DEVIL'S TOWER TO LITTLE BIGHORN
We arrived @ our camp site just as the rain was clearing off the giant tower. This scupture was made by Japanese artist Junkyu Muto. It is the third in a series of seven sculptures dedicated to world peace. It's title is "The Sacred Cirle of Smoke".
The land surrounding the tower is sacred to many of the indigenous tribes in the area. It figures into a Kiowa legend about the origin of the Pleiades constellation. Many people come there and leave prayer flags and medicine bag offerings.
The Belle Fouche river flows through the campground. Wild turkeys and prairie dogs dominate the landscape.
Well...then there's this...
Time to move on
to a clash of cultures Lakota-Cheyenne
VS
US Calvery
The Little Bighorn Battlefield lies on a broad plain just off I-90 in Montana. Also known as Custer's Last Stand, it commemorates a battle that was a victory for for the Lakota and Cheyenne people and a defeat for Custer's troops. The (darker) grave marker in the middle of the the second photo is the site where Custer fell and was originally buried.
The site has been a national cemetery since 1890- Custer's remains were moved to a cemetary at West Point in1877.
In the 1990's the park service placed grave markers to commemorate some of the fallen Cheyenne warriors. There was also an Indian memorial (erected in the 90's)telling about the battle from the perspective of native people.
We all know how that went...
...and let's not forget the horses!