Belle Fourche, Hardin, Custer Battlefield

(This post covers July 17 and 18)

The morning in Belle Fourche did not get off to a good start. Dan went off to a nearby gas station, put his helmet on the ground by the bike, and proceeded to fill his tank. Unfortunately, the nozzle shut-off was faulty, the tank overflowed onto the ground, and his helmet lining became soaked. He cleaned it up as well as he could with paper towels, but the smell inside the helmet was very strong. We had a good breakfast at Patty's Place across from the motel, and when Dan went to put on his one piece Aerostich suit, the zipper glide fell off. We looked closely at the zipper and saw that several teeth were missing at the top, which is why the glide came away. We got it back together, and managed to get the zipper started, so that Dan could get the suit on and off if he removed one of his boots, but he couldn't zip it all the way up.

We set off for the new (50 State) geographical center of the USA, which was on old US 85 about 15 miles north of town. We got to a dirt and gravel road with deep gravel and a sign that said the marker was 8 miles away, so we decided that we'd come far enough. On the way back to Belle Fourche we passed a park just north of town that honors the nearby center of the USA and various other things. I'd actually been there several years ago on a trip with John C. and John P.

We passed

We decided to find a motorcycle shop that might have a jacket that Dan could buy, because it was apparent that climbing in and out of his suit without a fully functional zipper was going to be a big hassle, not to mention the fact that if it rained he would get wet through the opening at the tip where he couldn't close the zipper all the way. Dan was also looking for a stick to prop open his faceshield because the gasoline fumes were almost overwhelming, and he decided to try riding with the whole bottom half of his helmet flipped up. I said that perhaps he should look for cheap helmet to go with a cheap jacket, when Geo made the obvious suggestion: "Why don't we just put the bike in the back of the truck, and Dan can ride with us?" Dan was OK with that, so we went to a nearby Kawasaki motorcycle and ATV dealer that had a ramp and platform in the parking lot that was just the right height to roll a vehicle into the bed of a pickup. Dan's bike just fit diagonally, Geo had brought tie-downs and we purchased a few more, and the bike was soon strapped down.

A tight squeeze in the truck

We'd thought about taking State Highway 34  into Wyoming and visiting Devil's Tower (soon to be renamed Bear Lodge), but with all the fooling around in Belle Fourche, we decided to stay on US 212 directly toward Billings. US 212 is a two-lane through sparsely settled country and also goes through a large Indian Reservation and the town of Lame Deer, where I'd stopped last year for gas and noticed a large casino that seemed very out of place. There was more traffic than you might think because US 212 is between I-90 and I-94, both of which are some distance away, so 212 is a good east-west road between the Black Hills and Billings.

We spent the night at the Western Motel in Hardin (about 40 miles from Billings), which was  right across the street from a laundromat, so Rich, Geo, and I did laundry. Hardin is rather a tired little town, but there was a restaurant downtown. Although it didn't have a beer license, the waitress suggested going across the street to the 4 Aces  bar and picking up beer to go and bringing it back, which we did. Well, those of us who drink did. As usual the N/A beer selection was limited.

Saturday. We gathered at 8 AM like we usually do, and rode/drove to a large cafe/gift shop across from the Custer National Monument where we had breakfast. After breakfast we were entertained by a cat on the roof of the building who was attempting to get in a window via a steel gate.

I can fit in there

Someone open the window

After watching the cat for awhile we rode into the Custer Battlefield site, parked, sunscreened up, and walked up to the hill where Custer and his men died. We walked across the road to a memorial to the Indians who died and to the end of their traditional way of life for Custer's last stand also marked the beginning of the end of the nomadic existence of the plains Indians. We followed a trail towards the river and a grove of cottonwood trees where the Indians were camped, and where Custer charged before he realized how many there were and retreated up the hill. Back at the visitors' center a ranger was giving a very dramatic talk on the battle, and we listened to most of it. The entire battle only took about 15 minutes. We drove five miles along a ridge to where Reno and Benteen took refuge. Along the way are markers that show where soldiers and Indians fell. From the ridge you can see the entire battlefield and imagine the soldiers surrounded by Indians and being chased up the hill, then falling one by one.

Watch where you step

Sculpture at the Indian memorial

Markers on the ridge

We spent over four hours in the park - Geo, Simone, and Spitz have read books about Custer  and the battle, so they provided a running commentary. We were very lucky that the day was  cloudy and cool - on June 25 , 1876 the temperature was over 100 degrees.

The Custer memorial from a distance

We saw this small herd of horses as we left the Reno-Benteen site.

We went back to Hardin for lunch at the 4 Aces - the previous evening Spitz had seen good-looking ribs being served, but in mid-afternoon all they had  was fried food - what we've  been eating for the last several days.

We went into Billings (about 60 miles  away), checked Spitz into his hotel, and checked the rest of us into the Western Motel, and then

had dinner at the Montana  Brewing Company downtown. There's a painted horse project downtown so we checked out the artwork.

Painted art horse in downtown Billings

We said goodbye to Spitz, who was spending the night at a different hotel because he was leaving for the airport at 5 AM and walked back to the Western.