Day 5 -- Bozeman to Garryowen, Montana -- 203 Miles

Today, leaving the Montana town of Bozeman, we did the expected and traveled the Bozeman trail for a good chunk of the day. Of the Bozeman trail Wikipedia says "In 1863, John Bozeman and John Jacobs scouted for a direct route from Virginia City, Montana [a then budding mining area] to central Wyoming to connect with the Oregon Trail, then the major passage to the West Coast. Before this, most access to the southwestern Montana Territory was from St. Louis via the Missouri River to Fort Benton. Thence travelers went by the 'Benton Road,' around the Great Falls and through the Chestnut, Hilger and Prickly Pear valleys (current site of Helena and Broadwater County, Montana)."

As you might guess, the various tribes of Native Americans living on and around the trail were less than pleased. Wikipedia continues: "Bozeman led the first group of about 2,000 settlers on the trail in 1864. Indian raids on white settlers increased dramatically from 1864 to 1866, which prompted the U.S. government to order the Army to carry out military campaigns against the Shoshone.

"Traffic along the trail increased following discovery of gold on Grasshopper Creek, Montana. The trail itself diverged from the Oregon Trail and the California trail to the north through the Powder River. William Tecumseh Sherman authorized construction of three forts in 1866 to guard travelers on the trail."

After years of conflict and several dozen deaths on the trail, the army eventually removed their forts, closed the trail, and recognized the Native American rights to the Powder River Country. An era of relative peace ensued. But this uneasy peace lasted only until General Custer's expedition found gold in the Black Hills of Montana and thousands of miners poured into the area in the mid 1870s. The most memorable battle in this renewed conflict came in 1876 when General Custer and 262 members of the 7th Calvary were massacred at the Little Bighorn just a few miles from the old Bozeman Trail.

Concetta and I visited the site of one Fort along the Bozeman trail this morning, that of Fort Parker (photo top left). Nothing remains of the Fort today but some plaques detailing the history of the Yellowstone River and the surrounding area. But from 1868 to the mid 1870s there was much commerce taking place at the Fort as settlers, Indians, and explorers exchanged goods and services there. Exploration of the valley by the U.S. Government goes back to the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition when Captain Clark and some of the expedition's crew, which split briefly from Captain Lewis' component, camped near the future location of Fort Parker on July 15, 1806.

As you so often find in history, transportation corridors can be found throughout the United States. A transportation corridor begins hundreds, even thousands of years ago with rivers and streams. On the banks of those rivers and streams wild animals establish migration trails that are then adopted by Native Americans as they travel to and from areas of trade, hunting, and even warfare. Later, as the fauna and Native peoples are pushed out, explorers and settlers adopt the rivers, streams, and trails as their principal trade and immigration routes. Still later military expeditions, canals, wagon roads, and railroads utilize these same well-worn paths between distinct geographic settled areas. Finally, in modern times, automobile roads absorb and broaden the age-old transportation corridors.

When we traveled the Bozeman Trail today we did so on a modern divided highway flanked by an old two-lane highway of nearly a hundred years ago. That old highway was paralleled by the railroad. All three were following the same path discovered by William Clark well over 200 years ago. Clark was simply following the nearby Yellowstone River, which was the very first component of the transportation corridor.

Our main destination today was the Custer Battlefield located on Interstate Route 90 Between Billings and Gerryowen, Montana. Though we've been to the site before, we found ourselves so enthralled back on our first visit in 2013 that we decided it deserved another look-see by the Happy Wanderers. Concetta especially was impressed by the Native American volunteer who narrated the story of the events that led up to the battle as well as the culmination of Custer's rash attempt to beat several thousand Sioux and Cheyenne warriors with a vastly smaller force.

This time, unfortunately, our events narrator was not a Native American and was not quite as accomplished as our last had been. But he gave it a good try. Speaking for myself, I'm always interested in the reading and research material that is available for sale in the gift shop. Though I am far from an authority on General Custer, I have recently read the two books, "Custer's Trials" and "The Glory Hunter" which do not seek to glorify the General, but to really explore his character thoroughly. But if you wanted to know about the the man or the battle or who he was facing on that fateful June day in 1876, you could do no better than visit the battlefield gift shop. There you'll find literally dozens of tomes on every single aspect of the battle and its participants. Personally, I bypassed all the traditional books on the battle and instead chose a nice large book on the equipment that Custer's men carried into battle. I was lucky to get it as it was the only one left.

Tomorrow we plan to revisit the Custer battlefield and take the self guided drive around the various key points on the bluff overlooking the Big Horn River. After that, we plan to jump onto Route 212, which diverges from Interstate 90 quite near the battlefield, then head for the very northeast corner of Wyoming. Beyond that we have no firm plans so we will see what crops up. Concetta says that she wouldn't mind staying in the super nice campground we visited in 2013 when we walked the paths to view the magnificent Mount Rushmore carvings and the equally magnificent sculpture of Crazy Horse nearby.

Right now we're sitting back in the shade of an old cottonwood tree, sipping a nice cocktail and sampling some equally nice cheeses and meats, and waiting for the day to finally cool off so we can ease into a relaxing dinner. We've managed to find a really nice campsite just a half dozen miles down Interstate 90 from the Custer battlefield.

It did have a gravel road on its approach, but once here we found that they've left lots of room between rigs and the whole park is so quiet you can here the sounds of ghostly gunfire from the 7th Calvary troopers and Indians as they re-fight the epic battle just over the hill. Out towards the west an equally epic sunset is bidding us farewell for a time as we make our way ever eastward toward the rising sun and the green fields of Ohio. So if you're in the area, give the 7th Ranch campground a try. As an added bonus they gave me a huckleberry ice cream sandwich just for checking in. Now how can you beat that?

So from southern Montana, the Happy Wanderers bid you exciting travels and rewarding destinations as you take to the highways of America and explore our rich heritage. There's nothing like it anywhere!