Sunday, July 25, 2010

Billings, Montana July 24/25, 2010

We pulled into the Billings KOA on Friday. It's the first KOA in the system, started in 1962 here in Billings. It's really a resort -- super level sites, trees, grass, pool and hot tub and each site has a cement patio with fireplace, table and SWING :-) There's an on-site chuck wagon - Pistol Pete's- and if you can afford it, serves breakfast and supper. To my way of thinking, it's a bit spendy if I'm eating outside with paper plates and plastic utensils and trying to keep my plate from flying away in the wind. Oh yes, it also has paved roads. We'll be here for a week, then it's back to the more common KOA campgrounds.

Saturday we went to the Pictograph Cave State Park and walked into the caves where prehistoric hunters lived and saw the cave paintings they created. The paintings are over 2000 years old. They have stsrted to fade, so are not as clear as they were when they were discovered in the 1930's.

Since we had paid $5 for a day pass at the state parks, we got directions to Chief Plenty Coups State Park. Its waaayyyy out in the boonies. It is 35 miles from Billings near the little town of Pryor. We visited the Chief's home, a trading post, tipi, sweat lodge, and a modern museum outlining the Crow Nation's culture and heritage. The Chief donated his 189 acre farm to the state of Montana and wanted all cultures to come together in a cooperative nature. He wanted to honor the culture of the Crow Nation and bring people together in harmony. The Chief was born in 1850 and was the last of the traditional chiefs of the Crow Nation. He was a visionary that led his people from the Buffalo days into the 20th century. He was a stateman and ambassador and well known by US Presidents and foreign leaders.

Today we drove to Pompeys Pillar National Monument where on July 25, 1806 Wm. Clark carved his name on a sandstone cliff on the edge of the Yellowstone River. It is the only remaining evidence of the Lewis and Clark exploration of the Louisiana Purchase. Pompey was the name of Sacajawea's baby boy. It was a climb to the top of the rock (213 steps) but the view was awesome!


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