We were rudely awakened by a storm way too early at 5:00 am with heavy rain and hail and a freaked out dog. Luckily, the hail was pea size but sounds so loud and much bigger on a thin camper roof. With sleep done for the night, we started our day driving from South Dakota through a portion of Wyoming and ended in Montana.
Nothing but big sky, grass and hills for as far as you could see in all directions. We passed through Gillette, Wyoming and Mark spotted a huge locomotive graveyard. 200 train engines left to die on unused train tracks. The trains went on for a couple of miles. Curious, I looked it up on the World Wide Web and found that in 2016 there was a downturn in demand to move coal and general train transport in the US and the locomotives were not needed and have been left to sit.
Most of the land is federally owned or Indian reservations- which prompted me to research about reservations. The tribal member driving the truck sitting next to me was not a wealth of information. Speaking of wealth... the wealthiest tribe is the Shakopee Nation out of Minneapolis-St Paul. Each member (about 500) get paid $1 million each annually from their successful casino and golf resort. I married a guy from the wrong tribe!
We stayed at a small RV campground called 7th ranch. A working ranch with a well thought out campground. It was a pleasant stay, plus they give you free ice cream - score.
We visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield - home of Custers Last Stand. Two days in June 1876 when about 300 members of the 7th Calvary died along with General George Custer battling the combined tribes of the Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians. The US government wanted to end the Indian independent and nomadic way of life. The battlefield is huge with big hills and ravines. Fun fact- about half of the 7th regiment lived. They were fighting another battle about 5 miles away.
A marker designates where Custer fell - there were mass graves and soldiers buried where they died. Most of the officers were exhumed and moved to cemeteries in the Northeast. Custer is buried at West Point.
We arrived at our second Harvest Host location in Belgrade, Montana - the Sentinel Alpaca Farm. They have about 300 alpacas. We got to feed, pet, feel the fur and learn all about these sweet creatures. Very tame and gentle. The owner, Nathaniel (a burned out Boeing engineer) gave us a tour, provided a history lesson and answered all of our questions. The white babies were born last week. Our camper looks out over the mother’s grazing field. A fun free stop for the night.
The farm had a very friendly pig that came to greet us! Kate was thinking she hadn’t met a dog like this before!
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