Post 9 Our first encounter with the Wild West

During the first two weeks of September, we roamed the Great Plains—North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. What a mesmerizing experience! When we crossed the North Dakota state line, geography and history—as well as what laid before our eyes—reminded us that we were driving back in time through the Wild West of the American19th and 20th centuries. A fascinating 500-mile (800 km) itinerary in the footsteps of Theodore Roosevelt, George Armstrong Custer and the Seventh Cavalry, the Lakota, Cheyenne and Crow Indian tribes, Gutzon Borglum, Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill!
Our first encounter with the Wild West across the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming
In Fargo, Henri enjoyed seeing the town made famous by Frances McDormand and Steve Buscemi. We had just passed through the next town over which was in Minnesota, and honestly, it was noticeably more awful in Fargo—browner, more commercial, dingier  
Further west, we finally understood the difference between bison and buffalo thanks to the outstanding Buffalo Museum in Jamestown (in America they’re the same thing, but European settlers thought they looked like European buffalos) 
Henri decided that red wine, grilled bison steak and a nightcap with Jamestown's locals was "mandatory" to celebrate our first night in the Wild West!
A hundred miles westward, Bismarck and Fort Lincoln keep alive the memory of the Seventh Cavalry’s last garrison in Dakotah territory--where Custer also celebrated his 37th birthday--before the tragic Last Stand in the battle of Little Big Horn, Montana
Going deeper into western North Dakota, we stopped, mesmerized, in front of the immense Painted Canyon before entering the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (the only national park named after a person)
Our 2-day stay in Medora, North Dakota will remain as one of our best experiences thanks to Theodore Roosevelt's remarkable conservationist vision: amazing landscapes, horse riding to high plateaus, and thrilling encounters with herds of buffalos and wild horses (feet away)!

In the footsteps of Roosevelt's Rough Riders...😉
And dancing with bisons and...prairie dogs!
A musical play in Medora before leaving? Why not!

Then we drove deep into South Dakota and set our base camp in Sturgis at the piedmont of the Black Hills, a mecca for motorcyclists. Another world where history and geography intertwine to bring the traveler back in time. Wounded Knee massacre site, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer National Forest were our playground for 4 days before heading west to Montana through Wyoming. Serendipitously we met one of Susan’s Naval Academy classmates and his wife, Rob and Kris Webbor exploring the same part of the world. We attended the Mount Rushmore nighttime lighting ceremony together which was poignant on many levels, had a very special tribute to military and veterans.
Setting our base camp in Sturgis, South Dakota...
...the city of bikers and a hub for right wing America! 😉
Touching time on the untouched site of Wounded Knee massacre in 1890
Crossing the Badlands before going to Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills
Mt Rushmore: A learning experience for all of us, and another stamp on Eloise's National Park Passport
Class 89 Naval Academy's impromptu reunion, and nighttime ceremony with a special tribute to military and veterans
Tribute to the veterans and ice cream for the next generation...
On our way to Custer National Forest, a stop by the unfinished Crazy Horse monument
The small town of Custer...A feeling of wild West in the air, and in the car!
The French Creek where George Armstrong Custer's expedition discovers gold in the southern section of the Black Hills in 1874...The French are back!
As well as the Bisons!
If you run into a bison, stay cool and smile...as they say!!

We left the Black Hills and drove 300 miles north to meet Custer and the Seventh Cavalry at the Little Big Horn Battlefield in Southern Montana.
Welcome to Montana, "The Treasure State": Crossing the Cheyenne and Crow Reservations
Walking the untouched terrain of "Custer's Last stand" where 263 US. Army soldiers succumbed to the fearless joint attack of thousands of Indian warriors on June 25, 1876, was a moving experience
And another learning moment for Eloise. Alongside a tribute to the Seventh Cavalry heroism, the Little Big Horn National Monument is also a balanced portrayal of the battle, which was the ultimate arms attempt of the Indian tribes to defend their way of life.
Last but not least, our final stop before Yellowstone National Park was the cowboy town of Cody, Wyoming. 
Our stop in Buffalo Bill city was another incursion in the Wild West way of life
Eloise enjoyed the magnificent Buffalo Bill Museum and...
An unforgettable morning at the Cedar Mountain Trails stables

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