Trails and Treasures Home Page  Road Trips  Across America 2004

Land of the Lakota

 

Although originally from Minnesota, by the time of Lewis and Clark the Lakota or Teton Sioux had moved westward pushing other tribes such as the Crow even further west.  Having fought for control of these prairie lands with their huge herds of buffalo, they were determined to defend the lifestyle they had built around the free-roaming buffalo.  Americans, on the other hand, had entirely different concepts of land ownership and appropriate use.  Thus, the stage was set for what developed into more than 30 years of conflict.

While most Americans know very little about the history of this area during the 19th century, one event continues to have high name recognition--the Battle of Little Bighorn.  After almost three weeks of  visiting various sites in the western portions of the Dakotas and southeastern Montana, the only crowds we encountered where at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.  There were more people walking the battlefield than walking the President's Trail at Mount Rushmore!

I visited several locations related to Custer and the Sioux wars including: Ft Abraham Lincoln SP.

Other sites we visited included Fort Clark Trading Post SHS and Chateau de Mores SHS.

Out in the middle of the prairies I also visited several sites that were just fun or interesting--the geographical center of the US and the Enchanted Highway.

Following Lewis & Clark