In the Summer of 2005...

I took off in hot pursuit of the Nimiipuu Tribe. For us White Folks they are better known as the Nez Perce Indians. I was touring on a bicycle tricked out with four panniers and a duffle bag. That's all I carried for two months and thousands of miles. See? I was into Minimalism before it was cool. 

http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2016/06/i-never-thought-of-myself-as-a.html

Now about the Nez Perce and what makes them so special: 

The year was 1877 when 750 Nez Perce tribal members and 2,000 ponies left their ancestral homelands for a better future. That's what they had hoped for. They didn't want to be subjugated to a non-nomadic reservation lifestyle. 

Sound familiar?

http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2016/07/it-said-history-is-written-by.html

The Nez Perce's empire once spanned a four state region of what is now Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Their territory included large swaths of forests, valleys, plains, canyons and a few notable rivers complete with salmon runs. It was a large piece of Paradise on Earth. After all the shredded treaties, their Real Estate shrunk by 90%. The U.S. Government brokered a ruthless deal. Move to the Reservation or be forced upon it by the Cavalry.  

A few of the clans said in essence, "Screw that!" They became known as the "Non-Treaty Nez Perce." Once again, a group of Native Americans were led by a charismatic leader. His name was Chief Joseph. The bands decided to take their chances on the road. Their immediate goal was to peacefully get away from the U.S. Army. Their long term goal was to join forces with their Allies, The Crow Tribe on the eastern side of the Rockies. In the end, neither plan materialized. 

What followed was a retreat featuring twenty skirmishes and battles. It was a circuitous route of over 1,100 miles designed to keep the Cavalry at bay, avoid White settlements and stay out of range of their Old Time Indian enemies.

They were eventually headed off at the pass by Colonel Nelson Miles in the Bear Paw Mountains of Montana. They were captured a mere 40 miles from the sanctuary of Canada. 

In 1986, the National Park Service commemorated their escape route. It's appropriately  named the Nez Perce Historic Trail. In 2005, I flew into Spokane, Washington reassembled my touring bike at the airport and began my journey of discovery. 

While the Nez Perce were attempting to find freedom, I felt crazy-free while following along on my bicycle. At the time, I doubted if their was a happier dude on the planet.

Now I don't ride much since my sedan/bicycle accident. 

http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2016/07/five-years-ago.html

BTW: I wrote an article about my flight as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Wandering-Jew-Pursues-Nee-Me-Poo-ebook/dp/B007HQXI86/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1469460124&sr=8-6&keywords=Jeff+Sambur

However, I'm pleased to report, I still feel incredibly free and very happy.

I'm now using horsepower to get around instead of pedal power.

The photos are from my recent visit to the Big Hole National Battlefield near Wisdom, Montana. Many Nez Perce women, children and Warriors were slaughtered in a surprise attack by the U.S. Cavalry and numerous local volunteers. A successful counter-attack saved the day for the remaining tribe members. Their retreat continued. 

"I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

U-2 lyrics

From Glacier National Park,

Jeff

It's Bigger than Rhode Island!

Well, so are some Super Walmarts. 

So how big is big? The Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness  can't be bothered to reside in one state. The big chunk lives in Montana. There's a slop-over portion in Wyoming. It takes three National Forests to contain it. In the big picture, it's part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. 

This wild expanse is made up of two distinct mountain ranges. 

The Beartooths are granite based, and occupy an above tree line topography. (That's more my style!) There's not much wild life since animals can't digest rocks. 

The Absaroka's are volcanic in nature. There's lots of trees (except for where I hiked today!) They are home to heaps of mammals, including Ursus horribilis. Better known as the Grizzly Bear. I am scared poopless of animals capable of making me a kosher appetizer.

I hiked two trails in the Absaroka's. They couldn't have been any different. 

My first hike was up to Pine Creek Lake. The payoff was worth the 3,500" of uphill in the five miles to get there. No complaints here. (See the photos). 

My second hike was along the South Fork of Deep Creek up to Davis Pass. There were no trees. In 2012, a careless human started a fire on private property which spread into the National Forest. The blaze incinerated an entire four-mile long valley of mature timber. There were no survivors. Instead of stands of lodgepole pine, spruce and fir, there's stands of fireweed. There's also berries, common Mullen and runty aspens, red maples and miniature lodgepoles. 

It's sad. 

All this devastation caused by one human pyro accident. I'm OK with lightning caused fires. That's Mother Nature, but I get upset over stupidity.

Don't hike the South Fork of Deep Creek for another 100 years. 

Smokey Bear is right. "Only you can prevent wildfires." 

Don't play with matches.

Jeff

It's said History is written by...

the winners.  

At the Little Bighorn Battlefield, there were no winners. 

The battle took place in June, 1876. This deadly struggle was the culmination of broken treaties, the uncompromising advance of Manifest Destiny, the clash of cultures who shared no common traits (other than being humans) and a few charismatic leaders. 

The White Folks were led by George Armstrong Custer. He was a Civil War General who led his troops from the front. He was fearless. He had eleven horses shot out from under him. He made great copy for the press. He might have been reckless and lucky. He was totally clueless on battling Indians who didn't follow standard military procedures. 

The Lakota,  Cheyenne and Arapaho were led by Chief Sitting Bull. He was more of a spiritual leader than an X's and O's military strategist. He called the Reservation Indians fools and suck-ups. He exhorted them to join him and his followers and return to their tried and true way of life. Many did just that. When you think about it, the Indians just wanted to be free to live their nomadic lifestyle. I can relate to that. 

Let the battle begin!

Custer's Crow and Arikara Indian scouts spot a large Lakota/Cheyenne/Arapaho  encampment on the banks of the Little Bighorn River. Custer didn't want this prize to escape. He divides his command. A tactic used often in the Civil War by General Lee. 

Major Reno led a surprise attack on the sleepy campers. When the Warriors woke up, Boy! Were they mad! The Braves rallied and chased Reno and his broke down command back across the river. The retreat was anything but orderly. Forty soldiers died trying to make it to higher ground. Captain Benteen's battalion joins Reno on the ridge top. They dig in with a siege mentality mindset. The soldiers hold on for a day and a half.

Custer and his battalion move north along the bluffs to get in front of the encampment.  About this time, the fog of war rears its ugly snout. Custer has lost contact with his beleaguered battalions. He and his 225 Cavalrymen were virtually on their own. No historian knows the moment when Custer realizes that the attackers were now being attacked. Many of his soldiers panic and try to escape the trap. They are cut down. About 41 horsemen and Custer make it to Last Stand Hill. There, they shoot their steeds to serve as breastworks. For a cavalryman, this is the final act of capitulation. The one sided onslaught is over in about thirty minutes. 

Now, all is quiet on this deceptively steep battlefield. White markers indicate the approximate points where the soldiers met their unexpected demise. Red/brown markers indicate where the Native Americans fell defending their way of live. 

The victory was a short lived one. The combatants would eventually end up on Reservations. 

Sitting Bull would die at the hands of his own people in 1890 on the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota.

It's a place worth seeing and pondering over.

From the banks of the Yellowstone River near Livingston, Montana.

G' day!

Jeff