By Topic: Montana

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Crow Indians, Lewis and Clark, and the Battle of Little Bighorn,  Montana

The Crow Indians met William Clark’s party exploring the Yellowstone River in the summer of 1806 near Billings, Montana, but the expedition never saw them—they just had all of their horses stolen in two nighttime raids. Clark’s party of 12 were bringing back a large group of horses to use for trade at the Mandan Villages in North Dakota. 24 horses were stolen while they were building dugout canoes near Park City. The remaining 17 were stolen from Nathaniel Pryor and his party while he was proceeding overland near Hardin, Montana. Today, the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Refuge is located along the BigHorn River near Lovell, Wyoming along the Montana border.

Two hundred years later the Parade of the Crow People was one of the highlights of the 13th National Lewis and Clark Signature Event held at Pompey’s Pillar National Monument in July, 2006.  This parade is also performed  at the great Crow Fair held annually on the 3rd weekend in August at the Crow Agency near the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.  The Crow Fair is one of the largest pow wows in the country. More than 45,000 spectators attend.  The Crow tribal college offers  van tours of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument through Apsaalooke Tours, in partnership with the National Park Service. The battlefield was the site of "Custer’s Last Stand," the 1876 defeat of Lt. Colonel George Custer and his men by Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. An Indian Memorial was finally installed at the Battlefield in 2003.

Crow veterans who served in United States Armed Forces were the color guard at opening ceremonies at Pompey’s Pillar. Seven Montana Indian tribes participated in the National Signature Event. The seven tribes—Assiniboine, Gros Ventre, Blackfeet, Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Sioux, Chippewa-Cree, Salish, Kootenai and Pend O’reille—are members of the Montana Tribal Tourism Alliance.

Posted by Kira Gale on 11/01/2006 at 09:11 PM

Montana • TRAVEL • NATIVE AMERICAN • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink • Digg It • Add to del.icio.us

Signing at the Signature Rock, Pompey’s Pillar near Billings, Montana

Pompey’s Pillar was named by William Clark for Sacagawea’s little boy, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, who was called "Pomp" or "Pompey."  The toddler, who was born on February 11, 1805 at Fort Mandan near Bismarck, North Dakota, got a giant graffiti rock, a distinctive outcropping about 150 feet high, named after him when he was 17 months old. William Clark climbed to near the top of the rock, carved "William Clark  July 25 1806" in the soft sandstone, and named it "Pompey’s Tower." The editor of his published journal, Nicholas Biddle, renamed  it "Pompey’s Pillar." Located near a natural crossing of the Yellowstone River, the Crown Indians called the butte, Iishbiiammaache, or "the place where the mountain lion dwelled." For centuries Native Americans made hundreds of their own carvings (petroglyphs) and paintings (pictographs) on the rock. 

I signed Lewis and Clark Road Trips books in the Stephen A Ambrose Authors Tent  in 106 degree heat at Pompey’s Pillar. Despite the heat over 25,000 people attended the the 13th Lewis and Clark National Signature Event which was held 30 miles east of Billings, Montana in late July, 2006.  

 Peyton "Bud" Clark, the great, great, great grandson of William Clark reenacted his ancestor’s carving of his name and date on an outdoor stage at Pompey’s Pillar in that terrible heat, but he’s as tough as William Clark and got it done. Bud  has shown all the leadership skills, endurance and enjoyment of people, adventure, and the great outdoors that William Clark had. His participation in the bicentennial observances as the leader of the Discovery Expedition of St Charles has been one of the most important and lasting memories of these special years.

 Not to worry about climbing  the boardwalk if you are visiting. There is a brand new Visitor Center, which was dedicated at the Signature Event, where you can enjoy a view of the Pillar in comfort and use a telescope to get a close up view. The Visitor Center is open from the last weekend in May to the first weekend in September. There is year round access to the rock itself. It’s just a coincidence that this was called a "Signature Event" as this was the name given to all fifteen places around the country who hosted National Signature Events in the bicentennial years.

Pompey’s Pillar became a National Historic Landmark in 1965, and a National Historic Monument in 2001. William Clark’s signature today is enclosed in a protective glass frame, first put there by the local family who leased the land in the 1950’s and later bought it to preserve this remarkable piece of history. Read about Don and Stella Foote on the web’s great Lewis and Clark history website, Discovering Lewis & Clark.

Posted by Kira Gale on 11/01/2006 at 12:19 PM

BOOKS/AUTHORS • Lewis and Clark Trail • Montana • TRAVEL • NATIVE AMERICAN • Sacagawea • National Historic Landmark/ Monument • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink • Digg It • Add to del.icio.us