RV park. After lunch the train wound up the mountains back to Chama. It was amazing to see the train zig-zag around curves just to gain altitude. Several times you could look back on loops of track you just passed. We arrived in Chama about 4:00 and went to rescue the dogs and the trailer. The dogs did very well and nothing was torn up but were they ever glad to see us. They got an extra long walk. The campground had nice long roadways for us to walk them and lots of chipmunks and squirrels to scare.

Click on the arrow to view the movie.

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