Museum Interns at Little Big Horn

Howdy! Update from Garryowen

2011-09-20T15:50:00.002-06:00

Greetings!

Howdy! My name is Robert Hartsig, and I am the newest (yet not so new anymore) intern here at the Custer Battlefield Museum. I am from Nashville, Tennessee, and recently graduated from the University of Tennessee in May. I arrived in the town of Garryowen on July 16, two months ago, and have had an incredible experience so far.

Aside from working with and on some incredible projects, I have also ventured into the ‘Great West’ that is Montana and its surrounding areas. Just yesterday, I returned from a three day visit at the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks with my parents. It was truly awe-inspiring to say the least, and it has made my experience here so much more memorable. In the month of August, fellow intern Aimee Wechsler and myself made a quick but long journey to western South Dakota, seeing such sights as the town of Deadwood, Mount Rushmore, the Devil’s Tower (in eastern Wyoming), and even making a stop at the town of Sturgis during the world-famous Sturgis Bike Rally. It was a great experience, something to be remembered for a lifetime. Attending Clark Days at Pompey’s Pillar with fellow interns Aimee Wechsler and Sam Lambert were also very entertaining and educational, giving me more insight into the history and beauty of this part of the United States.

Cultural events I have witnessed have also been just as exciting. On my second day here, the interns and I, as well as Aaron (the Subway manager in Garryowen) made a trek down to the town of Sheridan, Wyoming, to attend the annual Sheridan Rodeo. This was my first time in Wyoming, my first time attending a rodeo, and my first time attending Native American horse games (at the same rodeo). Needless to say, it was a culture shock. I thoroughly enjoyed the races, the bull-riding, and the number of people dawning cowboy hats and boots. I was so impressed and enthralled, that I bought a cowboy hat of my own! Towards the end of August, we made a similar trek to the Crow Indian Fair, a week-long festival of dancing, parading, and of course, lots of fried bread and Indian Tacos. This is a huge and significant event of the United States – it’s the largest gathering of Tee-pees on the North American continent every year, and heavily populated with folks from different Native tribes, as well as people from other countries, all coming together to celebrate culture and festivities. I thoroughly enjoyed this fair and am glad I was able to be part of a great coming-together of so many distinct peoples.

My work experience here in Garryowen have been progressive and very developing. Working closely with Chris and Linda on several projects has helped me understand the basics and in-depth processes that are needed to operate a historical site and museum. I have developed some great skills and am always excited and encouraged to help the museum to develop anyway I can. Some project I have been part of, working closely with my fellow interns, have been installing new LED lights (important for preservation of so many artifacts!), installing a fierce war-club of the Sioux, possibly used by Sitting Bull, and working on various online operations to help the museum connect to a broader audience. The work is something I am passionate about and love working on, and the chance to build on these skills and develop professionally I absorb into myself all too much, and look forward to future projects and operations and accomplishing goals with my fellow co-workers.

Apologies for making my first blog so belated. Life here in Garryowen is surprisingly busy, even if only four people live here. I am greatly appreciating my experience here at the Custer Battlefield Museum and in the Western United States (my original home; born in Phoenix, Arizona). Aimee and I will keep you all (or yal for my Southern audience) updated on everything that develops here, as we both have quite the work cut out for us in the upcoming months. Thanks for checking in!

Meeting Joe Medicine Crow

2011-08-20T18:09:00.002-06:00

Even though it is midway through August, things are still busy as ever here in Garryowen. With all the kids heading back to school, I thought it would slow down as the tourist season came to a close, but I have been proven wrong. Right before Sami packed her bags to head back to Ohio, we had a very special visitor stop by the museum: Joe Medicine Crow.

Even before I was first notified that I had been accepted as an Intern, I had been hearing about Joe Medicine Crow. During my Western History class in college, my teacher told us about him and his trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Obama and receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.

Not only did he receive the highest civilian honor from President Obama, Joe Medicine Crow has also received the French Legion of Honor Chevalier medal from te French President. This French award, created by Napoleon to recognize people who performed great deeds to France, was given to Joe Medicine Crow because of his actions in World War II against the Germans. In Crow tradition, in order to become a War Chief, a warrior has to complete four stages of counting coup. When he returned home with his war stories, the elders realized that he had completed all four of these steps and was made a Crow War Chief. The French Legion of Honor Chevalier medal was presented to Joe Medicine Crow here at the Custer Battlefield Museum at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on June 25, 2008.

Joe Medicine Crow is the oldest Crow living; born in 1913, he has lived through a lot, both Crow history and general American history. He fought in World War II and has many educational achievements. As if that wasn’t enough to already make him an interesting person, he also serves as a Crow Tribal Historian and is a descendant of White-Man-Runs-Him, one of Custer’s Crow Scouts during the Battle of the Little Bighorn. We sell two of his books here at the museum and, after reading both, I can personally say that they are a great look into the Crow Tribe customs and history.

Sami and I had seen Joe Medicine Crow once before: he was present at the Battle of the Little Bighorn re-enactment that we attended in late June. He was brought out in front of the grandstands and introduced to the crowd. Both Sami and I had been hoping for our chance to actually meet him face to face.

It was a normal day here at Garryowen when he stopped by; there was no fanfare, just an adorable old man walking with a cane. Chris introduced the three of us to Joe Medicine Crow; he told him we were interns and the states we called home. We shook his hand and lined up for a picture. It was definitely a memorable moment. I’ve said many times before in this blog that seeing people dressed up as historical figures makes me excited because it’s the closest I’ll get to meeting or seeing the real person.

However, Joe Medicine Crow was not dressed up to represent someone else; he’s incredibly important just the way he is. Shaking his hand and standing next to him for a photo IS the closest I will get to any of the men or women who participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He is a descendant of a White-Man-Runs-Him, a man who was here that day and participated in the complex battle that I’ve spent so much time reading and learning about. I know I can speak for Rob and Sami when I say that this is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.

-- Aimee.

Here's a picture of us 3 interns with Joe: Robert, Aimee, Joe Medicine Crow & Sami

Farewell my friends!

2011-08-16T09:40:00.004-06:00

Good Morning All, Sami here one last time.

As I write this, I'm looking at my bags in the floor, ready to be taken with me today as I head to Billings and board that plane home. It's all so surreal right now honestly. The three months that I've been here have flown by in a whirlwind and I really wish it never had to end.

Since there have been so many impressive moments in my time here, and I can't even begin to try and pick my favorites, or most memorable, but I will say that this experience is one that I will forever be grateful for. It is amazing to realize how much that I've learned both from work and no, just from being out here.

There are so many things that have happened:
-The weather, (haha!)
-Working on the new exhibit in the museum
-The book signings by Chris Enss and Steve Alexander
-Re-enactment week
-Our kittens being born, playing with them, and finding them new homes
-Rodeo, and bull riding
-Clark Days
-Meeting Dr. Joe Medicine Crow and Pius Real Bird
-Watching Pow-Wow dancers at Crow Native Days
-Getting to know Chris, Linda, and my fellow interns

The history in this place is something that you can't find anywhere else. I've spent my summer looking over artifacts and documents about one of the most discussed battles in history, and you can't do that just anywhere. There's an appreciation that comes from being located on the battlefield, driving around and looking at the landscape that they traversed on that day, that you can't learn about in books no matter how hard you try.

Every good thing must eventually come to an end, I've been told, and its a sentiment that I share. While I am leaving now, Aimee and Rob will still be updating you since their time here isn't over yet- and like you, I will be turning in here from time to time to read about their adventures, and the interns to come next year!

With all the love in the world,
-Sami.

Clark Days !

2011-08-12T11:05:00.002-06:00

Aimee here—the past few weeks at Garryowen have flown by! Between rodeos, birthdays, bull riding, and interns coming and going, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks. About two weeks ago, Chris gave all three of us the day off to go to Clark Days. Clark (of the famous duo Lewis and Clark) Days is a festival that happens every summer at Pompey’s Pillar dedicated to the memory of the Lewis and Clark expedition. I’ve mentioned this in previous blogs, but I want to reiterate the fact that I LOVE the story of Lewis and Clark. Needless to say, I had been itching to finally get a chance to experience some L & C stuff out here.

Pompey’s Pillar is a very historic place in itself. It stands as the only physical evidence on the land from the journey. In 1806, Clark carved his name and the date onto the rock structure. At the time, he also named it for Sacagawea’s son who he called Pomp. I had been looking forward to seeing this landmark since I found out I was moving to Montana, but when you add a day full of L & C themed activities, I could barely contain my excitement.
That morning, I put on my moccasins, beaded shorts and L & C shirt (yes, I do have a shirt with the pictures of L & C and a map on it) and hit the road. When we finally arrived, we checked out the Visitor’s Center. I had warned Sami and Rob that I would be “channeling my inner nerd” all day, but I don’t think they fully understood until I put on the “explorer” clothes they had on display. The center had about 2 shirts, a pair of pants, and a dress that looked and felt like what the explorers would have worn during the expedition. Of course, I made a silly pose like I was exploring and had Sami take a picture. When I disappeared to watch the movie by myself, I think they finally realized exactly what I had meant about reaching out to my inner nerd.

After I read about every sign and looked at every picture in the Visitor’s Center we ventured outside to the other activities. I thought I couldn't get anymore excited and then I saw Sacagawea. Obviously not the real one, but a woman was standing there in Native clothing depicting the famous Shoshone Indian woman. For those of you who don't know, I have been wearing moccasins for about three years now because of my nerd-love for Sacagawea. It was like I was seeing a celebrity; I wanted to get a picture with her, but I was too star struck to ask. I finally asked her (with much taunting from my fellow interns) and it is certainly a picture I will always treasure.

On the site, they had a lot of fun, educational activities. We learned about the medicine that was used on the expedition and the clothes they would have worn. I got to play dress-up again and this time Sami joined me. We put on some raccoon hats and Native shirts and had a small photo shoot. There was a booth set up to make a rubbing of the famous Wm. Clark signature. I asked the ladies if I was too old to participate and happily started coloring when they told me there was no age limit. I took a big, black crayon and colored my sheet of paper until the signature appeared. Then, I got to use rubber stamps and add pictures of animals and teepees. The other two interns just laughed, but I was really proud of my artwork!

We embarked on an expedition of our own when we started the hike up to the top of the pillar to see the signature. There were a lot of stairs and it was incredibly hot, but the views made it all worthwhile. At the top of the pillar, you could see for miles and miles; it seemed like the landscape never ended. I was really excited to finally see the signature and snap some photos of it. It was such an amazing feeling to actually be in the same place where Clark and his part of the expedition walked and see the same things they did. All in all, Clark Days satisfied the nerd in me and fulfilled my desire to explore some of the Lewis & Clark expedition out west.

What we've been up to- Rodeos, and Bull Riders!

2011-08-09T15:15:00.002-06:00

Hi! Sami here- Since my time in Garryowen is sadly coming to a close soon, I thought I’d write something to update you guys on what we’ve been doing lately.

The 15^th of July was my birthday (yay me!) so Chris let us take off from the museum early to go to the Rodeo. Our new intern joined us maybe a day or so before, and Kiley was getting ready to head back home to grad school, so it was a fantastic event to celebrate all of these things in one fell swoop.

The Rodeo was in Sheridan, Wyoming, and it’s an adorable little town. We got there a few minutes into the Indian relay races- which were really neat to see. The riders rode a horse bareback around the entire arena, stopped in the middle, jumped off that horse, and onto another one, before running around the arena again. It was really neat to see- and I can’t even imagine the amount of skill it takes to not only ride bareback at the speeds they were going, but to jump off one horse and directly onto another with rapidity. We also got to watch bull ropers, a few bucking broncos, and some very amazing ladies ride.

All in all it was a very good night.

More recently, Rob, Aimee and I managed to go to Billings to see the Professional Bull Riders when they came through town. Since it was on a Friday night and started at 8:00 with general admission, Chris was awesome and watched the museum so we could leave to get up there around seven- which turned out to be a really great idea. I don’t know what I’d been expecting when we were heading up there- but once we made it through the ticket area (and got free flashlights!) we walked around the outer circle of the arena. There were so many vendors! Lots of raffles to sign up for, and free stuff promoting all of these western companies… it was pretty interesting to me.

Bull riders only ride for 8 seconds at a time, but a lot of the riders when we were they didn’t manage to hold on for the full 8. Watching it, it always seemed like a lot longer from when they left that gate to when they either fell off or the buzzer sounded. Of course, it must’ve been all that much crazier for those poor guys actually on the bulls!

The Big Event: The Real Bird Re-enactment!

2011-07-07T15:51:00.001-06:00

The big day has finally come and gone- the Real Bird Battle of the Little Big Horn Re-enactment was last weekend. For weeks, we have all been busy answering phones and giving directions to people in the museum about the Re-enactment. I was getting pretty excited for the day when we would finally get a chance to see it. After our busy weekend here in the museum, we got a chance to see the show on Sunday. All morning we had our eyes tuned to the weather forecast: there were supposed to be afternoon thunderstorms, but the Real Birds said the show would go on rain or shine. We have definitely had our share of interesting weather here in Montana (including 90 mph winds in Hardin while Kiley and I looked for some ice cream, but that’s a whole different story!) so I was less than optimistic about the storms holding out.
With our rain coats and hoods, we headed about a mile down the road to site of the show. We climbed up the wooden bleachers and found a nice spot to sit so we could see everything. I was getting pretty anxious as dark clouds kept looming over us. It is Montana though, so the dark clouds were replaced by pretty blue ones every so often which made me hopeful. Before the Re-enactment of the battle began, there were ceremonies held and stories told. The most interesting ceremony to me was the Naming Ceremony. One of the Real Birds, the family that runs the Re-enactment, brought his grandson to the front of the bleachers. He explained to the crowd that important Indian ceremonies usually take place at events such as the Re-enactment. Other Real Bird family members joined the young boy over the burning bear root. The parents of the young boy were presented with three different names and they were allowed to chose one. It was a very interesting look into the ceremonial practices of the Crow Tribe. It seemed to be such a personal ceremony and an important time in the young boy’s life that I was surprised it was shared with so many strangers.
Also included in the opening ceremonies was an introduction of the men playing the parts of the soldiers and the Indians. Each group marched in separately and were given their own time in the spotlight. I have to say, I got more excited when I watched the 7^th Cavalry march in to the tune of Garryowen- that’s definitely the closest I’ll ever get to watching the real 7^th Cavalry, led by George Custer, march to the famous tune. It was cool to see the men who had stopped in our museum so many times during the week and who we shared many conversations with sitting on their horses in character. I kept saying “There’s our friend (insert name here)!” whenever I recognized someone we had met previously.
Although I was there mainly to see the battle, I was delighted to find out that part of the show was a short overview of important events in Western History depicted by re-enactors. I obviously have a soft spot for Custer, Sitting Bull and the Battle of the Little Big Horn, but I also love Lewis, Clark and Sacagawea. When three people dressed as them walked across the grass representing their westward journey, I knew my day would be complete!
As the show moved on, the clouds got darker and darker and the rain finally started to trickle down. We whipped out our rain coats and hoods and sat through the first drops. I was just hoping it would hold off long enough for the battle scene. Finally, the stage was set and the battle began. The rain got harder and harder and the emcee started yelling “This is the Battle of the Little Big Horn!” multiple times really loudly. It was evident that a big storm was coming through and they wanted to rush it as fast as possible. Already wet, we hunkered down and waited- all I wanted to see was Custer’s charge and his Last Stand. Before the men in Custer’s unit even charged down to the fight, the emcee said “that’s it- please leave now, it’s going to be a drencher.” I won’t even try to deny my disappointment.
We started to walk down the bleachers, already soaked as the rain poured down harder. I looked across the river one last time only to see Custer and his men charging down into the fray: the re-enactors had decided to have a Last Stand regardless of the weather! Instead of running towards the car, we ran closer to the river trying to make out the battle through the pouring rain. I never did see Custer die because of the chaos (but I guess that’s how it would have really been that day!), but the excitement of it was enough to satisfy me. Once we got to the car, we were soaked from head to foot and the parking lot (a field) had already turned to mud. I know that I would have enjoyed it either way, but I actually think the rain made for a better story and certainly a funny afternoon. I’ll never forget the moment I watched the men charge down to complete the re-enactment even though everyone was told to leave. After meeting them in the museum this past week, I would not have expected anything less from these men. They love what they do and are dedicated to sharing the story of the Battle with whoever wants to learn. Even in torrential rain, I will always be interested in the stories they have to share.

-- Aimee

Book Signings!

2011-07-07T15:44:00.001-06:00

Hello! Aimee here- we’ve been quite busy here in Garryowen because of the 135^th Anniversary of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The museum has been filled and we’ve been able to meet and talk to a lot of interesting people over the past week. We had two book signings in the museum Re-enactment Weekend: Chris Enss, who co-wrote None Wounded, None Missing, All Dead: The Story of Elizabeth Bacon Custer, and Steve Alexander, who portrays General Custer in re-enactments and some films and wrote G.A. Custer to the Little Big Horn.
Steve Alexander came in for his book signing after the memorial service at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the museum. Dressed as General Custer, I was quite excited when he stepped inside our door. I mean, this is the closest I’ll probably ever get to meeting the real George Custer! Also, I had never been to book signing before, let alone help one run smoothly, so I was anxious to see how it went. We set him up at a table in the back of the museum; it was a fitting place because there was a giant painting depicting the Last Stand behind him. It was quite a busy book signing- many of the people already within in the museum purchased a book and hopped in line for a chance to talk to the Custer re-enactor. Also, a lot of the 7^th Cavalry re-enactors got in line to have their book signed.
For me, the best part about it was getting the chance to have a lengthy conversation with a few of the re-enactors, including Steve Alexander himself. We got the chance to talk with the men who played Lt. W.W. Cooke, Lt. Algernon Smith, (commander of Company E- also known as the Gray Horse Troop,) and Custer himself. They all seemed to really enjoy sharing their stories about re-enacting and their thoughts on what actually happened on June 25, 1876. We asked them questions about the behind the scenes action of the Real Bird Re-enactment that we would see a few days later. At one point, W.W. Cooke pulled out some empty bullet casings that were found on the field after the re-enactment earlier in the day. He gave one to each of us as souvenirs. It’s a pretty neat souvenir, especially after we had Steve Alexander sign “Custer” on it. Luckily, I’ll be driving back to Pennsylvania so I do not have to worry about getting it on a flight! It was definitely a great afternoon being able to take some time and chit chat with the re-enactors.

Sami here now-
I agree with Aimee that the whole reenactment week was fantastic. I love talking to the people who come in and hearing the stories from the re-enactors; it was pretty fantastic. I love hearing the stories that they tell, because unlike a lot of the people who just study battles, reenacting becomes a visceral experience which I think can often help people come into an even deeper appreciation of what each side went through.
The day after Steve Alexander came in to do his book signing, Chris Enss came by to promote her new book as well. A few weeks ago I read None Wounded, None Missing, All Dead and I can say that I was really looking forward to the woman who put pen to paper on such a captivating subject. We set Chris up in a separate location from where Steve Alexander had been. She was closer to the front of the museum- partially so she wouldn’t feel lonesome all the way in the back of the museum, but also so people who just wanted to stop in to have her sign the book could get in and out faster. Since I worked at the desk that morning, I was patiently sitting and taking care of everything before she got there. I fully expected that once people realized that a nationally known author was sitting just inside the door, we’d be busy and I’d be selling lots of books.
Thankfully at one point there was a lull, and I was able to step away from the desk and talk with her. Chris Enss is an absolutely lovely lady, and a veritable treasure trove of information on various subjects. She writes a lot of western history, especially including the role of women in that time period- and I think it’s an absolutely fascinating topic. I can’t wait to read more of her work.

1876 Grand Ball!

2011-07-07T15:38:00.001-06:00

Hello! Sami here- We’ve been telling lots of tales from reenactment week lately and I have another one to share. On Wednesday of that week we went to the 1876 Grand Ball in Hardin. It was a period dress event at the fairgrounds, in which there would be dancing and music all dating from the centennial period. I can’t even begin to describe how excited I was to get to dress up and go dancing for a night! The whole ball thing was a bit of a rushed choice for us- we found out about it Monday, and I spent that afternoon trying to get in touch with the woman who was in charge of the dress rentals. Then, the next morning we went to try on our dresses before rushing back to Garryowen with them to get back to the museum.
Of course, by the time Wednesday night got here, I was so excited that I could barely sit still. Aimee, Kiley and I put on our dresses early so Chris could get some photos of us all dressed up in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the museum- it felt like we were getting glamour shots! From there, headed to the ball. What a sight we must’ve been: three girls dressed strangely, piling into a van, and driving down the road waving at whoever would bother to look our way. I’m sure people have interesting stories!
Anyway- the ball itself was really nice. It started off with what was called the “Grand March” in which all of the couples paired up (or in our case, all three of us got together in one line) and bowed before the leading couple of the dance- aka: General and Mrs. Custer. It was neat! From there we paused to get food, before we started dancing. The dances were fun- and we even got to dance one with the General and Libbie! While we were there, we also met several members of the Reno family; they were in town for a family reunion. It was nice to talk to people who had a personal connection with the events happening there and even nicer to find out that one was from my hometown! It is funny how small the world is sometimes.

Lodge Grass High School Graduation

2011-06-10T16:04:00.001-06:00

Hi! Aimee here- one of the first things I got to do after I arrived was attend the Lodge Grass High School Graduation here on the Crow Reservation. I do not know exactly what I was expecting, but I assumed it would be a lot different from my graduation. However, it was relatively similar to my own graduation (except I had about 430 more kids in my class!) except for a few things.
The first thing I noticed was the decoration on the caps and gowns. When I graduated college, some students wrote things on their caps like “Hi Mom!” but the caps at Lodge Grass were decorated in a different sense. Most of the 24 students had decorative beading both on the cap and the gown. One boy even had eagle feathers on the back of his. We found out after the ceremony that this is tradition within the Crow community. Some of the beading was so incredibly intricate that it must have taken days to do.
Another difference I noted was a presentation of gifts throughout the ceremony. Each time someone special was mentioned, like the retiring teachers, they were called to the stage and given a blanket. As it turns out, these Pendleton blankets are very significant. They are given as a symbol of warmth, friendship and respect during important occasions, like a graduation. I was excited when I finally got to hear the Crow language spoken at the end of the ceremony; one prayer was said in the native Crow language. I had never heard this language spoken before and it was really cool to finally hear it! I really enjoyed my time at the graduation ceremony; it was a good look into educational aspects of Crow culture.

Crow Dancers At Sheridan Inn

2011-06-09T18:03:00.001-06:00

Sam and Aimee with Traditional Crow Dancers.

Sami here again-
We’ve had a few days of sunshine! I’m so happy to see the nice weather. It makes it a lot easier for us to go out and explore a little. Yesterday, we went down to Sheridan Wyoming, which is south of Garryowen Montana about 65 miles, to watch Crow Tribal Dancers at the Sheridan Inn. The Sheridan Inn itself was a pretty cool thing to see, since it was bought by Buffalo Bill Cody soon after it was built and used for his Wild West Show. It is also in the Guiness Book of World Records for being the structure with the most gables. We were invited down there by a member of the Real Bird family, Pius Real Bird, the second oldest Crow Elder, to watch the dances. Chris said he would man the desk at the museum so we could have the experience and we headed that way around four thirty for the dancing at five thirty.
On our way, of course, we stopped at the state line to take a picture of the Wyoming state welcome sign. Which was neat. That and the red roads. Aimee had driven through Wyoming to come to Garryowen, and Kiley said it was something they quarried, but I think it just makes everything look all picturesque…the red road against the mountains and the sky.
The Inn wasn’t that hard to find, and we managed to get there just before they started dancing. Their outfits were so pretty! I remember the announcer saying things about how many of them were either handed down through the generations, or made by elders in their families… the amount of work that went into them is simply breathtaking. According to Kiley, this would be the closest we could get to the dancers- since at powwow’s they are surrounded by their families, drum circles, and bleachers for extra seating. There was only one drum circle here and they danced around it instead, while the people playing the drum were singing. It was amazing just to hear their voices, and watch the dancers circle them- it’s so different than what I have ever seen before and in a bigger setting it could probably be pretty overwhelming! So I’m glad we got to see it up close, even if in a smaller setting, before going to a powwow. Now we kind of know what’s going on.

Aimee here! I just want to add a few more things on our trip to Sheridan. I really enjoyed watching the Crow Tribal Dancers. The best part to me about the ceremony was the clothing worn by the dancers. The women were wearing traditional Elk Tooth Dresses; this means that the dresses had elk teeth sown onto the fabric. It seems that every part of their clothing at the dance held meaning, like the elk teeth, the intricate beading, the feathers and the bags they carried. The announcer told us that one of the male dancers is actually a champion dancer who participates in various competitions across the country. The fact that we were watching a champion dancer made the experience even better!
One of the dances performed was a “welcoming home” dance. The announcer told the crowd that it was a celebratory dance performed when the Crow warriors arrived home. Everyone was invited to participate and dance with them so Sam and I joined in. Basically, we just walked around the drum circle to the beat. I had never done anything like this before and we had a great time doing it!
After the dance, we took time to explore Sheridan. First of all, the town is adorable. The main street in the town looked exactly like I thought a Western town should (small, cute stores and many places to buy Cowboy boots!). We went to The Mint Bar which had mounted bears, mountain sheep, and other animals lining the wooden walls. We ate dinner at a place called The Pony. The food was good, but the best part about it was that they had the New York Yankees/Boston Red Sox game on the TV. That’s an everyday occurrence back home, but it was comforting to watch it in Wyoming!

Custer Battlefield Museum- Never touched by floodwaters

2011-06-09T17:50:00.000-06:00

Hi! Sami writing here- I am from Ironton, Ohio, and I’ve been here for almost a month now. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long at all! I was the first intern to arrive, flying into Billings on May 17th… right before all of the nasty weather hit. Since it was so late out when I touched ground, I didn’t really get to see any sunshine until the next day- and I was blown away at how green everything was. Chris kept pointing out that it’s never usually this green here, but I think it’s lovely even if it isn’t the way things usually look.

Sadly, the sunshine didn’t stay around for too long after I got here. Mind you- I landed in rain, and pretty much didn’t see a break from it until around a week and a half ago. And it flooded. Oh boy did it flood. Since I live on the Ohio River, I never think that much of rain- but when I woke up maybe four days after first getting here, we were in the middle of an emergency flooding situation. Ack! I felt like I might’ve brought the rain with me all the way from Ohio…

Apparently we’d gathered over ten inches of rain in ten days- which is pretty impressive no matter where you are. Water was up over the interstate for days, and they closed a huge majority of the roads around us. They even evacuated Crow Agency, which isn’t that far from us at all. Of course, Garryowen was fine- Sitting Bull picked a very good spot for his camp, during the whole flooding scare, we were not only sitting here safe and dry, but we never even closed down the museum! Given the situation of course, I would’ve thought that getting to a museum would be the last thing on people’s minds, but sure enough, we still had customers! Most of them were international- another thing that has positively boggled my mind since getting here- but they were so excited to see the battlefield they forged through high water and past roadblocks to get here!

It was definitely something else.

Goodbye!

2010-09-06T14:36:00.003-06:00

We must write one more post before we say adieu and part from this historic place.

Kiley left this morning, and I will leave tomorrow morning. We are both heading for a quick trip to Yellowstone with our respective family members before we eventually make our way home. Andy is already home and back in school. Kiley and I, already graduated, will return to Kansas and Connecticut and look for some possible job prospects before graduate school. (Any offers?)

I must recap our most exciting, favorable moments of this summer:

Living with and learning about the Crow Tribe.
Playing with the kittens.
Trying to soak up every fact about this interesting battle.
Organizing the Libbie Custer manuscript collection.
Getting to know Chris and Linda.
Feeding the kittens.
The beautiful Montana landscape.
The Indian horse relays in Sheridan (The Crows came in first place!)
Cuddling with the kittens.
Crow Fair.

Please do not miss us too much; there will be new interns next year, after all! We do, however, hope that this blog has been of interest to our readers. Our goal was to be informative, with a splash of personality.

All the best,
Hayley B.

Joe Medicine Crow

2010-09-04T15:55:00.002-06:00

Since June 1st, the day Hayley and I arrived in Garryowen, we have been hearing and reading about a man by the name of Joe Medicine Crow. After months of talking and learning about this man, we began to think he was only a mystical figure. Yesterday we learned he was much more. After hearing news that Joe Medicine Crow was in Garryowen, Hayley and I could barely contain our excitement, although Hayley kept much more composed than I was, watching me run around like I was going to meet an A list celebrity. (Which Joe Medicine Crow, has grown to be someone even better for me.)

After talking to him briefly and having what seemed like an official “welcome to Crow Country,” we were able to get our pictures taken with this stoic man.

At the age of 96, although he does not look or act a day over 60, Joe Medicine Crow grew up hearing stories and learning about the Battle of Little Bighorn from his grandfather, White Man Runs Him, one of Custer’s Crow Scouts. Joe, who is a tribal elder, historian and author, received his master’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Southern California in 1939. Shortly after he joined the 103rd Infantry Division in World War II, where he completed all four tasks of “Counting Coup” on enemy soldiers: being the first to touch an enemy soldier, stealing an enemy soldier’s horse, disarming an enemy soldier, and leading a successful war party. He became the last Crow to become a war chief.

In August of 2009, Joe Medicine Crow traveled to Washington, D.C. in order to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom Honor from Barack Obama. This is the highest honor a United States civilian can achieve for their contribution to world peace, or other cultural accomplishments. Here is a link to the article that describes the historic event:

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_911f356c-7d5f-11de-8132-001cc4c002e0.html

Having the chance to meet a man with so much history, merit, and knowledge was a true honor and an amazing experience, one that I am sure Hayley and I will never forget!

-Kiley

Grant Bull Tail

2010-07-23T12:26:00.006-06:00

I just comepleted an interview with Grant Bull Tail, the great grandson of Come Up Red. Mr. Bull Tail provided the Custer Battlefield Museum with the oral history of his great grandfather, who was a Crow Indian that lived for one-hundred years.

Here is the link to the article, now posted on the Custer Battlefield Museum website:

http://www.custermuseum.org/Interns/Come%20Up%20Red.pdf

-Hayley

The Intern Reading List

2010-06-23T15:01:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to share with you a few of the books that Kiley, Andrew and I have been reading here at the Little Bighorn. Hopefully, they will be useful for you as well. We sell all but one of these books in the museum.

Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond - Joseph Medicine Crow.
All three interns have read this one. It’s a great book not only because it depicts the life of Joe Medicine Crow, but it describes his assent to chiefdom, the Crow way of life, and Crow heritage.

In His Brother’s Shadow: The Life of Thomas Ward Custer - Roy Bird.
I am reading this one. I brought this book from my home in Kansas, where Mr. Bird resides and writes. It’s nice to get a glimpse at the other brother, who was just as accomplished a soldier as his famous sibling.

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn - Nathaniel Philbrick.
This is the newest addition to the museum, and a book that Kiley is working through right now. This is a large, 417 page comprehensive work that is the newest literature on the battle. We also sell this book on audio CD too. Here is the a link to the New York Times review: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/books/04book.html?scp=1&sq=%22The%20Last%20Stand%22%20%22Kakutani%22&st=cse

Tatanka-Iyotanka: A Biography of Sitting Bull - Michael Crummet.
This is a relatively brief, comprehensive background on Sitting Bull’s life. All three of the interns have read this one.

George Armstrong Custer: A Biography - Mark L. Gardner.
Like the Sitting Bull biography, this small book is a good read for someone needing a detailed, yet brief account of Custer’s life and times. All three interns have read this book as well.

Custer’s Fall: The Native American Side of the Story - David Humphreys Miller.
This work is one of our best sellers. It is a book compiled of 72 Native American first-hand accounts of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Kiley has just started this book.

The Girl He Left Behind: The Life and Times of Libbie Custer - Suzanne Middendorf Arruda.
I just completed this book. It’s a work on Libbie Custer’s life and times, mainly detailing her years spent on the plains with Custer.

My Life on the Plains: Or, Personal Experiences with Indians- General George Armstrong Custer.
Andy has just started Custer’s book. The book is compiled of Custer’s newspaper articles accounting his newly reorganized 7th Cavalry and their operation on the frontier between 1867-1869.

A Historical Evening

2010-06-16T15:56:00.005-06:00

(Hayley, rolling out the hardtack)

Last night Chris invited us all up for a cookout. Hayley and I went into Hardin to the grocery store after we finished in the Museum to pick up some burgers, chips, and buns. To say the least, Andrew, Hayley, and I were all really excited to switch out our Subway sandwich for some burgers! We all enjoy Subway, but Andrew and I still have over two months to try every combination (just turkey if you’re Hayley!). After our cookout Chris decided it would be a good time to begin making hardtack for visitors to try as they entered the Museum. Hardtack is a snack, if I can even call it that, that soldiers use to take into battle with them because it virtually never went bad. It is made of flour, salt, baking soda, and water. Sounds good, right? While in army camps across the United States, men would eat hardtack as their meals. If the hardtack was too hard the men would just dip it in their coffee in order to soften it up, or to remove the worms that might be infesting it. As you can see why would we not want to try this? After all we are learning about every other part of the battle, why not the food they had to eat. Hayley, Andrew, and I took turns trying to roll out the hardtack so that we could cut it into small squares in order to bake. Chris even got his hands dirty, literally, trying to mix all the ingredients together. Now any recipe that calls for three ingredients and afterwards needs to sit out in the open air because cling rap or plastic bags would cause it to become moldy sounds pretty fool-proof, but we are pretty sure we might have overcooked it. I guess we will just have to see what our fearless visitors think tomorrow!

While waiting for our hardtack to cook, Chris decided to show us some of his collections of autographed documents and pictures he has up around his house. I would have been happy with just seeing the picture of John F. Kennedy at the beach, mobbed by a few dozen old ladies, and the signed document that went with it, but then Chris showed us documents and pictures he had signed of Nixon’s resignation, Ford’s pardon of him, and even an autograph letter of Albert Einstein! Thomas Edison’s letter about the first film camera had the best handwriting out of any influential historical figure I have ever seen. It was elegant and very pretty, although he may not have liked to hear that. After seeing a ship’s document signed by James Madison and then Secretary of State James Monroe, Chris showed us the real entertainment of the night….Elizabeth Custer’s manuscript collection! We got to look through some pieces of her collection that did not fit in with the rest of her letters. It was amazing to hold a piece of paper that she had actually written on and touched herself! Although some of her handwriting will take more than a few minutes to decipher, all that we could read immediately told as little pieces of her life that most people in this world do not know about. It was all so surreal.

Hayley here. I would just like to comment a bit further on the Libbie Custer documents that we got a chance to handle and read through last night. We saw some of Libbie’s most private documents, not because they were journal entries, but because they are the writings of her daily happenings, the witty quotes or poems or to-do lists that she had the inkling to scribble down. I believe that it is not always the heartfelt letters or journal entries that reveal Mrs. Custer, but instead the importance of small, quick notes and scribbles. And there are a lot of them. Libbie saved almost every piece of paper upon which she ever doodled. Some would like to call it hoarding, but I like to think of it as a woman with historical awareness. Researches desperately need people like Libbie Custer to record their lives for future prosperity. For her hoarding tendencies, I would like to say, from a historian-in-training: thank you Libbie Custer.

The Heritage Happenstance

2010-06-16T15:37:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was an eventful day in the Museum. Not only did Hayley and I begin drawings and sketches on a new display pertaining to Custer’s Life Insurance Policy, but we also got the okay from Chris to switch up another display in order to show more about Libbie Custer. If creating our own displays in the museum was not exciting enough, while I was working I had “relatives” of Sitting Bull and Custer walk in right after one another. Usually I get a couple “relatives” a week, but I’ve never had two people come in almost at the same time. While I was checking in Custer, Sitting Bull overheard his announcement, and the two men went walking around the Museum together reminiscing about their supposed ancestors. At the risk of sounding too judgmental, I would believe some of these men if any were willing to show some proof. Even if these “relatives” are not really related to these two infamous men, their stories are always fun to listen to and who knows, I might have even learned a thing or two.

The new 2010 summer interns!

2010-06-07T16:03:00.003-06:00

Hayley, Kiley, and Andrew here, the new interns for the summer 2010! The season has just kicked off, all of us arriving just within the last week or two. We have all unpacked, toured the museum and battlefield, and are ready for a summer of museum tourin' and history-havin' fun.

Kiley here now! The landscape of Montana is beautiful! It really is "Big Sky Country"; much different than what I am used to living on the East Coast. So far my favorite thing about Garryowen is where we are. We work and live on the exact same ground the Battle of Little Big Horn began. I could walk outside our room and possibly be standing in the same spot Sitting Bull might have stood over 100 years ago. The idea of being where he once camped is thrilling. For me this land, along with the artifacts in the museum, really help to bring history alive!

Hayley here. I have to agree with Kiley that my favorite aspect of the museum so far is being able to live where Sitting Bull camped, and where Reno first attacked the village. Inside the museum, I have been keeping my eye on the lock of Custer's hair (maybe I will get to see it even closer!). Our room is very comfortable, with photos of Libbie Custer and Sitting Bull looking over us at night.

Andrew here: My first day at Garryowen I got to experience how the Battle of the Little Big Horn is still used as a tool in the training of new generations of military officers. With the visit of a group of officer candidates from the Indiana National Guard, I was able to experience first hand how the lessons of Custer and the Little Big Horn are incorporated into the understanding of the modern battlefield.

In Memoriam

2009-09-11T14:04:00.007-06:00

"A survey of the disastrous battleground disclosed a dreadful slaughter."

"The suffering was heartrending."

"It is true...it is no excuse for their treachery and atrocities."

"The situation now looks serious."

These quotes were published in newspapers and magazines in the year 1876 after the disastrous Battle of the Little Bighorn. The news reached Americans on a wide-spread scale during the nation's Centennial celebration - a time when Americans were revelling in their nation's strength and achievements. What a shock it was to realize that a country being lauded for its endurance had suffered such a severe blow.

We don't have to imagine the grief that every American experienced on that day in 1876. Just two months after celebrating the 125th Anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn - proclaiming "Peace, Unity, Friendship" - that shock once again resonated across America on September 11, 2001 as we watched images we'll never forget, hearing comments as chilling as those above.

It is lamentable that such calamitous occasions should occur, but they reveal how we as a nation are unified throughout history. Just as we erected a memorial at Ground Zero, monuments and memorials dot the landscape of the Little Bighorn Battlefield, declaring America's resolution to never forget. One such monument is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Custer Battlefield Museum. The granite tomb holds the remains of an unidentified 7th Cavalry trooper, whose skeleton was found fifty years after the battle was waged. The tomb and peace memorial were dedicated during the Burying the Hatchet Ceremony, with White Bull Sioux Indian and General Godfrey performing the ceremony before thousands of observers.

Today, the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the events of 9/11 came together at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, when students from Lodge Grass High School hung their 9/11-themed artwork on the monument. Forty-seven original creations adorned the tomb and peace memorial. Unlike the grave statements above, the students' words and images express reverence and a fresh hope:

"We remember."

"Not forgotten."

"United we stand."

"God bless America."

KB

Custer Battlefield Museum: 10 Little Known Facts

2009-08-31T17:03:00.005-06:00

It is said that Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer is the most photographed/researched/written about man in history. Likewise, his Last Stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn has drawn interest from hundreds, nay thousands, of individuals. This is part of the reason our director, Christopher Kortlander, decided to open a museum on the battlefield.

Those who choose to visit the Custer Battlefield museum will undoubtedly leave knowing more than they did when they entered. Working in the museum every day, I have had a unique opportunity to learn a lot about the battle, but my knowledge of the museum's exhibits has come to include some things that often go unnoticed.

1.) Of the ninety-some photographs lining the museum's walls, it is easy to miss seeing a few. One that I hope you don't miss seeing is Hairy Chin, of the Hunkpapa tribe, dressed as Uncle Sam. It never fails to bring a smile to my face.

2.) According to one of our exhibits, the name Hunkpapa means "those who camp at the entrance." Now I find this to be interesting, because in June of 1876, the Hunkpapa tribe was situated on the edge of the Indian Encampment in the valley of the Little Bighorn - the edge where Major Reno's column attacked, beginning the battle. Could it be that their name was prophetic? Or that they really did always situate themselves at the entrance to the camp?

3.) One of the Indian casualties of the battle was a Cheyenne named Roman Nose. What an interesting blend of cultures - a Native American with a name referencing an ancient culture, of which one presumes they only knew through their interactions with the White Man.

4.) Apparently the soldiers of the all-Black Ninth Cavalry were called Buffalo Soldiers by the Indians, because their hair resembled that of a buffalo. Now I've read several articles about the Buffalo Soldiers, but not one seemed to mention the origin of their nickname. Thank you, Custer Battlefield Museum, for clearing that one up for me.

5.) Sitting Bull - one of the most repeated names in the museum - is mentioned in the exhibits 30 times. Lending credence to my opening statement, Custer is referenced more than 100 times.

6.) A close examination of the museum's several oil paintings will prove to be enlightening and inspiring. However, Kirk Stirnweis' "They Died With Their Boots On" seems to be the most gruesome, featuring a soldier falling into death with an arrow in his throat and a man staring out of the canvas with one bulging eye - too uncannily like that video of the prairie dog on the Japanese game show. Don't know what I'm talking about? Look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Kyi0WNg40

7.) The museum's collection includes nigh a dozen pairs of moccasins. One, however, is missing a shoe lace.

8.) Custer always went into battle with his personal flag, sewn for him by his wife, Libbie. The Custer Battlefield Museum has a replica of this guidon, however, it has one flaw: it is missing Libbie's initials, which she stitched into one of the corners. To our credit, though, these initials were shot off the guidon before it even reached her husband.

9.) In the diorama of the battle created by a high school class in 1976, one of the warriors appears to be pulling off the Matrix bullet-dodge move - and this before the technology seen in The Matrix was even dreamed of!

10.) The painting "Battle of Little Bighorn," by a European artist named Bergven, hangs on the museum's back wall and is covered in thick stains. I spent days lamenting the painting's poor quality of conservation, and then I realized it used to hang in a bar. The stains? Beer. The painting's quality? Inexplainably, yet quaintly, improved. KB

Salutations

2009-08-26T09:15:00.005-06:00

Twenty days after my arrival, I've figured it's finally time to introduce myself. Hi, I'm Kathy, the new intern.
So far I've been enjoying my time here at Garryowen. The museum is a great place to work, and there's never a dull moment with visitors in the museum. Of course, now that summer is coming to a close, this week has shown a significant decrease in traffic, and the museum has been rather quiet. That's okay, though, because it will give us an opportunity to do some more work in the display cases. Keep an eye open for pictures of the upcoming display of Birdie Real Bird hand-crafted dolls.
Last week, before Lauren left, she and I were able to head over to Crow Agency for the Annual Crow Fair Celebration. As we wandered through the "Teepee Capital of the World," we marvelled at the mingling of unique customs, crafts, and foods. (I'm serious about the foods - I expected to see Indian Tacos and fry bread, and Mexican food was a only tad unexpected, but there were way too many Chinese food vendors!) After our perusal of the different vendors - I bought a turquoise bracelet, and Lauren bought a tomahawk - we grabbed some food (not Chinese), nabbed a spot on the bleachers, and waited for the powwow to begin. There was an impressive opening procession, followed by intertribal dancing and dance competitions. The prizes for the three finalists of the Tiny Tots divisions were miniature horses - awesome, and so unfair! Of course, the evening would not be complete without honoring Joe Medicine Crow, just returned from his trip to D.C., where he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (See pictures to the left!) KB

Joe Medicine Crow is the Man

2009-08-01T11:18:00.002-06:00

Lauren: And then there was one. Justin left on Thursday the 30th, before even the birds were up, and now there's just one of us left here until Kathy, the new intern, gets here on the 5th. In other news, Dr. Joe Medicine Crow (96), the Crow chief and historian, will be honored by President Obama in DC on the 12 of August. Dr. Medicine Crow is to receive the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom, along with such visionaries as Stephen Hawking, Senator Edward Kennedy, Billie Jean King, Harvey Milk, Sidney Poitier and Mary Robinson (there are 16 recipients, total). About a week ago Justin and I had the fantastic opportunity to meet Joe and take a picture with him (see the picture collection to the left). He really is an amazing guy. He was the first Crow Native American to receive a masters degree, and while he was studying for his PhD he was drafted into World War II - though the draft may have interrupted his studies, it did allow him to fulfill all the requirements of chiefdom while abroad (leading a successful raid, stealing the enemy's horses, counting coup). Dr. Medicine Crow had previously song a "Praise Song" to President Obama (prior to his election) and now feels that the President has earned the honor of a victory song, the same song taught to Joe by his grandfather, White Man Runs Him, one of Custer's scouts. The ceremonies are taking place in just over a week and the Director of the Museum has been invited to accompany Joe to D.C., which will allow the Custer Battlefield Museum a whole new insight into Native American relations and history. -LK

Updates

2009-07-11T08:56:00.000-06:00

Lauren: Well, folks, I'm sure the suspense is killing you as to what's been going down at the Custer Battlefield Museum. We've had a few twists in plot and I felt I should keep everyone up to date. In latest news, Justin, or "G.I. Justin," as he will be referred to heretofore, is going into the military. While this will secure his financial future, it also leaves me as the lone intern, twisting in the wind. I'm not sure if I should call him Reno or Benteen. Kidding aside, Justin's off to defend our country against threats foreign and domestic while I'm here, defending history from ignorance, intentional and accidental.

This last week I was very excited because an article I wrote about the visit from the Officer Candidate School of Fort Meade was printed in the Big Horn County News and this next week it'll also appear in the Welcome Visitors Guide.

-L

The Reenactment

2009-06-30T09:46:00.000-06:00

Lauren and Justin: So, after several weeks of giving directions, answering questions from the general public, we finally got a chance to see what all the fuss was about. First of all, it was about 95 degrees out, or at least it felt that way since we had both opted to wear full-length jeans and our black "History Matters" t-shirts. On bench stadium seating, with no cloud cover or canopy. Awesome. We had to show up at 12 o'clock for a 1 o'clock showing, in order to secure good seats. There was a tent for t-shirts, which also sold a small collection of animal-pelt crafts - meaning just ONE bearclaw necklace and ONE skunkskin medicine bag, a tent for food (despite declaring he would only order a hamburger, Justin eventually and proudly ordered an Indian Taco) and a a minitent for drinks. When things were finally set up, we had a long gauntlet of events to transgress before coming to the ultimate event. The most satisfying thing to watch was probably the paratrooper jump by the 2nd Brigade of the 82nd Airborn out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Two large planes circled over the area, then ten minutes later each let loose a string of paratroopers, draping them over the landscape. As the men dropped from the sky, a couple of them became entangled and though it didn't result in any serious repurcussions, it did attract the concern of the crowd. Afterwards, the Native festivites could finally begin. First there was an introduction by the Emcee, then an "Indian Wedding" which mostly involved Indian singing, some smoke, and a couple of white people with their faces painted (and the woman's face painting looked suspiciously like a beard). Then there was a Naming Ceremony, where a little girl was christened with Indian smoke and prayer and given a name - "she who likes to look at horses" or something. Anyways, as she was named that she kept pointing at the horses, so even though there was no explanation of the name necessary, they still did it, then let her wander around to the "oohs" and "ahs" of the crowd for a few minutes. Then there was more singing by the local band - during which there was some confusion as they snuck in some English lyrics, and a young man who has participated in several Ultimate Warrior challenges was given a painting....of himself. During this ceremony, I (Lauren) started getting excited because I could see the cavalry gearing up to go- finally, we're going to see some fightin'! But no, it was just to escort several officers from the paratrooper group over the river. They rode all the way to the grass in front of us, dismounted, and the superior officer gave a talk and eventually shook hands with Sitting Bull's great (or great-great, we're not entirely sure) grandson. Then they announced the "players" in the reenactment and said that we would start the program. But the program, it turned out, was a lot more broad than we thought. They told the story with a narrative over the loudspeaker while actors mimed the actions described, INCLUDING: a father telling his son the story of the Battle of Little Bighorn, hand-to-hand combat including the act of scalping and dancing around a dead body, smoking the peace pipe, chasing a white man out of the village, and the herding of "wild" horses. Eventually, Clark and Sakagawea showed up, herding a group of Indian children ahead of them, which proved to be a kind of ineffectual misdirection to give the paratroopers enough time to ford the river and get to the "stage." They marched in to applause, and there was another talk, eventually ended with Sitting Bull's great (great?) grandson leading a massive circle dance around the field with the paratroopers following behind him. Then, once they had cleared off to go score some Indian Tacos, we were promised fighting. And, because we had been telling people that this was a reenactment of the Battle of Little Bighorn, we rightly expected the fighting to be of that historic event. WRONG!!! It was the Fetterman fight first, with Crazy Horse taunting the cavalry with a green towel. Not sure what the green towel had to do with it, but at least there were guns being fired. Then there was the Battle of Rosebud reenacted, and then finally, finally, FINALLY we got to the LBH action. Unfortunately, by this point Justin had lost all concentration and almost consciousness in the hot sun. This was compounded by the fact that the action of the majority of the battle was carried further away from the stands, across the Little Bighorn to a strip of land about 400 yards away. It was over in about 5 minutes, everyone cheered, and so did we because it meant we could finally get out of the sun. The swirling storm of Indians that crossed back over the river towards us was probably the most exciting part, while they rode around carrying the American and the 7th Cavalry flag. The whole thing was concluded with a song about Comanche. You know, Comanche- the horse. Yes, he has is own song, and it was sung while a horse was positioned on the top of the hill. It was an experience, and the pictures tell the majority of the story. In the same vein as Lauren's previous post, we've decided to compile a list of things we've learned after watching the reenactment:

1. Its very cool to watch but doesn't seem particularly pleasant to ride bareback as the Indians do. You have to contend with sweat, chaffing, and the chance that you'll fall off -at least the one that we saw knew where to land, since he fell off in the river.

2. It will ALWAYS be funny to watch a white guy get whacked off his horse by an Indian. Maybe it's schadenfreude, maybe it's retribution, either way it's hilarious.

3. If you put a lot of effort into coordinating an instructive cultural exhibition, don't ruin it by having people sell concessions like you're at a ballgame. It's hard to take the rammifications of Manifest Destiny seriously with "MOUNTAIN DEW!!! LEMONADE!!!COKE!!!" being screamed in your ear. And if the vendors are about 10 and dropping the waterbottles everywhere, it also doesn't help.

4. Justin should wear sunscreen on places other than his face.

5. When someone tells you the Indians do something "fast and loose," they mean it. Really.

6. Always tell Justin when you're planning on taking a video or he'll throw a strop.

7. Custer's role in the battle was little to none- he may be a schnazzy dresser but he didn't do jack.

After all the excitement and sun, we came back to the desk tired and sweaty and the rest of the day did tend to drag on a little, but we were comforted by the fact that we wouldn't have to answer any more questions on the location/duration/information of a reenactment. Next stop, Crow Fair!!!! -JD & L

Record Day at Custer Battlefield Museum

2009-06-26T11:09:00.001-06:00

Justin and Lauren: Team Awesome Interns has struck again!! We are happy to announce that yesterday the CBM had a record day in terms of sales. We would like to take this time to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done, I mean after 15 years of being in existence we think its only appropriate to credit ourselves for the record day. It's safe to say that we are the best interns to ever walk the hallowed grounds of Garryowen, MT. Along with our greatness, quite a lot of activity has transpired in the last couple of days here. On Wednesday, the Crows held their 4th annual Meth ride (despite its title, the ride is to prevent drugs on the reservation not promote) where Dr. Joe Medicine Crow gave a speech before the ride. Dr. Medicine Crow is the oldest living member of the Crow Indians, and his grandfather (White Man Runs Him) was one of Custer's scouts for the Battle of Little Big Horn. He also is the last oral link we have to the battle. The Meth ride consists of 150 mounted riders through the reservation ending at the Crow Agency Park. Furthermore, yesterday was the 133rd anniversary of the battle, and to honor both sides of the fight we held a cermony here in Garryowen. The ceremony was appropriately proper and somber. Members from the U.S. Calvary school including the actor playing Custer in the Real Bird Reenactment lowered the American flag to half mast, and presented arms in a three fire volley out of respect. The culmination of the event was the laying of a wreath by two officers upon the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. On a lighter note, our glorious leader was interviewed by an Irish documentry film crew tracing the steps of Myles Keogh, an Irish soldier participating in the battle under Custer's command. Side note, the weather here literally changes like the wind. Out of nowhere two days ago the temperature spiked up about twenty degrees, and then today the thermometer dropped twenty degrees. We're not sure there are many places around the world where the weather changes drastically in such a short time. Anyway, we guess that is all for now. More to come after we see the reenactment, maybe together maybe not, we fly by the seat of our pants here at the CBM. JD & L

Lesson Learned

2009-06-23T09:12:00.001-06:00

Lauren: Seeing as how my living situation is so drastically different from everything and anything I've done or been to before, I thought I'd take stock of the changes in my life. So here's my list of things learned so far:
1. Montana lightning storms last forever. Like, 7 hours. It's the most beautiful thing you could see in the sky, excepting the aurora borealis, perhaps. It's also mildly frightening because there's always several strikes happening at the same time - just a few miles apart, so there's a kind of unpredictability and enveloping power to it, which makes me not feel like venturing very far from my little porch. I'm learning to love these storms, because of the way they look and the way they smell- there's the scent of electric cellulose, like every cell in every green thing is vibrating in the static air. And everything's so clean when it's all over.
2. People REALLY want to walk the whole battlefield, and nothing - nothing - nothing you say can or will put them off from it. It doesn't matter if you tell them there are cow pats everywhere, mini tributaries you have to jump, sinking marshy mud, hoards of swarms of mosquitos, herds of ticks, and slightly skittish but possibly irritable cattle to avoid. Oh, and it's private land. THEY WILL STILL WANT TO GET BACK THERE. And you can, for the nominal fee of $10, walk a brisk pathway to the Little Bighorn, provided you hop a barbed wire fence. I don't know why everyone wants to walk the exact path Reno took to the Reno-Benteen Battlefield. I mean, it was no picnic of a hike for him, and he had horses; granted, he was being chased by hundreds, possibly thousands of affronted and aggressive Indians. Either way, it's a steep climb. And you have to ford a river. You can appreciate it much better by looking down on the valley from the top of the Reno-Benteen Battlefield, without the sweaty, muggy, bug-infested treck through the cow pastures and a strong river current.
3. History DOES matter. Buy a T-Shirt.
4. It is much harder to draw a man with a mustache than an Indian. I'm not sure what the practical applications of this knowledge are, but there you go. Linda had asked me to draw life-sized carboard cut-out busts of Sitting Bull and Custer to put t-shirts on and it was a lot of fun. SB came out pretty well, but for some reason Custer came out a little feminine, even with the 'stache. I'll put up pictures to show it, but let's just say that even though I didn't get him spot-on, I was very kind when it came to his receding hairline.
5. People LOVE pressed pennies. We have a pressed penny souvenir machine in the front of the museum and it gets used at least 10 times a day. I've seen fully grown men get more excited about pressing a penny than the monogramed gun of Thomas Custer (who won two congressional medals of honor, by the way) just five feet from the machine. There are websites devoted to documenting every themed pressed penny machine across the US. That means that there are actual Pressed Penny Cartographers out there, whose sole job is to map out every pressed penny you can get.
There are more crazy things I've learned in the last few weeks, but I'd like to leave room for reenactment week stuff and Justin's next entry. More later..... -L

Reenactment Week

2009-06-18T08:47:00.000-06:00

Justin: We are quickly coming upon the busiest time of year in Custer Country, Reenactment Week for the anniversary of the Battle of Little Big Horn. Starting next Wednesday, on the Crow Reservation the Crow Indians begin their week long Crow Native Days celebration. Included in the celebration are rodeos, parades, fireworks, dances, crafts, food, etc. Personally, I'm hoping to attend one of the rodeos seeing as I've never been to a rodeo, and where better to see a rodeo then in Montana? And it's a Crow rodeo no less. Also, I'm hoping to compete in the 3 mile run/walk race for diabetes. The main event of Crow Native Days is the Battle of the Little Big Horn reenactment. There are two battle reenactments that take place every year, one just outside of Hardin, and one on the Real Bird Loop of the reservation. In my humble opinion, the Real Bird reenactment is a better choice as it's on the site where Custer tried to cross the Little Big Horn river during the battle. The Hardin reenactment from what I hear is also a must see, however their portrayal of the battle takes place more than 15 miles from the actual battlefield. Unfortunately, the reenactments are scheduled within 30 minutes of each other so attending both is not an option. Moving on, the past week at the museum has been a busy one. The foot traffic through the museum has almost doubled overnight. I attribute this fact to all schools around the country are now out for the summer, and the closer we get to the anniversary (June 25) the busier Custer Country becomes. Well that is all for now, more to come later this week or early next week. JD

The Calm Before the Storm

2009-06-14T12:59:00.000-06:00

LAUREN: So.... we've finished the case. Chris (the director) is busy securing a new acquision for the museum, and at the moment things are slow, but it's definitely a comfortable pace. I like it when it's slow here because you get to speak to people more and you don't feel harried. Granted, because we're attached to a convenience store/sandwich shop, we do get quite a range of people coming in, but most of the time that's what makes working the desk so fun. All sorts of people end up walking through that door. I know (or at least I've been informed repeatedly) that from June 24th through the 4th of July, it's going to be crazy. Experts apparently flock here for the reenactment, and I know that while it's going to be an engaging challenge to hold my own amongst Custer experts, there's something about seeing the excitement of new knowledge in someone's face, and that usually only happens with people who stumble across the site, rather than make a B-Line for it. As Justin and I have discussed, we both really hope we can go to the reenactments in Hardin and on the reservation, preferably together. The Crow Native Days sounds amazing, too, with Indian food and dancing, crafts and parades and fireworks. I may even go to my first rodeo. Even more shocking, I may even try to ride a horse. At some point. Hopefully not too soon, though, because I'm still in the process of warming up to the idea.
In any case, we still have a LOT to do here at the museum before the reenactment week, and while I'm optimistic and semi-organized with my semi-anal "To-Do" lists, I know it all won't get done. I would at least like the museum to be organized, well-labeled and clean. For now, I'm going to enjoy leisurely inventory-ing the post cards, taking my time to clean the cases. -L

World Premiere of the Artillery Case at the Custer Battlefield Museum

2009-06-13T08:27:00.000-06:00

Justin: Well, the day has finally come, the glass is ready to be put back into place and my case will officially be done. Welcome to the world premiere!! Coming into this endeavor, I thought the implementation would take half a day, maybe a day tops. I was sorely mistaken to say the least. To begin, working on a case and simultaneously running all other aspects of day to day museum operations is a task within itself. Educating vistors while running the register while anwsering questions while trying to put a case together is extremely time consuming and exhausting. On top of that, there are many obstacles along the way in terms of translating from a mental plan to a physical actuality. On several occasions, I had to improvise in order to complete the task. Not everything worked out the way I initially envisioned, but I am thoroughly happy with the end result. Some of the improvisations actually came out better than I had anticipated. For example, with the help of my fellow intern, we were able to build an impromptu stand to hold the British Bulldog revolver. The stand, which is composed of loosely molded black fabric, allows for the revolver to have a singular presence in the case, the impact of which is felt when examining the firearm's mysterious and exciting past. This particular revolver is the same model General Custer carried with him into battle but was never recovered. The aforementioned British Bulldog was purchased from a 82-year-old Cheyenne woman in 1988 less than 50 miles from the site of the Battle and may or may not be Custer's lost weapon. Another observation - no case can be completed by a single person. Without the help of Lauren, I do not think the case could have been done. It is simply too much work for one to complete by one's self. Furthermore, with the help of Lauren's brain storming and ideas the case really came together quite nicely. In the end, the journey from start to finish of designing a case is extremely rewarding. Despite its tumultuous and often frustrating development, it is incredibly satisfying to objectively observe the evolution of a case, from humble and disorganized beginnings to a polished and coherent end. JD

A few minor reflections

2009-06-09T17:04:00.001-06:00

LAUREN: So, I've been thinking about what makes this place unique and I think I've finally come to a conclusion. This location is special, not just because it's the site where the Indians won their last true battle against the U.S. military, but because every permanent reminder of the battle is essentially a retrospective fabrication of an event. Unlike most indigenous peoples, the Indians didn't build any great monuments in order to preserve the memory of their lifestyle. What does that say about a culture, when they don't feel the need to etch their mark on the earth, carving memory out of the clay? We have this image of Indians as people who are so tied to the earth, but isn't it odd that this strong connection doesn't manifest itself in the landscape? In fact, the Cavalry men who died here left more of a mark than the Native Americans. There are strings of white stone markers peppering the landscape, some in straggling clumps and some in almost perfectly straight lines, like wet fingers dragging across suede, they leave imperfect marks to remind us where human brevity met eternal soil. Maybe it's a sign of respect to leave the land the way you found it - maybe that tie which binds the Indians to the earth is so strong that to carve anything into it would be like cutting into one's own flesh. When people ask "where's the battlefield," it's especially frustrating because it feels as if people are expecting some awe-inspiring monument that can be seen from the highway - like a Vegas strip and not a sprawling Montana landscape. Would people really appreciate it if there were a blaring neon arrow sign above last stand hill saying "CUSTER KILLED HERE"? I'm coming to realize that there's a particular kind of visitor to the museum that I enjoy: they are the quiet ones, the ones who don't feel the need to talk on their phone or take tons of pictures (which are prohibited, by the way), rush through the aisles, or ask that ever-aggravating question: "is this it?" The people I love are the ones who show the respect history deserves, who take their time looking in each case, reading each description, and absorbing everything, because it's not just information behind that glass - it's lives, it's dying breaths, it's passions, it's painstaking, skilled work. It's easy to get dramatic when you're here all the time, seeing the ebb and flow of traffic and tourists, but working in a museum is making me realize that the most dramatic moments are often observed in silence, in reflection and awakening. -L

So Close, Yet So Far Away

2009-06-08T10:15:00.001-06:00

Justin: I began the day with aspirations of completing my very first display case. Everything seemed to be in order for this momentous occasion. At 8:00 a.m. sharp I met Chris in the office to look over a few pieces I wanted to add to the case, one of which may or may not be General Custer's British Bulldog Revolver. After looking over the pieces, I began typing up labels for the artifacts I chose from the collection in storage. While exictedly typing, Chris informed me we are missing a key element to the success of the completion of the case (the black felt to cover up the juvenile depiction of Calvary-Indian battle). Thus, I am sad to say that the case is going to have to wait until tomorrow to be completed, because a trip to Billings has to be made to purchase said felt. I will (tentatively) have pictures of the display up on the profile section of the blog either tomorrow or Wednesday. JD

Billings

2009-06-06T10:48:00.000-06:00

JUSTIN & LAUREN: Yesterday we set out for the metropolis that is Billings Montana, the largest city in Montana to be exact. The reason for our excursion was the lack of supplies in our immediate vacinity, such as Target, CVS and any other sign of normal civilization. Although we set out with the intention of finding Walmart (or rather, one of TWO Walmarts in Billings, because really, who doesn't need an extra Walmart?), it was Target that came through, and by "came through," we mean popped up in our blind search for ANY large discount store. While wandering the cavernous aisles, Justin's ceaseless need for food mandated an immediate search for any restaurant WITH A TV, or as he likes to put it, "rumblies in my tumbly." From there, we "found" the Montana Brewing Company, albeit after circling the block 5 times, three of which was to find a parking space. I (Justin) wanted to bring a little home to the MT, by watching the LSU baseball super regional game against Rice on ESPN (to satify my other insatiable vice in life, SPORTS!!!). But to give a better mental picture of the situation, Justin made me (Lauren) sit under the TV so I couldn't see the game, but it's okay because no one can compete with his LOVE FOR THE GAME!!!!!!!!! After sampling some of the local fare (which included some of the worst fish I've ever had- what was I thinking, cod in Montana?!?!), we headed back to the compound through a steady sheet of heavy rain. The monotony was only broken by Justin's emphatic singing AND dancing to a long chain of classic rock and 80's pop, so in the end it was worth the trip. Oh, PS- "Little Big Man" is the devil. More on our adventures as the summer progresses..........-L & J

Introduction and Tom Custer's Revolver

2009-06-05T09:41:00.000-06:00

JUSTIN: My name is Justin Davis, and I am from New Orleans, LA. I have recently graduated from the University of New Orleans with a B.A. in History. I stumbled upon this internship on a museum employment website, and decided to give it a shot. I did not know exactly what to expect moving from New Orleans to Garryowen. As you can imagine, the two cities are quite different. But, Garryowen has been pleasently surprising up to this point. The landscape is absolutely beautiful in this part of the country. Furthermore, working in the museum has been challenging as well as rewarding. Lauren and I have been allowed the liberty to restructure the museum floor plan, and some of the display cases. As Lauren mentioned in her blog yesterday, my favorite piece in the musem is Tom Custer's revolver. In my opinion, the revolver is one of the more pristine artifacts in our collection. The most interesting aspect of the revolver is the incscription of Tom Custer's initials, located on the butt. For me, the revolver makes the battle tangible because I can actually picture Tom Custer using his weapon in the battle with the Indians. I am currently working on the conceptualization of a case and hopefully soon I will be adding a fully loaded revolver that is rumored to have been one of George Custer's firearms. More on that later........-JD

First Entry

2009-06-04T14:29:00.000-06:00

LAUREN: This is just an introductory post to introduce everyone to the intern blog. I've been here for just over two weeks now and Justin got here on the 28th. We've been in the midst of a transitional period, rearranging the displays, updating the labels for artifacts and generally prepping the museum for the height of the season, particularly the reenactment week through 4th of July weekend.
The museum has a unique collection of artifacts and while I'll let Justin tell you what his favorite is out of the lot, my personal favorites are the Ghost Dance Shirt and the Death Mask of Sitting Bull. We also have a lock of Custer's hair, Sitting Bull's signed contract with Wild Bill Cody, first editions of the Lewis and Clark journals, a first edition of Libbie Custer's "Boots and Saddles" and many other fascinating finds. Displayed on the perimeter and accordion display boards of the museum is the largest collection of David Frances Berry frontier photography in existence. I personally believe that the museum has a rustic, intimate charm that requires at least an hour to appreciate, not including the 45 minutes it takes to watch the informational (and nationally acclaimed) video we show here.
Justin and I are trying to give the museum an extra dimension by giving an insider's perspective of the museum experience. I'm also hoping to set up a podcast or at least an audio recording from the battlefield reenactment at the end of June, so keep a lookout for that!
I'm loving the surrounding area of Montana; the hills and ridges are in full verdant splendor, and the expansive nature of the open horizon is both freeing and comforting. Coming from the Cape, I do miss the ocean and sand in general (though I never thought I'd miss always finding sand in my shoes), but this is such a pleasing surrogate environment that I barely ever feel something's lacking. Overall, I'm having a great time and I'm so glad I decided to embark on this adventure. Keep checking in for more posts and news! -L