Both of us were awake very early and couldn’t get back to sleep, so we got going around 5:30 am and were out of town by a little after 7am. We were in Bismarck by mid-morning and had a couple of serendipities happen today.
Because Phyllis was interested in seeing the state capitol building (the city’s only skyscraper), we happened upon the North Dakota State Heritage Center which is just a wonderful exhibit and was very quiet on a Saturday. We are still following Lewis &Clark's footsteps here and so there was tons of interesting info on that, as well as on the development of the primitive cultures and then the westward expansion. [Photo: Naze House circa 550 B.C. is the oldest house yet excavated in North Dakota.]
And then a letterbox pursuit took us to Fort Abraham Lincoln, where the 7th Cavalry under Custer was quartered. It made so much of that part of history come real for us as we walked among the reconstructed buildings – they are slowly bringing back the entire encampment which includes a cavalry post, infantry post, and Indian village. Their exhibits were interactive - no one was there to tell you not to touch as you explored the barracks, dug through the foot lockers to find their gear, family letters and personal items. I'm stunned that people don't just walk off with this stuff (even though it's all reproductions of course).
We toured a replica of the second Custer home on the site – the first was lost to fire and the second eventually cannibalized for building lumber as was the entire encampment. Our interpretive guide took us back into 1875 as though we were guests of the Custers arriving for dinner that evening, and so all of our questions and discussion had to be framed in context, or the guide would go blank if we mentioned anything that existed after 1875 (like kerosene…or, um, the Battle of Little Big Horn). Phyllis and I were shown the ladies’ dressing rooms and advised to please finish putting on our clothes before coming to dinner, as no ladies would ever be seen walking around in their bloomers (shorts).
Custer’s home was soooo opulent and BIG at 4000 square feet, I never had that in mind when considering the privations the camps dealt with in that remote and harsh territory. They are slowly collecting some of the original furnishings as they are tracking them down, but since the whole place was ripped apart for buildings, things go far and wide. But some are known - for example, the original staircase of the Custer house was removed intact, and still exists where it was next installed, in an elderly woman's home in Bismarck.
We wouldn’t have enjoyed either of these jewels otherwise, so were very very glad to have made these discoveries. Finally got back on the road and had a blistering hot afternoon in the car – temps today were in the 90’s, although in Bozeman just 360 miles to our west it’s 25 degrees cooler. And of course there are no shade trees anywhere in western North Dakota, so we just broiled in our little car with no AC. Cooler weather will be here tomorrow. We enjoyed the massive change in scenery from yesterday – we went through the Painted Canyon and now are on the edge of the Badlands with its craggy buttes and ribboned mesas.
So tonight we are in a small cowtown on the edge of the Yellowstone River. We make another huge scenery change tomorrow, heading into mountain peaks of over 11,000 feet, to overnight in Bozeman.
Peg and Phyllis
PS: Phyllis wants to add that she got one of the greatest compliments of her life today when Peg said that traveling with her was just as easy and companionable as traveling with a dog… Peg adds that since she has opposable thumbs, there are instances in which she is actually more useful than a dog too, but if that ever comes back on me I’ll deny it.
-----
Phyllis remembers:
I'm not thrilled with high summer temps, and Peg is the only person more averse to them than I am. So here we are traveling in 90F temps. I tried hard not to whine, and it was an effort.
The State Heritage Center and the Custer home at Fort Abraham Lincoln were both highlights of the trip for me. I love that kind of history, even if I was only wearing bloomers. Our tour guide was excellent and really brought history alive. The beds in the bunkhouse are so tiny - we forget how much people have grown since then. I can't imagine anyone other than a child sleeping comfortably there.
No comments:
Post a Comment