Historical & cultural exploration at its finest

The so-called ‘Great Sioux War of 1876’ remains the most famous ‘Indian war,’ but many of its sites are remote, or known only to a handful of historians and descendants of the participants.

On this incredible journey you have a rare opportunity to experience many of these sites, and to literally follow the trails of Crook, Crazy Horse, Custer and Sitting Bull to the Rosebud, the Little Bighorn, and beyond. The mountains, plains, and endless skies of North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska add to the lure that is embodied by those associated with the Centennial Campaign:

Medicine Crow, Low Dog, Crow King, William F. ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody, Gall, Lame White Man, Buffalo Calf Trail Woman, Reno and Benteen, White-Man-Runs-Him, Two Moons, Ranald S. Mackenzie . . . the Lakota and Cheyenne . . . regiments of US Cavalry and Infantry aided by the Crow, Shoshoni and Pawnee.

Our Little Bighorn Battlefield guides are the very best anywhere, and we don't make that claim lightly.

ABOUT THE TOUR

The scene is set in the Black Hills as we explore some of Custer’s 1874 Black Hills Expedition sites, discussing the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, and the contrast between sacred sites and prospectors’ mines. 

We then gather on the actual 1875 Allison Commission Council grounds, where the government attempted to lease, and then buy, the Black Hills: “The Black Hills is worth to me seven generations, but you give me this word of six million dollars. It is just a little spit out of my mouth,” Red Cloud told Senator Allison, whose commission had convened along the White River on September 20, 1875, and ended unsuccessfully on September 29.

From there we embark upon the resultant ‘Great Sioux War.’At Fort Fetterman we discuss Brigadier General Crook’s winter campaign, and then travel to the Reynolds’ Battlefield, the campsite of Old Bear and He Dog which Crook’s men under Reynolds attacked on March 17, 1876.

We take the trail of He Dog’s and Old Bear’s people to Crazy Horse’s camp, and then east to Sitting Bull’s encampment, to hear the perspectives of the Lakota and Cheyenne.

At the Powder River Depot we assess Colonel John Gibbon’s and Brigadier General Alfred Terry’s respective commands at the site where the crucial meeting on The Far West was held.

We then follow Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer’s 7th US Cavalry up the Rosebud to the Divide, in pursuit of the Lakota and Cheyenne.

We experience the awe-inspiring Deer Medicine Rocks where Sitting Bull’s vision of soldiers without ears, falling like grasshoppers into camp, can still be seen.

We relive the Rosebud battle across the vast sweep of the field, viewing the terrain as Crazy Horse and Crook saw it that June day,

And then we rejoin Custer and the 7th at the Crow’s Nest, and then follow them to Lone Tipi. Inside the village site along the Little Bighorn River we experience the Lakota and Cheyenne perspective – we stand where Crazy Horse crossed the Little Bighorn River to meet Custer’s 7th, and then we follow the battle as it unfolded.

On Hoka-hey you have a unique opportunity to actually ride on the Little Bighorn Battlefield, to truly see the terrain as these legendary warriors on each side saw it on June 25, 1876.