The Ray Adventures: Deer Lodge, Mt. to Spearfish, SD

Tues., Sept. 23,Wednesday, Deer Lodge, Montana is halfway between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks if that helps you visualize where it is located. It is the second oldest city in Montana, established in 1862 because of gold discovery nearby. We decided to stay off the road for a couple of days, we were getting a little road weary. The first morning we were there we took Luci for a nice long walk (talk about cabin fever) to pick up a geo cache. We looked across the street to a sign for Grant-Kohrs Historic National Site. We took her back to the coach and drove over to see what it was all about. Johnny Grant settled in the valley in 1859 among the Indians and Mexican tribal people attracted by fur trade, then gold was discovered. The ranch grew to 27,000 acres by the early 1900's. In 1866 Grant sold the ranch to Kohrs, for a little over $19,000. Our tour guide made the whole experience come alive, she's been at the ranch as a Ranger for over 35 years. Our tour through the house was amazing, the great grandson of Kohrs gave all the property and house to the National Parks. completely furnished just as if they walked out the door. Mrs. Kohrs. a tiny little lady from Germany, was an accomplished needlepoint and beader, much of the home furnishings were from her hand. The guide gave us a recipe for Mahogany cake with chocolate frosting.  She said the cake is comparable to Red Velvet cake.  After our tour we  went to the Old Montana State Prison that served as a prison from 1871 to 1979 for a self guided tour. Makes a me glad I didn't choose a life of crime. One of the towers was damaged from a bazooka type weapon in the 1959 riot. We discovered after we left town that they built a new prison in Deer Lodge a few miles out of town. After the prison tour we went to the Montana Car Museum that houses cars from the 1800's to the 1970's including my favorite car a 1955 T-Bird.

Thurs. Sept. 25, We left for the Billings Elks club for a quick overnight stay, a drive of over 265 miles that took us over the continental drive summit of 6393 feet. This is the first Elks club we've stopped at since Gary became an Elk, we stayed in the parking lot with no hook-ups for $10.00. All of the clubs we've tried to visit have all seen better days with limited hours and looking quite long in the tooth. The Billings Elks is a thriving club with an attached tennis complex.

Friday, Sept. 26, Up and out early, we didn't disconnect the car so we got on the road pretty quick. We had a short drive to Garryowen, Mt., home of Custer's Last Stand or better known as "where Custer got his "butt" kicked. We stayed at 7th Ranch RV park, a large park terraced down the hill with over 100 space, our space was at the top of the hill. What a great place for Luci, we could take her up the hill with no leash to let her run. We are discovering most RV parks in the area close for the season Oct. 1st., there were only about 5 other rigs in the park. No neighbors, we were able to keep the blinds up all the time. The weather has been great, still in the 80's, the forecast doesn't sound good in a few days, I suppose it'll be time for long pants and coats. After getting set up we went to the Custer Museum, where the battle started. We watched a 25 minute video that helped "me" put the timeline in my head. There were indian and military artifacts as well as weapons for both.   The native women's beading is amazing.

Saturday Sept. 27, Well the forecast was right, it has cooled down with a breeze, on went the longer pants and coats. We'd put off going to the battlefield so it wouldn't be "hot". Our RV park is only a a few miles from Custer's Last Stand. It was one of America's most significant battles, Custer, et al., wanted control of the area and to send the Indians to live on reservation lands. The Indians were fighting to keep their way of life. The signs at Little Big Horn Battle field said they were not going to change the word Indians to Native Americans on their granite monuments. The poor Indians, talk about winning the battle but losing the war, they still ended up living on reservations. On the 25th and 26th of June 1876 Custer and back up's Reno and Benteen underestimated the size of the Lakota and Cheyenne Indian tribes, Custer ordered the two other divisions down toward the meandering Little Big Horn River while Custer went (the wrong way) up over the hills. he and his company met their maker on what is now called Last Stand Hill. Reno heard all the gunfire and headed up to help, seeing all the enemy, he beat feet away. Custer and 210 of his men were killed while only 50 of Reno's men died. Some of the soldiers shot their horses to use as a shield against the Indians. The remains of the men were buried a few days later where they laid. Archeologist's later moved their remains to the top of the hill monument as well as about 40 horses. Across the road is a memorial for the Indians lost. Now there are headstones where each man fell, an area over about 5 miles long. There is also a National Cemetery at the park where military veterans and their familes are buried, always a sobering sight.

Sunday, Sept. 28, We left for Bowman, ND to pick up a geo cache before heading down to Spearfish South Dakota. The weather was cold and we were grumpy so we decided to go out to dinner. Our only choice was Windy's Bar and Grill, with a limited Sunday night menu we chose a pizza, half sauerkraut. My half was the sauerkraut, Delish! We caught a little Sunday night football while we were there. The campground was a city park due to close Oct. 1, so we just about had the park to ourselves. Heading toward South Dakota tomorrow should be warmer it's further south. We have seen a lot of oil wells, even though Bowman is barely in ND.

Monday, Sept. 29, We woke up to a heavy mist or low fog, whatever, it was cold and damp, we left about 9:30 for Spearfish, SD. We stopped at Belle Fourche, pronounced Bell Foosh, the Coast Guard and the Geodetic Survey determined BF the official center of the Nation, actually it is 20 miles north of town, the granite monument is located at the Visitor Center in town. One of the reasons they chose the town location was the actual spot was full of rattlesnakes. Ewwwwww. We had lunch at The Green Bean in historic downtown BF, a popular coffee house. We arrived at the Spearfish City Campground about 2:30, it also will be closing Oct. 1, so the camp was just about deserted. Spearfish/Belle Fouche are the northern end of the badlands. I went off to Wal-mart, we were running low on groceries being out in the middle of nowhere for quite a while. Gary and Luci took a nice long walk.

Tuesday, Sept. 30., We woke up in the night listening to heavy rain on the roof, it continued until early afternoon today accumulating over 3 inches. The sun came out after lunch so we were able to get out. Right across the street from the campground is D.C. Booth a historic national fish hatchery that was created in 1896. Something I hadn't thought about, but unlike present times where the fingerlings are transported by trucks, they we moved by Railcars that were remodeled from passenger trains to haul large cans of fish to distant lakes. They used ice to keep the fish cold. I wouldn't have done well living in that generation, I'm such a sissy, We walked around the hatchery, there were some nice trails up the hills for an overlook of the property and the beautiful stone formations in the area. It was such a cold nasty day I made chili for dinner. That warmed us up.

Enjoy the pictures, as usual a little out of order.

TTFN,

Gary and Pam                 National Cemetery at Little Big Horn Cemetery