Motoring was an adventure in the early 20th century and people usually didn't travel very far from home. Most roads were choked with dust during the summers, knee-deep in mud in the rainy seasons, and blocked by snowdrifts in the winters. But as more people bought cars, they demanded better roads. Some banded together and formed organizations dedicated to the construction of good roads, which, they believed, increased commerce and made for prosperous communities. One way to prosperity was through tourism. Tourists stayed in local hotels or auto camps, ate in restaurants, and spent money in local businesses. For many communities, like West Yellowstone and Ennis, a good road was just as important as the railroad.

By the mid-1910s, many out-of-state and local promotors established road associations to designate roads that connected important tourist attractions, like Yellowstone and Glacier national parks. The auto associations gave the routes colorful and evocative names, like Yellowstone Trail, Park-to-Park Highway, Electric Highway and Theodore Roosevelt International Highway. In Montana, the roads mainly connected Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, with "laterals" to other important attractions like Little Bighorn Battlefield, By 1925, there were fourteen "named" highways crisscrossing the Treasure State, each with their own colorful symbols blazing the way.

In 1923, businessmen and promoters in Madison, Jefferson, and Silver Bow counties banded together to form the Vigilante Trail Association, one of the last such road organizations formed in Montana. The trail, which conjured images of stalwart pioneers battling dastardly road agents in Montana's mining camps, provided a connection between West Yellowstone and Butte. The Vigilante Trail was marked with a round red, white and blue shield with the dreaded vigilante symbol 3-7-77 featured prominently in the middle. The route passed through country steeped in Montana's early history, including Virginia City and Alder Gulch. The 160-mile road also grazed some of Montana's best fisheries, including the Madison River, "the fisherman's paradise of the West."

Rest In Peace

Taking a break by the side of the road is as old as traveling itself. In the American West, rest areas consisted of wherever you stopped and got down off your horse. Sometimes it meant getting out of a stagecoach and stretching your legs for a bit at a stage station. But with the arrival of the automobile in the early twentieth century, things became a little more complicated. You could still pull over and do what you needed to do, but that practice was discouraged in many areas. Local businesses encouraged motorists to stop in their communities and take advantage of the services they had to offer, but stops in rural areas were still left to the whims of the driver and their passengers.

The MDT constructed its first rest area in 1934. But it was not until 1962 that the department adopted a policy and began planning for rest areas adjacent to the state's Interstate and two-lane highways. The MDT soon adopted a standardized design for restroom buildings surrounded by a park-like setting with picnic shelters, garbage receptacles, benches, and interpretive markers recounting the history of the area. The intent was to "provide small pockets of beauty along our highway in which weary motorists can rest in peace." This rest area was originally developed in 1966.

Today, highway rest areas remain an important part of Montana's transportation system. There are currently over fifty rest areas in the state. Like their predecessors, each Montana rest area is unique and provides motorists with a place to take a break, read an interpretive sign or two, and view the state's incredible scenery.

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.

For three months the members of the Nez Perce non-treaty bands had been constantly on the move evading the military. Scouts ranged in front and guarded behind the traveling village of mostly children, women and old people, as they sought safety and the hope of peace in Canada with Sitting Bull's band of Sioux. Guided for a time by a white miner captured at Yellowstone Lake, the Nez Perce now followed an obscure path over the Absaroka divide.

When General Howard's command passed through Cooke City, they found miners barricaded and ready to repulse an attack. But the Nez Perce had by-passed the area, traveling along a drainage south of here. The Army then proceeded over Colter Pass and found the abandoned Nez Perce camp at Crandall Creek. From here history swept Nez Perce and army troops across the Yellowstone River and north to the Bear Paws Mountains and the final battle of the war.

Passing through rough terrain

The Army had a difficult time tracking the Nez Perce through this country. Which way to go? The Indians might be traveling through the Wind River, Stinking Water River, or the Clark's Fork out of Yellowstone

Park. Colonel Sturgis' 7th Cavalry was maneuvering to cut them off before they emerged from the mountains, while General Howard's command doggedly kept up the push from behind. The army scouts had been killed, breaking communication between the two commands and adding to the confusion.

The Absaroka divide was some of the toughest country the army had yet to cross. Relentlessly climbing by day, their blankets whipped off by the freezing wind at night, many of the soldiers thought they were not going to make it.

It was an even more remarkable journey over this very rugged terrain for the Nez Perce. Not only did they face the same hardships of cold and the physically demanding trail, but they were also able to successfully hide the passing of 800 people and 3,000 horses for almost 85 miles.

The Nez Perce camped near here on Horse Prairie Creek, Aug. 12 1877 following the Battle of the Big Hole Aug. 9-10. General Howard was summoned when beating drums arroused [sic] the citizens of Bannack. Women and children were quartered in the Meade Hotel where extra food, water and bedding were assembled. Dirt and log breastworks were thrown up at these two hill top sites but no attack took place. When Howard arrived the 14th, the Indians had left.

Be silent, close you eyes, and listen to the breeze as it rustles through the prairie grasses. To many, the whispering sounds make this a spiritual place. Hunans have defined this lans by its uses and the emotions it stimulates.

First Inhabitants

The Rosebud Valley was home to nomadic hunter/gatherer groups many centuries ago. The first accounts come from the oral traditions of historic tribal groups. Ancestors of the tribes that inhabit the Northern Plains today came hunting for bison, deer, elk, pronghorn, and bear, which provided not only food, but clothing, shelter, utensils and ornamentation.

Although designated as Montana Territory at the time of the Rosebud Battle, the Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, Crow, and Arapahoe considered this place their free and open homeland.

Homesteaders

Following the Rosebud Battle and confinement of tribal groups to reservations, this part of Montana began to fit with homesteaders who fenced and farmed the land. The first homesteader on the battleground field, August Ahrens, arrived in 1898. Since then, cattle ranching has dominated the land use. Elmer "Slim" Kobold was the last private landowner, Arriving in 1911, the assisted in placing battlefield monuments and conducted amateur excavations.

Preservationists "Slim" Kobold worked to ensure lasting protection for the battlefield. In 1972, a portion of the battlefield was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The probability of coal mining in the immediate vicinity prompted Kobold to sell the property to the State of Montana in 1978, to be designated as a state park. The 3,052-acre park does not encompass the entire battlefield.

Erected by Montana State Parks.

Throughout time, the value of this place has been connected to its rich resources.

Indian families, area landowners, the State of Montana, heritage groups, and conservation organizations, each from their own perspective, acknowledge the value of the Rosebud Battlefield.

Concerned that impending mining would damage the land, these groups called upon the state legislature to use Montana Coal Tax Fund monies to purchase the core battlefield area, In 1978, 3,052 acres of the battlefield became a state park almost exclusively surrounded by private lands.

Today, coal bed methane extraction remains a threat to the park. While Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) owns the surface acres within the state park boundary, it has no ownership of the subsurface mineral rights, which are controlled by a mix of private interests and other government agencies whose mission is different than FWPs. Proponents of park preservation fear that mining and drilling operations will destroy prehistoric and battle-related archeological (sic) objects and will obliterate the landscape's splendor

Erected by

Montan Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

"They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one: they promised to take our land and they took it." - Chief Red Cloud, Oglala Sioux

Major Conflicts of the Plains Indian War

August 19, 1854 Gratten Massacre, Wyoming

September 2, 1855 Battle of Ash Hollow, Nebraska

November 29, 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, Colorado

December 21, 1866 Battle of One Hundred Slain, Wyoming

November 27, 1868 Battle of Washita River, Oklahoma

March 17, 1876 Battle of the Powder River, Montana

June 17, 1876 Battle of the Rosebud, Montana

June 25, 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn, Montana

September 9-10, 1876 Battle of Slim Buttes, South Dakota

January 8, 1877 Battle of Wolf Mountain, Montana

December 19, 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, South Dakota

The Plains Indian War - 1854 to 1890

This was a turbulent period in the United States. Conflicts broke out when settlers and miners invaded tribal lands, claiming rights to the land and demanding protection from Indian retaliation. In response, the government broke or rewrote treaties. Reservations were eliminated, combined or reduced, leaving most tribes outdid their ancestral homes. The US Army's mission was to move tribes onto the reservations. Tribal elders and members of warrior societies were divided between those who wanted to make peace and those who favored armed defiance. Many family bands evaded the Army or escaped the reservations to continue their traditional nomadic lifestyles. Conflicts escalated and widespread war raged.

The Battle of the Rosebud was significant in two ways: Energized and untied after their success here, the Cheyenne and Sioux moved to join other tribes in a huge encampment on the Little Bighorn River. Though General Crook's mission was to find and capture the Sioux, the Battle of the Rosebud had depleted his Army's provisions. Crook decided to return to Wyoming for rest and resupply. As a result, Crook's soldiers were unavailable eight days later when the 7th Cavalry engaged the same warriors at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. We can only imagine the outcome of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, had Crook's 1,051 troops come to Custer's aid.

The discovery of gold in the West offered new hop for those impacted by the Civil War. Thousands migrated west, first by wagon along the Oregon, California, Santa Fe, Bozeman and Mormon Trails, and later by rail.

The words of those engaged in the Battle of the Rosebud, and the people still affected, tell a narrative of the conflict's significance.

Kase'eetsevo' estanevosehaesta'tanemo (The Fight Where The Girl Saved Her Brother)

Cheyenne warrior Comes-In-Sight had his horse shot from under him, making him an easy target for the soldiers and scouts. Seeing his desperate situation, his sister, Mutsemiuna (Buffalo Calf Road Women), mounted a horse and galloped through a storm of bullets to reach her brother. As friend and foe watched, Comes-In-Sight jumped on the back of her mount and together they escaped to safety. In her honor, the Cheyenne people often refer to the Battle of the Rosebud as "The Fight Where the Girl Saved Her Brother." Mutsimiuna also fought beside her husband, Mo'ohtaveo'kohome (Black Coyote) at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

"As a Cheyenne woman, I am proud to know that our Cheyenne women also fought to protect our land, culture and children. We need to protect the future generations of Cheyenne so we can remain strong." - Emily Walks Alone, Descendent of Buffalo Calf Road Woman, 2005

In their words...

"On June 17, 1876, the troops under General Crook fought...at the head of Rosebud Creek. I was in that engagement, and we fought for 9 o'clock in the morning until 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon. (These were) the same (warriors) that moved over to the Little Big Horn after the fight." - Corporal James Ramer "The Indians proved then and there that they were the best cavalry on earth. In charging up toward us, they exposed little of their persons, hanging on with one arm around the neck and leg over the horse, firing and lancing from underneath the horse's necks, so that there was no part on the Indian at which we would aim." - Captain Anson Mills "It was a big fight. Warriors and enemies of all sorts were there. The Crow Indians were there. Cheyenne, Ogalala, Miniconjous, San Arcs, Hunkpapas, all these tribes were present, fighting together. It was a hard fight, a really big battle. I lived up to my good name and counted five coups. - White Bull, Lakota Sioux "The Indians and the scouts jumped on their horses and just then the Sioux came charging down over the hills. But the troops were not ready to meet the attack, so the Crows met the first charge of the Indians, and I believe it it had not been for the Crows, the Sioux would have killed half of our command before the soldiers were in position to meet 2. Rosebud Battlefield/Where the Girl Saved Her Brother Markers the attack." - Frank Grouard, Scout for the Third Cavalry "When the grass was tall and the horses strong, we broke camp and started across the country to the mouth of the Tongue River. Then Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse and all went up the Rosebud. There we had a big fight with General Crook and whipped him..." - Two Moons, Northern Cheyenne "We had beaten the white men soldiers. Our scouts followed them far enough to learn that they were going farther and farther away from us. We did not know of any other soldiers hunting for us...There were feasts and dances in all of the camps." Wooden Leg, Northern Cheyenne.

(US Army)

1325 Combined Fighting Forces:

978 Cavalry & Infantry 176 Crow Warriors 86 Shoshone Warriors 65 Montana Prospectors 20 Packers

5 Correspondents & Reporters

Killed: 9 Soldiers 1 Indian Scout 6 Crow & Shoshone

• ---------------- (Indians) 1200 (estimated)

Combined Fighting Forces:

Warriors of the Northern Cheyenne, Sioux & Arapahoe

Killed (estimated): 25 Sioux 1 Northern Cheyenne (Black Sun) "I do not wish to be an old man.

This day is mine to die."

Black Sun's War Song at the Rosebud

"In grateful recognition of the valor and sacrifice of the soldiers killed in action fought on these grounds, between the United States Forces under General George Crook and Sioux and Cheyenne Indians under Chief Crazy Horse. June 17, 1876. 3rd U.S. Cavalry

Sergt. David Marshall Pvt. Brooks Conner

Sergt. Anton Neukirchen Pvt. Eugene Flynn

Pvt. William W. Allen Pvt. Allen Mitchell

Pvt. Richard W. Bennett Pvt. George Potts

Pvt. Gilbert Roe

Erected by Shining Mountain Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Billings and citizens of Rosebud and Big Horn Counties, Montana. Dedicated June 17, 1934."

Erected 1934 by Shining Mountain Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Billings and citizens of Rosebud and Big Horn Counties, Montana.

The Beaverslide

Patented in 1910 in the Big Hole Valley, this device stacks hay for outside storage in a wind-proof loaf-shaped stack that could rise 30 feet high and contain up to 20 tons of hay. Horse-drawn buckrakes pushed cut hay to the beaver slide. A steel cable or heavy rope, tethered to horses, fed through a pulley to raise the hay basket on the stacker, dropping the hay onto a stack. This stacker decreased the time it took to build a haystack.

Erected by Montana History Foundation & Gallatin Canyon Women's Club.

Jim Bridger arrived in Montana in 1822 as a member of a Rocky Mountain Fur Co. brigade. He roamed the entire Rocky Mountain region and often came through this part of the country. A keen observer, a natural geographer and with years of experience amongst the Indians, he became invaluable as a guide and scout for wagon trains and Federal troops following the opening of the Oregon Trail. He shares honors with John Colter for first discoveries in the Yellowstone Park country. He was prone to elaborate a trifle for the benefit of pilgrims. It was Bridger who embroidered his story of the petrified forest by asserting that he had seen “a peetrified bird sitting on a peetrified tree singing a peetrified song.” The Clark Fork of the Yellowstone was named for Capt. Wm. Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Chief Joseph led his band of Nez Perce Indians down this river when he made his famous retreat in the summer of 1877.

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.

Jim Bridger arrived in Montana in 1822 as a member of a Rocky Mountain Fur Co. brigade. For years he had no more permanent home than a poker chip. He roamed the entire Rocky Mountain region and often came through this part of the country. A keen observer, a natural geographer and with years of experience amongst the Indians, he became invaluable as a guide and scout for wagon trains and Federal troops following the opening of the Oregon Trail.

He shares honors with John Colter for first discoveries in the Yellowstone Park country. He was prone to elaborate a trifle for the benefit of pilgrims and it was Jim who embroidered his story of the petrified forest by asserting that he had seen “a peetrified bird sitting on a petrified tree singing a peetrified song.”

The Clark Fork of the Yellowstone was named for Capt. Wm. Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Chief Joseph led his band of Nez Perce Indians down this river when he made his famous retreat in the summer of 1877.

In 1806, Captain William Clark and his crew traveled through here on horseback moving quickly on their return trip to St. Louis. Arriving at present day Jackson Hot Springs in the afternoon of July 7th, they stopped to experiment with cooking in the water that Clark later wrote "bubbers with heat." That night, camped less than a mile east of where you stand now, Clark noted in his journal that "this butifull extensive valley" is "extreemly fertile" - and he called it "the hot spring Vally." French trappers referred to it as the "Big Hole," their term for a large mountain-surrounded valley - and the name stuck.

Ranching first began in this area in the mid-1800s, in support of wagon trains on the Oregon Trail. For years thereafter, ranchers who lived elsewhere turned their cattle loose to graze these lands - and when the first person intending to live here arrived he found some 27,000 cattle already feeding in the Big Hole Valley. Ranchers learned that the natural rangelands here offered superb nutrition for cattle - grass-fed animals from this valley fetched the same high prices in midwestern markets as did grain-fattened cattle from other parts of the county. The Big Hole earned the nickname "Land of 10,000 Hay Stacks" because of the superiority of is native grasses - and because here, where the 'beaver slide' was first developed as a method of stacking hay, heaps of it looked like giant loaves of bread became a year-round sight.

Erected by Montana State University (Bozeman), Bureau of Land Management, Montana Stockgrowers Association.

For generations the Hamilton Ranch was widely-known as the Carroll Ranch - and it served as a vital link between the Big Hole and Beaverhead valleys. Its location at the base of this mountain pass made the ranch a perfect stopping point for stagecoaches, cattle drives and virtually every other kind of traveler throughout the frontier era and beyond. For years the ranch housed a team of relief horses for the postal delivery service. Even after motor vehicles became common, bad weather could make the roads impassable, forcing travelers to stop here. Family members recall that during the Great Depression no drifter was turned away hungry.

The Carroll Ranch spanned four generation. In 1903, Ann and Frank Carroll traded their homestead in nearby Polaris for a homestead here. They lived in tents with their eight children while constructing the first building, which they completed just in time for the winter of 1904. Over the years, the family acquired other homesteads, eventually expanding the ranch to encompass some 13,000 acres, from the northeast side of the pass all the way to Jackson. The Carroll family sold the ranch lands in the late 1950s, more than 100 years after their great-grandparents emigrated from Ireland. Yet the family name endures - Big Hole Pass is still known locally as Carroll Hill.

Erected by Montana State University (Bozeman), Bureau of Land Management, Montana Stockgrowers Association.

The Pryor Mountains to the east cover roughly 300,000 acres. Once entirely Crow Indian territory, now only the north end of the range is on the Crow Reservation. The south end is in the Custer National Forest. The range is bound on the east by Bighorn Reservoir and on the south by the Pryor Mountain National Wild Horse Range. The mountains came by their name indirectly for Pryor Creek, which Captain William Clark named for Lewis and Clark Expedition member Sergeant Nathaniel Pryor.

The Pryors hold many intriguing features, including ice caves, sinks, and caverns, and archeological finds, such as Clovis Points indicating human occupation as long ago as 10,000 years ago. In the south end of the range, remains of log and frame houses and barns attest to the homesteads staked after passage of the Forest Homestead Act in 1906. Most of the settlers come from this area. Though they cultivated some crops, for many homesteading was a pretense for mountain grazing on adjacent forest and reservation ranges. One forest ranger observed that some claimants had applied for places where it would be impossible to winter over, though to hear them talk "one would think that Pryor Mountain contained the biggest part of the Banana Belt and that pineapples grew wild."

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.

Glance out several hundreds feet across the meadow in front of you and you'll find an enclosed hot springs, bubbling with hot water and spewing out steam. On July 7, 1806, this "boiling hot spring" provided a late afternoon dinner stop for Captain William Clark, Sacagawea, and their return party as they crossed this "hot spring valley" en route to Camp Fortunate to retrieve the canoes and supplies they had cached the previous summer.

"...we arived at a Boiling Spring Situated about 100 paces from a large Easterly fork of the Small river which heads in the Snowey Mountains to the SE. & SW of the Springs. this Spring (15 yds in circumc, boils up all over the bottom which is Stoney) contains a very considerable quantity of water, and actually blubbers with heat for 20 paces below where it rises.. I directt Sergt. Pryor and John Shields to put each a piece of meat in the water of different Sises. the one about the Size of my 3 fingers Cooked dun in 25 minits the other much thicker was 32 minits before it became Sufficiently dun." - Captain W. Clark, July 7, 1806

A Well-Used Hot Springs

In 1833, fur trapper Warren Angus Ferris and his small company visited this site.

"The Indians" he wrote "have made a succession of little dams, from the upper end to the river; and one finds baths of every temperature, from boiling hot, to that of the river, which is too cold for bathing at any season."

Hot Springs & Big Hole Valley

These hot springs bear witness to the geothermic activity in the region. A fault system dropped the Big Hole Valley and raised the surrounding mountains. Fractured rock of the earth's crust allows water to percolate deep underground where it is heated and then rises to the surface as a hot springs.

Clark excerpt taken from: The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Volume Eight, Gary Mouton, Editor.

Ferris excerpt taken from: Life in the Rocky Mountains, Northland Press, 1983.

Erected by Camp Fortunate Chapter, Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation; Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.

Both before and since the passage of Lewis and Clark, the limestone outcrop in front of you served as an important landmark and meeting area. The Shoshone tribe, from whom Sacagawea had been kidnapped as a child, came to this area every summer. By the time members of the Corps of Discovery caught sight of the rock on August 5, 1805, they had been watching for it for days. and were growing desperate. They needed to find it in order to meet up with the Shoshone, from whom they hoped to obtain horses—the only way they could cross the Rockies before winter. A few days later, they did indeed come upon the Shoshone, whose chief-by an amazing coincidence-was Sacagawea's own brother.

By 1856, one of the ancient trails here had become the primary travel route used by the region's first ranchers for cattle drives. Once gold was discovered in the early 1860s, freight wagons used the Montana-Utah Road to bring supplies to prospectors and the settlers who followed them. In 1863, the present-day Beaver Gateway Ranch became the site of the Point of Rocks Stage Station, which included a hotel, saloon, and post office that operate until 1885. Roads to the Big Hole Valley and to Helena also converged here. Railroads built in the early 1880s made the stage route obsolete, but for at least 22 years nearly everyone traveling to of from Helena, Virginia City or Bannack passed through here.

"the Indian woman recognized the point of a high plain to our right which she informed us was not very distant from the summer retreat of her nation on a river beyond the mountains which runs to the west. this hill she says her nation calls the beaver's head from a conceived remblance of it's figure to the head of that animal. she assures us that we shall either find her people on this river or on the river immediately west of it's source; which from it's present size cannot be very distant." - Meriwether Lewis, August 8, 1805

Erected by Undaunted Stewardship.

Fur trappers came upriver in the wake of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806. These visitors left behind them tall tales of their adventures and a few trading posts scattered along the Yellowstone River. Southeastern Montana was Indian and buffalo country until the late nineteenth century. In March 1876, six companies of cavalry under the command of Colonel Joseph Reynolds attacked the village of famed Northern Cheyenne leader Two Moons about 36 miles south of here. During the day-long battle, soldiers captured the Cheyenne pony herd and burned the tepees, many of which were filled with ammunition. Later in the day, the Indians counterattacked, recaptured their horses, and forced the soldiers to retreat. Two warriors and four soldiers were killed in the battle. The skirmish strengthened the alliance between the Sioux and the Northern Cheyenne. It was one of the first battles in the Great Sioux War.

By the early 1880s, the buffalo had disappeared and the Indian Wars were a memory. The grasslands of southeastern Montana, drew the Texas-based Niobrara Cattle Company to the area. Within a generation, though, homesteaders' plows and barbed wire replaced the open range and high-heeled boots of the cowboys.

Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.

Fur trappers came upriver in the wake of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806. These visitors left behind them tall tales of their adventures and a few trading posts scattered along the Yellowstone River. Southeastern Montana was Indian and buffalo country until the late nineteenth century. In March 1876, six companies of cavalry under the command of Colonel Joseph Reynolds attacked the village of famed Northern Cheyenne leader Two Moons about 36 miles south of here. During the day-long battle, soldiers captured the Cheyenne pony herd and burned the tepees, many of which were filled with ammunition. Later in the day, the Indians counterattacked, recaptured their horses, and forced the soldiers to retreat. Two warriors and four soldiers were killed in the battle. The skirmish strengthened the alliance between the Sioux and the Northern Cheyenne. It was one of the first battles in the Great Sioux War.

By the early 1880s, the buffalo had disappeared and the Indian Wars were a memory. The grasslands of southeastern Montana, drew the Texas-based Niobrara Cattle Company to the area. Within a generation, though, homesteaders' plows and barbed wire replaced the open range and high-heeled boots of the cowboys.

Erected by Montand Department of Transportation.

1900

Broadus post office established, named after the Broaddus family.

1919

Powder River County formed. Frank Kelsey, Moorhead rancher and Custer County state senator, introduced the bill drawn up by A.W. Heidel, Helena attorney, to create Powder River County from the southern half of Custer County.

1920

Broadus named county seat. Margaret Trautman donated 80 acres for the townsite. When the town's streets were made, they were built wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage to turn around.

1939

Works Progress Administration (WPA) expands courthouse.

"One of my most vivid memories is plodding through the gumbo mud to the courthouse in wet weather."

—Winona Lewis Bryan, first County Superintendent of Schools

"After school, my grandmother always asked me to go get her a cold drink of water from the well on the courthouse square. I'd take a little lard pail, climb over the rock wall and get her water."

—I.D. Edwards

Erected by Montana State University, Powder River Extension.

Across the valley is the Continental Divide and the beautiful Bitterroot Mountains. The famous Big Hole River winds through the valley that is noted for abundant hay, fine cattle and horses, great hunting and fishing, beautiful scenery and friendly people.

Erected by VFW Post 9040.

Advancing down Reno Creek, Custer pauses at a tipi located behind this ridge. The tipi contains the remains of a Sans Arc warrior killed a week before at the Battle of the Rosebud. Indians flee toward the village, prompting Custer to order Reno's battalion to continue down the creek and attack. Custer's five companies separate, and pass near here after observing 60-75 mounted warriors on these bluffs. While Custer's motives are not known, he may have intended to strike the village downstream.

From this promontory 13 miles away in the Wolf Mountains, Custer's scouts observe the Lakota, and Cheyenne pony herd and evidence of a large village in the valley behind you. Convinced the Indians had spotted his regiment and would soon scatter, Custer decides to attack before they flee.

After an unsuccessful attack on the Indian camp in the valley, Major Reno and his battalion retreated to this vicinity where they were soon reinforced by Captain Benteen's battalion and the pack train.

In an attempt to find and rejoin Custer they moved northwest, but returned when confronted by warriors. Here the surrounded troops made a desperate stand until the next afternoon when the Indians withdrew as the Terry-Gibbon column approached.

Please obtain a trail guide booklet from adjacent stand. The self-guided tour takes about 45 minutes.

During Reno's retreat from the timber, Crazy Horse, Wooden Leg, Black Elk, and perhaps as many as 600 warriors chase the soldiers across the Little Bighorn River. Reno's casualties are 40 men killed and 13 wounded. The remnants of Reno's command occupy a new position on the bluffs where you are standing. Lakota and Cheyenne casualties are few.

Reno occupies a defensive position in the timber. Determined to defend their village, warriors soon penetrate the woods, convincing Reno that the position is untenable. After fighting for 30 minutes, Reno retreats across the Little Bighorn River.

After fording the Little Bighorn River one mile to your left, Reno’s battalion gallops down the valley below. Convinced he is vastly outnumbered, Reno dismounts, and forms a skirmish line across the valley floor, firing into the lodges.

Warriors in great numbers rush forward to defend the village. Outflanked, Reno retreats into the timber. Sitting Bull directs surprised noncombatants to flee to the north and west.

“The very earth seemed to grow Indians and they were running towards me.”

• Major Marcus Reno, 7th Cavalry

“They were fighting in regular Indian style, riding up and down, some few on foot and some few on the hills to the left passing around and coming in on our rear, filling the whole space in our rear, a mile or two, with scattered Indians riding about.”

• Lt. George Wallace, Co. G, 7th Cavalry

“The soldiers had crossed the river and were coming toward the camp . . . there were not many soldiers, and I knew they would be beaten because there were many Sioux and Cheyenne.”

• Waterman, Arapaho “I heard the alarm but I did not believe it. I thought it was a false alarm. I did not think it possible that any white men would attack us, so strong as we were.”

• Low Dog, Oglala Lakota

Erected by National Park Service.

From the Crow’s Nest, a vantage point 14 miles away in the Wolf Mountains, Custer’s Crow and Arikara scouts saw evidence of the massive Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho encampment. Convinced that he was discovered, Custer abandoned plans for a reconnaissance and a delayed attack. He divides his forces into four groups along Reno Creek deciding to strike the village before it could scatter. As Custer’s battalions approach the Little Bighorn Valley, he orders Major Marcus Reno with approximately 175 soldiers and scouts to cross the river and charge. Custer, with approximately 225 soldiers and scouts, veered to the northwest and appear on the ridge to your left for their first view of the village.

“Major Reno’s battalion marched down a valley that developed into the south branch of a small tributary to the Little Bighorn . . . the Indian trail followed the meanderings of this valley. Custer’s column followed Reno’s closely, bearing to the right and rear. The pack train followed their trail. Benteen’s battalion was ordered to the left and front.”

• Lt. Edward Godfrey, Co. K, 7th Cavalry

“I saw a cloud of dust rise beyond a ridge of bluffs in the east. The morning was hot and sultry. Several of us Indian girls looked towards camp and saw a warrior ride swiftly, shouting that soldiers were only a few miles away, and that the women and children, including old men, should run for the hills in the opposite direction.”

• Moving Robe Woman, Hunkpapa Lakota

Erected by National Park Service.

On this site in 1876 the historic Battle of the Little Big Horn began.

“When we stand side by side in the circle of no beginning and no ending, the first maker, creator of all things, is in the center. He hears the words of supplication and blesses us with his infinite love which is ‘peace’ itself.”

Joe Medicine Crow, Ph.D.

“High Bird” – Dagak Bako

Crow tribal Historian

Grandson of Custer’s Last Scout

Whiteman Runs Him

Forward Marker

Here rests in honored glory an

American soldier known but to God.

Member of Reno’s command found near river, June 1926

Erected 1995 by Custer Battlefield Museum, Inc.

Garryowen, the old Irish tune, was the regimental marching song of the 7th U.S. Cavalry, General Custer's command.

The Battle of the Little Big Horn commenced in the valley just east of here June 25, 1876, after Custer had ordered Major Marcus A. Reno to move his battalion into action against the Tribes of Sioux and Cheyennes, led by Chiefs Gall, Crazy Horse, Two Moons and the Medicine Man, Sitting Bull.

Reno, with 112 men, came out of the hills about 2½ miles southeast of here and rode within ¼ mile of the Indian camp where he was met by the Indians who outnumbered the soldiers ten to one. Dismounting his men Reno formed a think skirmish line west across the valley from the timber along the river. After severe losses he was forced to retreat to high ground east of the Little Big Horn where he was joined by Major Benteen's command. The combined forces stood off the Indians until the approach of Gibbon's column from the north on the following day caused the Indians to pull out. Reno and Benteen were not aware of Custers fate until the morning of the 27th.

June 25-26, 1876 - From the ridge to your right, Custer first views the village. Needing more information about the extent of the encampment, he moves further north. After witnessing the beginning of Reno's charge, Custer's five companies descend Cedar Coulee, the ravine to your immediate front. After Custer's destruction, this promontory was occupied by Lakota and Cheyenne warriors who poured a deadly and accurate fire into Reno and Benteen's besieged troops---thus the name Sharpshooter Ridge.

Erected by Little Bighorn Battlefield, National Park Service.

Here lie the remains of Two Moons

Chief of the

Cheyenne Indians who

Led his men against

General Custer In the Battle of Little Big Horn

June 25, 1876

Erected by

W.R. Moncure

Indian Trader

Erected by W.R. Moncure.

In an attempt to locate Custer, Company D under Captain Thomas Weir advances to this hilltop position without orders late on June 25. Weir may have witnessed the conclusion of the battle three miles ahead. He is later joined by Captain Benteen and others. The Lakota and Cheyenne, returning from destroying all of Custer’s immediate command, force these troops to abandon this position in favor of their hilltop defense one mile south.

“Seeing many horsemen over on the distant ridge with guidons flying, Weir said, ‘That is Custer over there.’ And mounted up ready to go over, when Sergeant Flanagan said: ‘Here, Captain, you had better take a look through the glasses; I think those are Indians.’ Weir did so and changed his mind about leaving the place. Accordingly the men were dismounted and the horses led behind the hill.”

• Pvt. William Morris, Co. M, 7th Cavalry

“We saw soldiers coming on a hill toward the south and east. Everybody began yelling: ‘Hurry!’ We started for the soldiers. They ran back toward where they had come from. One got killed, and many of us got off and couped him.”

• Standing Bear, Minneconjou Lakota

Erected by National Park Service.

This is the farthest point reached by Capt. Weir in his attempt to assist Custer. Minutes after arriving, his company was joined by Capt. Benteen's company and others. They remained about 45 minutes until mounting warrior pressure forced them back to the Reno- Benteen battlefield.

When Captain Meriwether Lewis and his men arrived in the Jefferson River Valley in August 1805, they explored the tributaries of the Jefferson River (today's Beaverhead River), which was named after President Thomas Jefferson. They named it tributaries Philanthrophy and Wisdom, in homage of the President's character. These rivers are now referred as the Ruby and Big Hole respectively.

During exploration, Captain Lewis made a broad loop south of present day Twin Bridges, observing the Ruby and Beaverhead Rivers. He walked about 15 miles up the Big Hole River before returning to his men. After this journey, he was convinced that the Jefferson River was he route to travel.

Erected by Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

Explorations of Lewis and Clark 1804-1806

Cartographic Reconstruction UTM Zone 12

Map Number 262-263

With only a sextant, chronometer, and compass in hand, Captain William Clark was able to map the entire exploration, Cartographer W. Plamondon has traced the trail and recorded the changes of the river's course in the last two hundred years.

Map courtesy of the Washington State University Press, digitally enhanced by Sea Reach Ltd. Background photo courtesy of Rick Graetz, Northern Rockies Publishing.

(There is a great deal of information and detail on this map; some of which has not been transcribed. Click on the images to enlarge them. Entries are presented from top to bottom then left to right best as can be determined:)

Cartographer's Note:

As the river symbols are becoming very narrow the cartographer will not shade the entire length of every water course believed to have flowed during the passage of the expedition. Shading will be used only where it will not compromise other data lines placed within the river banks.

Cartographer's Note:

The cartographer has generally shown the bold, solid, 1805 water line. This was done to ease interpretation by the map reader and does not indicate that the major streams have grown narrower during the past two centuries.

August 6, 1805 "...Drewyer Came to me from Capt. Lewis and informed me that they had explored both forks for 30 or 40 miles & that the one we were ascending was impracticati(c)able much further up & turned imediately to the North,..." Clark ➡︎

Camp (Lewis) Aug. 4, 1805

August 8, 1805 "at now R. Fields joined us had been hunting for Shannon but had not found him." Whitehouse ➡︎ (Note: the above entry covers a portion of a Cartographer's Note:) river tending to the west, .... he called the "Wisdom River." today's Big Hole River. They camped one mile up that fork and somehow made nine miles the following day. The beaver, in their way, had fallen many of the willow and young cottonwood trees growing along each bank. The travelers found themselves having to cut through these downed willows, chopping them in the water, to open a passage.

Camp (Lewis) Aug. 5, 1805 Approximate Area

August 6, 1805 "... we proceeded on with much dificuelty and fatigue over rapids and & Stonce; river about 40 or 50 yards wide much divided by Islands and narrow Bayoce (?) to a low bluff on the Stad. Side & Brackfast, ..." Clark ➡︎

July 11. 1806 "the wind rose and blew with great violence from the SW imediately off Some high mountains covered with Snow, the violence of this wind retarded our progress very much and the river being emencely crooked we had it imediately in our face nearly every bend." Clark ⬅︎

Cartographer's Note:

At this point Clark found it easier to base his traverse on land rather than trying to document every bend in the river. The length of the call distances were much longer than by river. Clark simply stated how many islands and bends appeared in the river. We have no reliable understanding of the definitions he used in identifying what was a bend or an island. How large did an island nee to be before Clark counted it. Channels and sloughs, other than the modern channels of the river, were used by the cartographer whenever descriptions in the journals seem to indicate a particular course.

August 6, 1805 "this report deturmind me to take the middle fork, accordingly Droped down to the forks where I met with Capt. Lewin & party, Capt. Lewis had left a Letter on a pole in the forks informing me what he had discovered & th(e) course of the river &c. this letter was cut down by the (beaver) as it was on a green pole & Carried off." Clark ➡︎

August 8, 1805 "... passed the left hand or North fork has 2 mouths empties in at 2 places but is not as large as the middle fork which we take." Ordway ➡︎

August 5, 1805 "... we ascended this fork about one mile and Encamped on an Island which had lately overflown & was wet we passed a part of the river above the forks which was divided and Scattered thro' the willows in such a manner as to render it difficuelt to pass through for a 1/4 of a mile, we were oblige to Cut our way thro' the willows," Clark ➡︎

August 7, 1805 "despatched R. Fields to hunt Shannon, who was out hunting, on Wisdom river at the time I returned down that Stream, ..." Clark ➡︎

August 8, 1805 "a clear cold morning. Sent out eairly to hunt." Whitehouse ➡︎

July 11, 1806 "at 6 P.M. I passed Phalanhrophy river which I proceved was very low." Clark ⬅︎

August 4, 1805 "... went about 6 miles when we came to a fork of the river; crossed the south branch and from a high knob discovered that the river had forked below us, as we could see the timber on the north branch about 6 or 7 miles from the south and west branches. We therefore crossed to the north branch, and finding it not navigable for our canoes, went down to the confluence and left a note for Capt. Clarke directing him to take the left hand branch. We then went up the north branch about 10 miles and encamped on it." Gass ➡︎

'August 7, 1805 "...Camped on the Lard. Side above the mouth of a bold running Stream 12 yards wide, which we call turf Creek from the number of bogs" Clark ➡︎

Camp Aug. 7, 1805

Camp Aug. 5, 1805

July 11, 1806 "Wisdom river is very high and falling." Clark ⬅︎

August 7, 1805 "...as our Store(s) were a little exorsted and one Canoe became unnecessary deturmind to leave one. " Clark ➡︎

(August 5, 1805)

"passed the mouth of principal fork which falls in on the Lard. Side, this fork is about the Size of the Stard. one less water reather not so rapid, its Course as far as can be Seen is S. E & appear to pass through between two mountains, the N W. fork being the one most in our course i.e. S 25 W. as far as I can See, deturmind me to take this fork as the principal and the one most proper..." Clark ➡︎

Camp Aug. 6, 1805

Return Camp 5. Madison County Fairgrounds Gazebo (Clark's Group) July 11, 1806

(July 11, 1806)

"at 7 P M I arrived at the Enterance of Wisdom River and Encampd. in the Spot we had encamped the of August last. here we found a Bayonet which had been left & the Canoe quite safe. I directed that all the nails be taken out of this Canoe and paddles to be made of her Sides..." Clark ⬅︎

You Are Here (in red)

Cartographer's Note:

Lewis and Clark scholars have, without a second thought, considered the modern fork of the Jefferson and Wisdom (Big Hole) Rivers as the forks that gave the explorers so much trouble. The traverse in this area proved so faithful and true that it was several hours of work later when this cartographer realized that the modern confluence had been passed. The only piece of journal or modern map evidence that argues against this higher or southern fork and the conclusion that today's Owlsey Slough was indeed the old course of the Wisdom River is the reported water distance of seven miles between the forks and the mouth of Turf Creek on the east fork. However, in the same traverse entry by Clark he gave the line of sight distance between those two points as one mile which would seem to clearly rule out the modern forks. Following the information in the traverse, there is a reference to a bayou precisely at the point of the modern confluence.

So much evidence pointed to this upstream or southern fork that the cartographer, in the interest of scholarly debate, has shown it as the most probable course of the Wisdom River in 1805.

Cartographer's Note:

During the day of August 3, 1805, Lewis and party were traveling south just off this map. They were staying to the bench that skirted the floodplain along this part of the Jefferson River. Travel through the boggy floodplain was difficult. They spent the night on the bench just before coming back into the area covered by this map. From the lay of the trees that lined rivers in this area. Lewis determined that the river forked just to the south and decided to spend the next day exploring the area.