Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

On our way to visit family this summer, my hubby and I decided to take a 55 mile detour to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. While not one to know a whole lot about battle and war, I knew my husband really wanted to see this. Since we were not a a particular time schedule, this was the perfect time to visit this historic site.

Spread across miles of rolling hills in central Montana, the site tells a story so different from what we learned in our history classes. The site includes a cemetery for war heroes from the 1800 through today. This space is also national cemetery and while we were visiting, there was a funeral occurring, which made it even more special.

Wandering through the site, you can read headstones of past heroes, plaques about the soldiers from The Battle of the Little Bighorn, visit the Indian Memorial, and museum. There are guided tours and even ranger talks, which we were excited to listen to one about the battle itself.

Standing at the top of the ravine where General Custer fell, there stands Memorial which is actually a mass grave for many of the soldiers that fell in that area. It looks out over the amazing countryside and listening to the ranger tell the story, you can just envision the battle taking place. Scattered throughout the miles of countryside, you can see headstones marking where a solider or Indian fell.

It is a peaceful, serene place that is something you need to see. We spent about 2 hours there and even though it was not a scheduled stop, we were so impressed and glad that we made the time to see it.

Our land is rich with history and this monument is worth the effort to visit. Not just for history buffs only!