So this morning we're at the Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument in Montana listening to a Park Ranger presentation and I notice the T-shirt of the guy in front of me. It's from the 1st Annual Vintage Car Show at the First Baptist Church of Upper Marlboro! His daughter lives in the area and teaches school in Annapolis. Small world.
We intended to stay only briefly at the battlefield, but got caught up in it and spent half the day. I asked a ranger why the battle became so famous, and he said it was simply because Custer was famous from the Civil War. Turns out he was a genuine hero in the war. Virtually alone among general officers, he actually led his men in their charges. He had eleven horses shot out from under him and never suffered a scratch. As to how Custer has been portrayed since, the ranger said it seems to depend on the nation's mood and politics. In 1942, when we were engaged in WWII, Errol Flynn portrayed Custer as a brave, dashing hero valiantly resisting the bloodthirsty savages. In 1971, during the unpopular Vietnam War, Little Big Man portrayed Custer as a vain, blustering idiot, and the Indians as noble savages.
After the battlefield, we headed across Montana and into Wyoming. It's hard to describe the beauty of the countryside we've been driving through--seemingly endless grasslands, unusual (for us) rock formations, etc. Neato!, is the word that comes to my mind.
We're now in Sundance, WY. I've just finished eating a chimighanga made not with a tortilla, but with sweetened pie dough! What were they thinking?
In case you find yourself on Jeopardy! : In 1887 Harry Longabaugh was convicted of horse theft and sentenced to 18 months in the Sundance, WY, jail. That's how he became The Sundance Kid. After jail he met fellow outlaw Butch Cassidy, and he and Butch embarked on a successful movie career. Is this a great country, or what?
Tomorrow we're off to see the Devil's Tower National Monument.
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