Day Three

Laurel, MT to Keystone, SD
354 Miles

Our first stop, which we almost didn't do but I changed my mind, was the Little Bighorn Battlefield. Wow. I've read articles and books about the battle, but being there was something altogether different. What really surprised me was how large the area was between the two major battle areas (the "Last Stand" area and the area where Reno's troops were). The white marble markers showing where soldiers dropped and the red granite markers showing where the Indian warriors dropped (of which there are too few, mostly due to lack of info) really brought home how much carnage there was.



And having the mental pictures of the battle overlaying the reality of today (beautiful day, heard crickets and meadowlarks and other small birds, smelled sweet flowers and grasses, saw butterflies) made for a disquieting juxtaposition. As it has been said time and again - war sucks.



As we left the Battlefield we took a smaller highway continuing east. We now know where the deer and antelope play! We saw several regular deer and lots of Pronghorn. Which, as it turns out, are not antelope at all. Who knew?!

We continued on to an even smaller highway and saw ... dun dun DUN! the Devil's Tower.



Yep, the monolithic remains of an upchucking volcano. It was very cool to drive around a curve and have it on the horizon. We didn't actually go into the National Park, but I was able to take photos from several vantage points.



After that we continued on (blah blah blah) and we're staying the night in Keystone, SD. Keystone is home to Mt. Rushmore and was home to Carrie Ingalls (Swanzey), one of Laura Ingalls Wilder's sisters.