FAQs

    

Why is it worth spending a whole day on the Battle of the Little Bighorn?

We want visitors to learn the truth of the events leading to this cataclysmic event on the plains. And remember, the battle was won, but the reverberations of the war still continue to this very day around many Plains Nations. 

 

To other tour companies, the mission is simply to have a guides learn enough basic information to entertain visitors, load as many mini buses from Billings as they can, and make money.  They will 'throw in' excursions to nearby battlefields as a bonus, but don't do those stories justice either.  To us, this is a matter of values. The story you are hearing involved lives, and deaths, and the stories deserve to be told well.

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Will I get to walk out across the Little Bighorn Battlefield wherever I'd like to go?

Not just anywhere. The land of the battlefield is privately owned. The Park Service has a lease on the 4 mile road through the battlefield, and has access to 6 feet either side of the road and no further, and permission must be gained for anyone to venture onto the private lands. We get that permission for you, but there are still some restrictions.

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Can you offer shorter rides on the Little Bighorn?

Yes. For the first time ever, we are offering shorter rides because if you have someone in your party who is older, or younger, their physicality or concentration may call for a shorter ride. Planning a shorter ride may be the economical thing to do because if we have to curtail a ride for someone who can't manage, we will likely have to charge $100 to have someone come pick them up if other riders are continuing!
However, before you book a shorter ride, please read the next FAQ down.

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If I do a short Battlefield ride will I get the same experience?

No. This story begins long before June 25th, 1876. It is an epic tale of the clash of cultures that decimated Plains Indian peoples and on a four-mile battlefield, horserisding takes time. You will miss important parts of the field if you go short. HOWEVER, for some people it's the right course of action -

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Why do some people call it the Custer Battlefield?

Very strange that they do! Nowhere else in America is there a battlefield memorial story dedicated to the losers.  But here in the West there are many descendants of the US military as well as Native descendants, which may account for the resistance in some quarters to move on and embrace the re-name that was authorized by Congress in 1991.

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What's the story with the Indian Monument at the Custer Battlefield / Little Bighorn?

Native people had long asked for there to be something commemorating the battle that noted the Lakota and Cheyenne victory, but this had fallen on deaf ears until finally a competition was dreamed up to design a monument to the indigenous story. Many assumed it would be opened to Native people, so they could tell their own story (something that is lacking in interpretive signs talks at the site to this day) but actually it was opened to artists worldwide. 
The architect who won was John R. Collins from Philadelphia, and he won the memorial design contest without ever setting foot in the West, beating 563 others designs.

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How far ahead should I have to book to horseback ride at the Little Bighorn Battlefield?

As far as possible please. 
We do not accept walk-in bookings because this isn't the kind of nose to tail ride where horses are left saddled and tied all day in the hope that tourists will show up!

You don't need to be an experienced rider, but follow the word of your wrangler, wear shoes/boots with heels (absolutely no trainers or flipflops) and take water and a sunhat. Book here

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What else is there to do in the area of the Little Bighorn?

There are multiple related sites in the area and we offer Native American guiding at all of them:

    The Battle of the Rosebud - Take the grassy path that leads through the valley toward the Old Buffalo Jump. Hear of the stories of the battle’s participants who were involved in a titanic struggle, which lasted more than 6 hours and how on June 17 went down in Cheyenne history as one of outstanding bravery – the story of the Fight Where the Girl Saved Her Brother was an event of cultural magnitude and inspiration which still resonates in the present day culture of the Cheyenne people.

    The Deer Medicine Rocks - It was here, in 1876, that the Lakota chief Sitting Bull had a vision of soldiers tumbling into his camp, and carved this script into the stone - the figures, though a little faint, are very visible. Not long after that, not far from here, at a place history remembers as Little Bighorn, the men of General George Custer’s 7th Cavalry played their parts, as predicted. 

    The Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation - The Cheyenne culture is complex, deeply spiritual and beautiful, the Tsitsistas language is still spoken, and traditional people have retained their ways. Formerly named the Tongue River Indian Reservation, the 707 square miles of what nearly 5000 residents call ‘God’s Country’ is the home of the Tsitsistas – the Morning Star People, or the Northern Cheyenne. 

    The Fetterman Miscalculation - If you are interested in visiting the site where Captain Fetterman led his 80 men in a forbidden charge over Lodge Trail Ridge, resulting in ambush finely planned by Lakota military leader Crazy Horse, please call the office on 307 699 6015. We offer this tour only as part of a two-tour package.
 

    Discover the Little Bighorn -  If you are very interested in all things Little Bighorn, then this exploration is the trip

for you. Spend three days in the company of one of the finest tribal historians on the Plains, visit places off limits to the general public and learn the intricacies of tribal warfare in cultural context. Learn more here

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