South-Western Adventure

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Matt & Scott’s South-Western Adventure

This is the story of Scott and his son Matt who headed off to the wild southwest in search of cowboys and Indians.

It was to be an adventure like no other, guns, ammo and cowboy hats galore. Through the searing heat of the Nevada desert, to the O.K. Corral, Little Big Horn and the bright lights of Los Vegas. Nothing could stop them, not even a 13 hour flight to LA.

Auckland to LAX
11 June 2010

Off to a good start, managed to secure some extra leg room over the wing next the emergency exit so Matt shouldn’t get too claustrophobic! Speaking of legs, yes Kate I got your foot in the mail and I’ll see what I can do about the cowgirl boots for you.

Once we had checking in the chilly bin full of camping supplies, we waited for out flight enjoying the privileges of the Air NZ first class lounge to the full extent.

We may not be able to upgrade but will do our best to eat and drink the lounge dry. But we have competition in the form of Fran’s old school mate who is off to Canada on some junket.

Joshua Tree National Park
12 June 2010

Things are going well, we arrived, got through immigration without a hitch, got the shuttle to the car rental place, and picked up or Hyundai Santa Fe four by 4pm, which is great. Then were on our way - thank god for satnav -the traffic getting out of LA was like Auckland on Friday afternoon, but our trusty satnav (Maria) got us through every turn.

We arrived at Joshua Tree National Park at about 7pm, both exhausted, luckily we had picked up some cold beer and sat in the evening breeze watching the sun go down. The park was great, and the facilities were spotless ($15).

Tom Mix Death Site
13 June 2010

We headed off this morning stopped and had breakfast in a little town called Desert Centre, Matt was introduced to the American dinner. Once out in the open we passed by the site of Tom Mix death, which is now aptly named Tom Mix Wash. Tom Mix was the star of many early Western movies, he made a reported 336 films, all but 9 of which were silent features (and no I don’t own most of them but I have watch a few over the years).

“On the 12 October 1940, Mix was driving his 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton on Arizona State Route 79 when he came upon construction barriers at a bridge previously washed away by a flash flood. A work crew watched as he was unable to brake in time and his car slid into a gully. A large polished aluminium suitcase he had put on the seat behind him flew forward and struck Mix in the back of the head, shattering his skull and breaking his neck.”

We drove through the desert to Phoenix where we logged on in the library. Then it was off to San Carlos for the night. Temp here is 74F which has helped shake off my flu. Matt is fine, if a bit jet lagged.

Geronimo & Gems

San Carlos was, for a time, home to the legendary Apache Chief - Geronimo, who led a successful Apache during the Indian wars towards the end of the 1880′s. He eluded capture by 5,000 soldiers who set out specifically to track him down and was reputed to have magical power.

Geronimo eventually surrendered in 1886, after being paraded around various Wild West Shows and riding during Roosevelt’s inaugural parade, Geronimo ended his days as a prisoner of war at Fort Sill, Oklahoma dying from pneumonia at the age of 79. According to Fort Sill, the remains of Geronimo are under a stone pyramid monument at Fort Sill where he was buried 100 years ago. However Geronimo is not at peace, to be more precise, he may be in pieces. His great grandson, Harlyn Geronimo launched a lawsuit against the US government , claiming that his remains are now held at Yale University.

“This refers to long-standing allegations that members of the Yale Skull and Bones Society, including Prescott Bush, the grandfather of George W Bush, broke into Geronimo's tomb and stole his skull and other bones to keep in their clubhouse in New Haven.”

Today the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation is one of the biggest in the country (like most reservations it looks like a war zone), the Cultural Centre is located in Peridot, out on Highway 70. Speaking of Peridot I’ve got emails from Fran screaming for stones.

“Peridot - Stone of the Sun - is the best known gem variety of olivine, a species name for a series of magnesium-iron rich silicate minerals. This bright yellow-green to green gemstone has caught the fancy of humans for thousands of years. Some historians even suspect that the "emeralds" worn by Cleopatra were actually peridot.”

The reservation produces over 80%!o(MISSING)f the world’s peridot (they sell it in 55 gallon drums) but sadly it’s not high quality large stones, mostly fragments. Only Native Americans from the San Carlos can mine for peridot around here so even if we do find some just lying on the ground, sorry Fran we just can’t go picking it up, even the bits that fall from space.

O.K. Corral Gunfight
14 June 2010

Well we had to come here didn’t we, Matt is over his jet lag and he really enjoyed Tombstone. The town is more of a tourist set up then a museum, but it’s done well with performers dressed up all around the place and a daily re-enactment of the famous fight.

“The gunfight at the O.K. Corral occurred at about 3:00 PM on Wednesday, October 26, 1881. Despite its name the gunfight did not actually take place at the O.K. Corral - it actually occurred in a vacant lot next to Camillus Fly's photography studio, six doors down Fremont Street from the rear entrance to the O.K. Corral. Although only three men were killed during the gunfight, it is generally regarded as the most famous gunfight in the history of the Old West.

The immediate cause of the conflict that led up to the fight was the arrest by deputy federal marshal Virgil Earp of Ike Clanton, for disorderly conflict. After been fined $25 Ike was released, drunken threats made against the Earps which set them on guard. When the Clanton and McLaury brothers arrived in town on horseback the next day fully-armed, two were shot dead, as was a cowboy standing with them who had illegally failed to surrender his pistol the previous day.

The three Earp brothers and Doc Holliday were eventually exonerated of the killings, but later assassinations and assassination attempts against the Earps over the next six months led to a series of killings and retributions, in which Virgil Earp permanently crippled and his brother Morgan killed. The Earps and Holliday were also forced to flee the territory to Colorado and California, never to return to Arizona.”

Johnny Ringo Murder Site
15 June 2010

We are currently in Douglas, drove down from Tombstone this morning, with a side trip out in the boonies to visit Johnny Ringo’s grave.

”On July 14, 1882, Johnny Ringo was found dead in the crotch of a large tree in West Turkey Creek Valley with a bullet hole in his right temple and an exit at the back of his head. Ringo's revolver, one round expended, was found hanging from a finger of his hand. His body had apparently been there overnight since the previous day. His feet were wrapped in pieces of his undershirt. His boots were found tied to the saddle of his horse, which was captured two miles away. A coroner's inquest officially ruled his death a suicide. Nonetheless, many years afterward, Wyatt Earp's wife of 47 years attributed the killing to Earp and Doc Holliday, with the former delivering the fatal shot to the head from a distance with a rifle.

Johnny Ringo is buried near the same spot where his body was found, on the West Turkey Creek Canyon (31°51′49″N 109°20′16″W); the spot is near the base of the tree in which he was found, which has recently fallen over.”

Pat Garrett Grave Site

We passed through Las Cruces where Pat Garrett is buried. Back in 2000 when Hel and I passed through here we had to hunt down the grave which is harder then it sounds as there are no signs or indication of where to look. We eventually found a likely candidate in and old catholic graveyard and I was pretty chuffed, till Hel said “wasn’t he a Mason?” so it was across the road a bit and sure enough a much more well kept grave.

We ended the day right on the boarder with Old Mex and walked over in evening for dinner before finding a camp ground. Weather is balmy, deep blue sky, should be in New Mex tomorrow.

Fountain Murder Site
16 June 2010

We stared the day having to round up our belongings after a Racoon / Mountain Lion had finished with out camp site… must remember to be more of a tidy kiwi, the local wildlife around here is worse then Weka’s. Mat had a fit and decided that he has had enough of a) putting up with my snoring in the tent, and b) the hard ground. So we stopped off along the way and picked up some blow up lilos, Mat intends to sleep in the truck from now on.

We ended the day sitting on a concrete bench in Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, wearing or new cowboy hats (look’n more like Tom Mix - not Hos), drinking beer, looking out across the Dog Canyon Ranch and the Tularosa Basin (outside Alamogordo). The temp is 100F The sky is blue, blue, blue and we call look right out to the spectacular escarpment of Sacramento Mountains and amazing Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks exposed along the canyon.

Dog Canyon was a favourite camping area for the Mescalero Apaches, it was the scene of several battles including one in 1863 where soldiers attacked a group of Mescalero’s, and the survivors were sent to the Bosque Redondo Reservation.

Well that may keep Matt happy, but I am here travelling in the footsteps of Pat Garrett, Pat passed through this way on the trail of the Fountain killers.

“In 1896, Col. Albert Jennings Fountain and his eight-year-old son Henry disappeared near White Sands, forcing Pat Garrett out of retirement to pin on the badge of Doña Ana County sheriff. He plodded along to solve the murder—everyone knew Fountain and Henry had been murdered, even if the bodies were never found—and attempted to bring suspected killers William McNew, Oliver Lee and James Gilliland to justice.

Despite being tried for murder Lee was acquitted and later served two terms in the state senate in the 1920s, which explains why the park is named after him.

Pat Garrett Murder Site

The Garrett murder site is a few kms down the road (just off highway 54). The motive and circumstances surrounding Garrett's death are still being debated.

“In Alameda Arroyo a century ago, February 29, 1908, when Pat Garrett opted to empty his bladder only to get killed in the process with a bullet in his head and another in his back. The slayer of Billy the Kid met his own demise on this patch of desert near Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Wayne Brazel, who was grazing goats on Garrett’s ranch, confessed to the killing and was acquitted in the subsequent trial by claiming self-defence. That one has always stumped me. What was Pat going to do? Pee on him? Of course, many don’t believe Brazel pulled the trigger. Some point to Carl Adamson. Others claim it was Deacon Jim Miller. A few call it a conspiracy, that Garrett was getting too close to solving the mystery of the disappearance of lawyer Albert Jennings Fountain and his young son back in 1896. Others opine that Garrett merely got his due after popping Billy in Fort Sumner in 1881.”

Tunstall Murder Site

17 June 2010

Today we passed through Tularosa, once known as one of the wildest, wickedest Panhandle towns (Pat and Billy were known to frequent Tascosa). Down the road at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon, which chronicles life on the Texas plains, with permanent exhibits dedicated to firearms and a Pioneer Town complete with a saloon - our kind of place. Nearby is Fort Tularosa two companies of infantry were stationed here in 1872 to guard the Apaches placed at the Tularosa Southern Apache Reservation.

We spent the day in the hills above Glencoe looking for the Tunstall murder site marker, we also re-visited Lincoln and had a great time out in the wilderness camping out at Lake Sumner. Weather is great.

“In one of the Lincoln County War's earliest violent encounters, John Tunstall was shot and killed at a nearby site on February 18, 1878. Tunstall's death set off a series of violent reprisals between his friends, among whom was William - Billy the Kid - Bonney, and forces of the Murphy / Dolan faction of this tragic conflict. Tunstall, an English businessman, came to New Mexico in 1876 and set up a goods store in Lincoln.

Bell & Ollinger Murder Site

Tunstall’s store is still there as is the Lincoln County Courthouse Billy the Kid broke out of. Both the courthouse and the store are now museums, in fact, the whole town is a museum.

“In 1880 Pat Garrett got the job of Lincoln County sheriff by December he had captured Billy near Taiban. After a trial in Old Mesilla for the murder of Sheriff William Brady, Billy the kid was held in the second story of this courthouse awaiting execution. On April 18, 1881, however, Billy broke loose, killing deputies James Bell and Robert Ollinger. Pat was in White Oaks, either collecting taxes or finding lumber for Billy’s gallows.”

The Anderson Freeman Visitor Centre has a great display on the origins and key locations of the Lincoln County War. I dragged Hel around here in 2000 she's not that interested in cowboys (read that as not interested at all) but I am sure she can drag through the old photos to help illustrate this blog till I get back with fresh photos.

“Spanish-speaking settlers established the town site in the 1850s, after the U.S. Army began to control the Mescalero Apaches. First known as Las Placitas del Rio Bonito, the name was later changed to Lincoln when Lincoln County was created in 1869. Lincoln was the focal point of the notorious Lincoln County War of 1876-79, a complex struggle for political and economic power. Sheriff William Brady, outlaw Billy the Kid, Governor Samuel B. Axtell and cattle baron John S. Chisum were some of the people involved in this violent episode.’

Bell & McSween Grave Site

18 June 2010

We stopped off in Santa Rosa to email home. Santa Rosa is wine country, for a pair of beer drinking cowboys out on the trail sleeping rough we aren’t about to imbibe that sissy stuff. Before the Anglos and the Hispanics, this area was home to the Tachi Yokut Indians. We didn’t hang around to find out any more and took off in the footsteps of the Kid and Pat to White Oaks.

Deputy Bell, who was killed outside the Lincoln Court house, is buried in the Cedarvale Cemetery in White Oaks, his tombstone reads "Killed by Billy the Kid!” Buried nearby is Susan McSween the Cattle Queen of New Mexico, she move to White Oaks after the of the Lincoln County Wars.

Today White Oaks is a ghost-town, but it was a boom-town in 1880s due to nearby gold and coal. Billy the Kid used to come to White Oaks to sell horses

"With its brothels and casinos, Billy thought of White Oaks as a resort.”

Well as none of these temptations in our path we didn’t linger long and moved on to the end of this cowboy chasing trail.

Bonney Murder Site

Pat Garrett, shot and killed William "Billy the Kid" Bonney at Fort Sumner on 14 July 1881.

“Pat stopped at Pete Maxwell’s place while looking for Billy. He found him. That was the end of Billy.”

Maxwell’s house, part of the old military post, is long gone, but it is claimed that Billy is buried here somewhere behind the Old Fort Sumner Museum. Not in his official grave - which is so popular it has been protected by an iron cage to stop people stealing the stone that carries the outlaw’s name.

While Fort Sumner is infamous as the site of Billy’s last stand. It is has more tragic connections to the Dine Navajo and Mescalero Apaches who were interned here and at the nearby Bosque Redondo.

“To the Dine the forced march - the Long Walk (400 miles) - to Fort Sumner must have seemed like the descent into Dante’s Inferno, with the famous words - All hope abandon, ye who enter in! - inscribed above the gate at the entrance.

The Dine left behind a vast mosaic of sacred mountains, spectacular canyons, colourful desert plains, scattered pasturelands, riverine farmlands, oak/juniper/pinyon woodlands, open ponderosa pine forests, pure streams and significant game. They took up a new life on an overcrowded and gloomy prairie with no building materials, short grass, limited arable soil, few trees, minimal firewood, alkaline water and little game. They also feuded with the Mescalero Apaches, their neighbouring prisoners at the Bosque Redondo.”

Eastern Great Plains Ticket
19 June 2010

Santa Fe is full of tourists. Last time I camped here it snowed, this time we stay in the same State Park, it’s 80oF at 8pm at night and it’s Bears we gotta contend with. Mat was up half the night keeping guard - not because of my snoring.

Today we drove across Colorado and our trail has shifted from the Cowboys onto Indians.

It seemed like forever driving across the Plains, miles and miles of open country, blue skies and wonderful weather. I must have blissed out because I barely noticed the tiny township of Cheyenne Springs until the Trooper flashed his lights and pulled me over for exceeding the speed limit by 14 mph. He was so polite and handed me a complaints card at the end of the process, I might send a postcard to his boss telling him what a pleasant chap he was. Mat wanted to have his picture took with him. Sadly the local law around here doesn’t always have such a good track record…

Sand Creek Massacre Site

The discovery of gold in the Rocky Mountain in 1985 brought a gold rush to this area, the resulting flood of miners and settlers could only spell trouble for the local Indians.

“The massacre at Sand Creek occurred at dawn on 29 November 29 1864, when a 700-man force of Colorado Territory Militia attacked and destroyed a village of Cheyenne and Arapaho, killing and mutilating an estimated 163 Indians, about two-thirds of whom were women and children.”

Most of the warriors were out hunting at the time, Chief Black Kettle, following Indian agent instructions, was flying and American and white flag from his tipi to illustrate their peaceful intent, but the signal was ignored. For months afterward, members of the militia displayed trophies in Denver of their battle, including body parts they had taken for souvenirs

Kit Carson, legendary frontiersman and Civil War Colonel, was one of those who condemned the action.

“To think of that dog Chivington and his dirty hounds, up thar at Sand Creek. His men shot down squaws, and blew the brains out of little innocent children. You call sich soldiers Christians, do ye? And Indians savages? What der yer 'spose our Heavenly Father, who made both them and us, thinks of these things? I tell you what, I don't like a hostile red skin any more than you do. And when they are hostile, I've fought 'em, hard as any man. But I never yet drew a bead on a squaw or papoose, and I despise the man who would.”

Ironically this is the same Carson who around the same time as the massacre, was leading the round up of Navajo in Canyon De Chelly.

You don’t have to drive far around here (but we are of course) to run into similar battle sites.

Beeches Island Battle Site

In the summer and fall of 1868, the Plain’s Indians went about their seasonal buffalo hunting. While the majority of the Cheyenne were advocating peace, younger, intractable warrior societies continuing to raid to try and stop settlement and the progress of the transcontinental railroad.

General Sheridan was sent to protect the railroad, he sent Major Forsyth and the Ninth Cavalry out from Fort Wallace to counter the raids. Forsyth trailed the raiding party, despite signs that the opposing force considerably outnumbered the 50 scouts, but the unit nonetheless pressed on, before camping by the Arikaree River.

“On the 17 September 1968, Forsyth (sensing trouble) spotted the silhouette of a feathered head against the skyline. He fired his weapon, instantly killing the Indian warrior. Simultaneously, other Indians attempted to stampede the horses, but rallied Forsyth's gunshot only the pack mules were lost. Roman Nose, war leader of the Cheyenne, had planned a dawn raid to overrun the camp, but the element of surprise was lost when a few eager warriors rushed the camp.”

The battle dragged on with a series of attacks until the Tenth Cavalry arrived and the survivors were able to retreat back to Fort Wallace on the 27 September.

Well we ain’t retreating, we are moving forward, stopped in Colorado long enough to update the litt’l lady at home on our movements and to remind ‘er to pay me AMEX bill, before heading on up into Nebraska and the Black Hills.

We aim to stay at the Custer State Park tonight, before heading on to Wounded Knee tomorrow. Well that’s the plan. Matt’s mumbling about the amount of wildlife, snoring and driving - he’s lucky we are not on horseback, or walking!

Places yet to visit include:

Fort Laramie Treaties

While most refer to “the” Treaty of Fort Laramie, in fact there were two:

- 1851 Treaty between the United States and seven Indian nations (Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Shoshone, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) which was soon broken by the mass emigration of settlers and miners during the Pike's Peak Gold Rush

- 1868 Treaty, an agreement with the Lakota nation, Yanktonai Sioux, Santee Sioux, and Arapaho. The treaty ended Red Cloud's War, until repeated violations (including crossing the Powder River) led to the Black Hills War, and seizure of land in 1877.

But the Sioux nation doesn’t give up and on 30 June 1980 won an award from the Supreme Court for the market value of the land in 1877($15.5 million), along with 103 years worth of interest at 15 percent (an additional $105 million). The Lakota Sioux, however, refused to accept payment and instead demanded the return of their territory from the United States.

Warbonnet Creek

William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody

On 17 July 1876, "Buffalo Bill" Cody faced of the Cheyenne Chief, in the Battle of Warbonnet Creek, at the time Buffalo Bill was with the Fifth Cavalry led by Cornel Merritt.

“Merritt planned an ambush and hid most of his 200 troopers inside covered wagons and posted sharpshooters nearby but out of sight. Spotting Merritt's seemingly unescorted wagon train along Warbonnet Creek, the Cheyenne warriors charged directly into the trap. A few warriors were wounded by the troopers, but the only real action of the engagement was a duel between Buffalo Bill and Yellow Hair - Hay-o-wei. Cody pulled his Winchester carbine and killed the Indian, then pulled out a Bowie knife and scalped him. “

In his later Wild West Show, Buffalo Bill performed a melodramatic re-enactment of his duel with Yellow Hair, and displayed the fallen warrior's scalp, feather war bonnet, knife, saddle and other personal effects.

Red Cloud Grave Site

Red Cloud - Maȟpíya Lúta
Leader of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux)

Red Cloud repeatedly tried to find a peaceful end to the Great Sioux Wars and travelled to Washington a number of times to try and get treaties honoured. When government troops invaded the sacred Black Hills while Red Cloud didn’t done the war paint he continued to stand up for his people, even after being forced onto the reservation. In 1889 he opposed a treaty to sell more of the Sioux land, to get around this the government gained signatures of his children to support sales. Red Cloud outlived all the other major Sioux leaders of the Indian Wars and died at Pine Ridge in 1909 at the age of 87.

Wounded Knee Massacre Site

On the 29 December 1890, 365 troops of the Seventh Cavalry (bolstered by four Hotchkiss guns) surrounded an Lakota encampment of (Miniconjou and Hunkpapa Sioux) near Wounded Knee Creek. The Indian’s agreed to turn themselves in and the Calvary where in the process of disarming them, but when deaf tribesman named Black Coyote (who could not hear the order to give up his rifle) was reluctant a scuffle ensured and all hell broke loose.

“The Cavalry opened fire indiscriminately from all sides, killing men, women, and children, as well as some of their own fellow troopers. By the time it was over, about 146 men, women, and children of the Lakota Sioux had been killed. Twenty-five troopers also died, thirty-nine were wounded – largely due to friendly fire.”

The Army later awarded 20 Medals of Honour, its highest award, for the action. To this date the awards have not been withdrawn.

Crazy Horse Monument

Crazy Horse - Tȟašúŋke Witkó
Oglala Lakota War Leader

While there are no known photos of Crazy Horse (it was highly unlikely he would have ever let someone take his photograph) there is however a likeness of him carved into a mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The memorial is based on the only confirmed image of Crazy Horse, a drawing a forensic artist made while listening to his description by his sister (the drawing belongs to Crazy Horse's family, and has been publicly shown only once).

The memorial is based on Crazy Horses appearance at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

“In a war bonnet so full that it swept the ground in its majesty, he charged valiantly against the blue coats, screaming to his men above the blaring bugle and thunderous roar of horse’s hooves that - today was a good day to die.”

The story of Crazy Horse ends tragically, as with so many Indian Chiefs. After surrendering to U.S. troops in 1877, he was fatally injured by a military guard on 5 September while resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson, Nebraska. His last words were:

“My friend, I do not blame you for this. Had I listened to you this trouble would not have happened to me. I was not hostile to the white men… We had buffalo for food, and their hides for clothing and for our tepees. We preferred hunting to a life of idleness on the reservation, where we were driven against our will… We were no expense to the government. All we wanted was peace and to be left alone. Soldiers were sent out in the winter, they destroyed our villages. The Longhair came in the same way. They say we massacred him, but he would have done the same thing to us had we not defended ourselves and fought to the last… Finally, I came back to the Red Cloud Agency. Yet, I was not allowed to remain quiet. I was tired of fighting. I went to the Spotted Tail Agency and asked that chief and his agent to let me live there in peace. I came here to talk with the Big White Chief but was not given a chance. They tried to confine me. I tried to escape, and a soldier ran his bayonet into me. I have spoken.”

Mt Rushmore

Wild Bill Grave Site

James Butler Hickok
Wild Bill or Buffalo Bill

James Hickok came to the west as a stagecoach driver but soon became a lawman and a gunman. He ended his days in the adeptly named Deadwood.

“Wild Bill had a premonition that Deadwood would be his last camp and expressed this belief to his friend Colorado Charlie, and the others who were travelling with them at the time. He was right; he would not leave Deadwood alive.

On 2 August 1876 Wild Bill was playing poker in a Deadwood Salon (No.10). He violated one of his own cardinal rules and was sitting with his back to a door. Twice he asked Rich to change seats with him and on both occasions Rich refused. Wild Bill was having a run of bad luck that day and was forced to borrow a poker stake from the bartender. That run of bad luck worsened when an ex-buffalo hunter Broken Nose Jack McCall walked in unnoticed. McCall walked to within a few feet of Wild Bill and then suddenly drew a pistol and shouted, “Take that!” before firing.”

Legend has it that Hickok was holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights, all black, this is now known as the “dead man’s hand.

Hickok was originally buried in the Deadwood's original graveyard, Ingelside Cemetery, but as the graveyard filled quickly he was moved up the hill to the Mount Moriah Cemetery in the 1880s. Calamity Jane dying wish was to buried next to him because that was her dying wish.

Sitting Bull Grave Site

Sitting Bull Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake
Sioux Holy Leader Hunkpapa

After their victory at Little Big Horn, government forces pursued the Lakota, forcing many of them to surrender. Sitting Bull refused to surrender and led his band across the border into Saskatchewan, Canada, where he remained in exile for many years near Wood Mountain, refusing a pardon and the chance to return. In 1885, Sitting Bull was allowed to join Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show where his act was to riding once around the arena, he stayed with the show for only 4 months before returning home to South Dakota.

Sitting Bull’s grave is at Fort Yates, he was shot on 15 December 1890 by policemen that where attempting to arrest him. In the ensuing fight 8 policemen where killed along with 7 of Sitting Bull’s supporters, and 2 horses.

Fort Abraham

Rosebud Battle Site

On the 17th of June, General George Crook had barely escaped with his life after a bloody skirmish with Chief Crazy Horse at the mouth of the nearby Rosebud River. Although outnumbered, Crazy Horse ferociously defended his land for six hours and Crook and his regiment were forced to retreat. Had Custer known about this, he would have at least had an idea of how desperate the Plains Indians were. He might have saved his own life and those of his men as well as altered the course of history.

Little Big Horn Battle Site

This is it, the real reason for our trip and we have been working on getting here to celebrate the anniversary of the battle. Since Mattie was a little boy he has been fascinated with this story and I have always promise to take him, so her we are in eastern Montana.

“On Sunday, June 25, 1876 General George Armstrong Custer led five companies of the Seventh Cavalry in his infamous last stand. Four thousand brave Sioux and Cheyenne warriors experienced a glorious victory, killing more than two hundred and sixty soldiers. But the Battle of The Little Bighorn marked a tragic last stand for the Sioux as well.”

While Custer’s Last Stand may hog the limelight, it’s Sitting Bull and his men that Matt has come to honour.

“At the time of 40 year old Sitting Bull was too old for battle, however he played a significant role offering prayers to the Great Spirit in a Sun Dance before the final bloody clash, during which he slashed his arms one hundred times as a sign of sacrifice. He had a vision of many blue-coats ‘falling like grasshoppers’ into the Indian camp. It was a prophecy that would soon fulfil itself.”

For many years while markers have denoted where each blue-coat fell, however there were no such markers for the Indian dead. Recently red granite markers nearing the details of the Indian warriors have been install along with and steel Indian memorial of warriors on horseback.

“But the spirit of their battle cries resounds forever across the stark and lonely countryside. There remains to this day the bitter dreams of a proud, forgotten people and an antagonism towards the government that at the very least betrayed them with lies and false promises.

George Armstrong Custer
Brigadier General

Battle of Little Big Horn
Kicking Bear (Mato Wanartaka)

Powder River Battle Site

Major General Cook was in command of the Big Horn Expedition in the Great Sioux Wars. In his efforts to flush out Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse he set off for the headwaters of the Powder, Tongue and Rosebud rivers. The plan was to destroy the camps before the Indian’s mounted a spring campaign. However blizzards slowed the column’s progress (not a problem we have to worry about).

“Shortly before dawn on 17 March 1876, scouts located a Cheyenne village of 105 lodges, on the west bank of Powder River. Colonel Reynalds (a West Port classmate of President Grant) sent Company K to make a pistol charge through the village. However, he failed to support this attack with the rest of his command, and the warriors quickly escaped. From positions on ledges and behind rocks, the Indians (including Wooden Leg), held the soldiers at bay until all the women and children escaped across the river.

Reynolds had full possession of the abandoned village, which proved to be full of guns, ammunition, war supplies, and vast stores of food, confirming military fears that Crazy Horse planned to go on the warpath. The colonel gave orders for his men to destroy it and then withdraw twenty miles southward to the mouth of Lodge Pole Creek, where he was to rejoin General Crook. The village and supplies proved difficult to burn, and the resulting exploding ammunition was hazardous to the troopers. In Reynolds's premature haste to withdraw, he left behind three dead soldiers, as well as a badly wounded private who was subsequently cut limb to limb by vengeful Indians.”

Reynolds was court marshalled and found guilty of dereliction of duty for failing to properly support the first charge with his whole command; for burning the captured supplies, food, blankets, buffalo robes, and ammunition instead of keeping them for army use; and most of all, for losing the 800 captured ponies.
Interestingly he wasn’t charged for breaching the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, which specifically closed the Powder River Country to all whites.

When I was a kid I remember watching Rock Hudson star in Tomahawk - Battle of Powder River, I wonder if Hel would mind me adding this to the DVD collection?

Wooden Leg Kâhamâxéveóhtáhe
Northern Cheyenne Warrior

Fetterman Massacre Site

Despite standing orders not to provoke the local Indians by crossing the Lodge Trail Ridge (where relief from the fort would be difficult). Civil War veteran Captain William Fetterman disagreed with strategy boasting that given 80 men, he would ride through the Sioux nation. On 21 December 1866, Fetterman was sent to relieve a wood gathering party, but instead led the soldiers toward Lodge Trail Ridge.

“Within a few minutes of their departure, a Lakota decoy party including Oglala warrior Crazy Horse appeared on Lodge Trail Ridge. Fetterman took the bait, especially since several of the warriors stood on their ponies and insultingly waggled their bare buttocks at the troopers. Fettermen and his band of 79 raced down into the Peno Valley, where an estimated 1,000 Indians were concealed - None of them survived.”

Wagon Box Fight Site

In July 1867, after their annual sun dance bands of Ogala Lakota under Red Cloud joined with other Sioux and Cheyenne to destroy Forts Smith and Kearny. The Fort’s were supporting settlers and gold miners using the Bozeman Trail. However thanks largely due to the new Springfield Trapdoor - .50-caliber breech loading rifles the forts were able to withstand the repeated attacks.

Yellowstone National Park
Grand Teton National Park

Jackson Hole Wyoming

The majestic Teton Range rises abruptly from the valley floor of Jackson Hole, reaching skyward to 13,770 feet. Bands of Shoshone, Blackfeet, and other American Indians visited the area for sustenance, rendezvous, and ceremony, perhaps living here at times. The Shoshone tribes and other tribes continue to use the Greater Yellowstone area.

South Pass City
Doc Holiday Grave Site
Canyon Lands National Park

Monument Valley

Canyon de Chelly

In the late summer of 1863, Kit Carson was charged with moving the Navajos on. He launching a scorched earth campaign and invaded Canyon de Chelly, where his forces attacked scattered framing groups and decimated cornfields, peach orchards, food caches and hogans.

‘The soldiers watched livid but helpless Navajo warriors scream epitaphs from distant ledges. Ladders of ponderosa pines, which the warriors used to ascend canyon walls, and piles of stones, which they meant to use as missiles, remain in place to this day.”

While some Navajos fled with their horses and cattle, many westward to remote chasms of the Grand Canyon, the bulk of the surviving population were marched to For Sumner.

“There is hardly a Navajo family that cannot remember tales of an aged grandfather, a pregnant mother or a lame child that had to be left behind. Mothers were sometimes forced to suffocate their hungry, crying babies to keep the family from being discovered and butchered by army patrols (or taken captive by the slave raiders). “

The Grand Canyon

Las Vegas

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Photos

Matt & Scott
Drinking beer, what else

Tom Mix
Western Silent Movie Star

Geronimo - Goyaałé
Chiricahua Apache Medicine Man

Johnny Ringo
King of the Cowboys

Patt Garrett
Sheriff of Lincoln County

William Bonney
Billy the Kid

Susan McSween
Cattle Queen of New Mexico

Billy-the-Kid's Grave
2000 Fort Sumner

Black Kettle - Moke-tav-a-to
Southern Cheyenne Peacemaker

Kit Carson
Frontiersman, Colonel

Roman Nose - Woo-ka-nay
Cheyenne Warrior / Leader

1968 Treaty signing, Sherman and the Sioux
Fort Laramie

Custer's 1874 Expedition
Makes our camping supplies look meager.

Aftermath
Wounded Knee