Had another great day, woke up in Cody, Wyoming, drove to Montana, then we drove

back to Wyoming, then we continued to drive, ending up in South Dakota. However, we only

drove 386.5 miles for the day and a trip total to date of 3,431.3 miles. Woke up to a light rain and it was cloudy overcast most of the day except at our primary stop for the day. Crossed over the Bighorn Mountains in northeast Wyoming, a spectacular drive with the crest of the pass over 9,000 feet. Rugged and beautiful country but very slow driving due to all of the switchbacks. Hundreds of hunters moving into the area for deer and elk season. Our main objective today was to visit the Little Big Horn, a trip well worth the effort. It was great, a very nice museum with a lot of items that had been found at the site over the years. Some super displays on what actually happened at Custer's Last Stand. You have to see the actual terrain of the area to realize the errors that General Custer made on June 25, 1876. The 7th Cavalry, commanded by General Custer numbered about six hundred men. His scouts located the encampment of the Lakota and Cheyenne which was not real difficult since they were all camped in the valley next to the Little Big Horn River. Custer split his forces in thirds and it was his intention to attack from three different points. The first force which was suppose to come down the valley was met by the Cheyenne who promptly drove that company of men back up to the ridge where Custer was going to make his attack from but about three miles from Custer's companies. The second company which was coming down the valley from the opposite direction never got there until after the fighting was over. The Lakota Indians attacked Custer who was in a bowl area and he retreated to the highest knoll where he made the last stand. About 210 men were killed that was with Custer. The other forces suffered the loss of 53 men with 52 wounded. The Indians lost no more than 100 during the battle. Dividing his men into three columns was perhaps a good military decision, however going into valley with less than 600 men against a force of several thousand Indians was not a good decision. Each of the battle sites are marked, with head stones marking the sites where each of the soldiers were killed. They were hastily buried and years later, their bodies were exhumed and place into one large grave with a marker. Custer and several other officers were later removed and taken east to be buried. General Custer is buried at West Point. Now my grand children have a homework assignment completed, all they need to do is copy it and turn it in. I did come across two things that I want to research, two of the soldiers killed at the Little Big Horn weree named Harrington. The first was an officer, Lt. Henry Moore Harrington and the second was an enlisted soldier by the name of Weston Harrington. Henry is a very common name in the Harrington lineage, when I researched the lineage several years ago this same name appeared several times.

Again today, we saw hundreds of deer but coming into the plains of South Dakota, we started seeing hundreds of antelope so they are now added to out wildlife list, still no moose!

Tomorrow, we have a short drive into Deadwood, SD, this is the location that Wild Bill Hickcock was shot in the back while playing poker, holding aces and eights, the dead man's hand. From there, we have just a few miles and visit Mt. Rushmore, it will be a busy day but I am sure interesting.

The world famous, Yellowstone River! Big trout, good fishing.

Terry at the site of the battle of Little Big Horn. The grave markers behind her are family members of those soldiers killed during this engagement. The cemetery is still being used.

These are markers that show where the soldiers fell during the battle. You will see these markers throughout the area, these with the fence around them is on he knoll where Custer and his men were killed. The marker with the black inscription is that of Custer.

This plague is at the based of the marble monument marking the mass grave site of those killed. Their names are inscribed on this marker, including the two Harrington names. Might be able to read it better by enlarging.

Have a good day and see you on down the road.