HELLO OLD FRIEND...TIME TO HUNT

      Well we made it back to Oregon, with a week to spare before Dwain's big hunt.  We stayed on our friends Sharri and Jim Griffin's property in Medford for 5 days before moving back up to Grants Pass to settle in.
      So I tallied it up, and fun facts go like this:
Days gone - 120                         Total miles traveled - 9,212              States visited - 11
Longest stay in a state - 45 days, Wyoming                                Shortest stay in a state - 24 hrs, Idaho
Highest elevation - 10,998 ft., Bear Tooth Mtns. Montana
Lowest elevation - 305 ft., Red Bluff California
Went through 3 time zones - Pacific, Central, and Eastern         Our favorite place - Cody Wyoming
RV Rally's - 2, Goshen Indiana, Gillette Wyoming                     Hospitals - 1, Gillette Wyoming
Rodeos - 6, Sheridan Wyoming , Cody Wyoming, Crow            Museums - 17
Livestock Fairs - 4            Cultural Fairs - 4, Crow                     Historic Battlefields walked - 4
Birds and animals in the wild - Magpies, Bald Eagle, White Tail Deer, Mule Deer, Antelope, Buffalo,
Praire Dogs, Beaver, and Muscrat

                                                             THE BIG MULE DEER HUNT

      Dwain had made reservations last winter with Sarvis Praire Outfitter, located in Fossil Oregon for a guided 5 day Mule Deer Buck hunt.  For 6 months Dwain talked about it in great anticipation, gathering all the "hunt" stuff needed, getting his Oregon Hunting License, and putting in hoping to draw for a Mule Deer Buck tag.   Dwain was scheduled to leave on Thursday September 25th so we had things to do to prepare.  We rented a car for me so Dwain could take the truck, in hopes of  him hauling back his first Mule Deer Buck.  Dwain left on Thursday morning headed to NE Oregon, spent the night in Redmond Oregon, and in the morning continued on his journey, to arrive in Fossil on Friday afternoon.   Time to site in his rifle, which went well so I was told...Dwain was 1 of 9 up there for this hunt.  In the meantime on Friday back in Grants Pass I had things to do...Pedicure, shopping, a sleep over with my girl friend, you know all the really good stuff.

                                                                 GREAT WHITE HUNTER

       Saturday had finally arrived for the Big Hunt...Dwain said they left at a little after 7 a.m. that morning.  They drove around scouting for a buck for a while, eventually they found just what he had been waiting for, a nice Mule Deer Buck.  A great shot brought him down about 11:30 a.m..  By the time they had gotten to the Deer, had their many Kodak moments, gutted him then he called me.  So you can imagine my reaction when I am "shopping" to get a call from Dwain at 12:30, why isn't he hunting, you are not suppose to call people while you are hunting, I said to myself just before I answered the phone.  So,  here is how the conversation went...Dwain says "hi, I'm done", "what", I said...he repeated himself saying "I'm done", I am thinking what does that mean???  I say again "WHAT, I don't understand what you mean", and now he finally says "I got my deer, I tagged out", I look at the clock in disbelief and say "already", I have watched enough of those hunting shows on TV to know that you don't always get your deer on opening day, or in 4 hours...isn't there alot of tracking and stuff how could this be???  Did I drink too much wine last night with Sharri, and cannot comprehend what he is saying.  Now remember he is suppose to be gone till Thursday and this is Saturday mid day...I am shopping, and BAM, does that mean he is coming home???  So I say "are you coming home", and Dwain says "no, I am going to stay and do some Coyote hunting", Yippee Skippee words now that I understand, he got his deer and I am still going to have some ME time.  Win-Win!!!  A couple other hunters also got their deers that day.

                                                     THE GUIDES SKINNING DWAIN'S DEER

        Dwain spent the next 4 days enjoying time with the other hunters, listening to all their stories of past hunts.  The last hunter of the 9 tagged out on Tuesday afternoon and they stayed along with Dwain till Wednesday.  One hunter got their buck on Saturday and proceeded to leave on Sunday...I told Dwain for what the hunt cost, you better stay there and eat their food and enjoy the whole guy camping experience.  I am really glad he was able to fulfill his dream of a successful Mule Deer Buck hunt.  I was really hoping for a nice shoulder mounted Mule Deer for the wall of our future home, but that will have to wait till the next hunt.  Dwain liked his head but not enough to have it mounted, so for now he is going to have the horns mounted and display them in his garage.  Now he is doing research on Antelope (Prong Horn) hunts in Wyoming.  Oh LORD he has caught the bug...    





    

That's All Montana...

     After leaving Hardin Montana we headed west through Billings and up the Yellowstone River to Livingston Montana where we stayed 2 weeks.  We really enjoyed this RV campground, our backyard was the Yellowstone River and we could walk down and fly fish at any time...the water was warm enough we didn't need our waders unlike the Big Horn which was frigid.  We took a drive one day up to the Gallatin River to fish.  This was absolutely the most breathtaking place to fish, but this is the wild and we have to be aware of our surroundings at all times...this is bear country, and I don't have bear spray.  So you cast a few times, and look around...cast a few times, and look around.  The water up there was a lot colder and I was a bit nervous about my surroundings fishing away from Dwain and in hip deep water, when I turned and I lost my balance and slipped, down I went into the river, boy was I ever so grateful that I had my waders on and didn't get submerged completely only about a gallon of icy cold water went into my wadders at least not the whole river...you have never seen anyone jump up so quickly.  It is pretty tricky to walk in rushing water and we recognize going slow is the key to not getting swept away.  

Dwain fly fishing down river on the Gallatin River

Dwain and Eric, playing camera shy...

      We took another full day guided fly fishing raft trip while we were there.  Our guides name was Eric, and we spent the day on the Yellowstone River.  The day started out beautiful, the river was not as muddy as it had been due to all the nightly rain we had been getting so the fishing was really decent after all.  After catching numerous fish each during the morning, we stopped for lunch.  Our guide had brought a great asian salad and  rotisserie chicken breasts...and white chocolate chunk cookies for desert.  I guess he got the memo NO mayonnaise on my sandwich.  He was probably a little fearful when he got the message that the lady doesn't want MAYO.   Just as we were finishing our lunch we had decided to do a little wade fishing from the gravel bar we were on, when the sky opened up and a full on lightning/rain storm started.  Well, this is awesome...on the river in a metal boat...NOT.  We spent the next 1 1/2 hrs sitting on the gravel bar far away from the boat till it blew over.  The best part is when it rains, the rain is really cold and of course we were not prepared for rain and have no rain jackets.  Luckily for me Eric our guide had 2 jackets, one for me and one for him.  Hmmmm Dwain had to improvise...hence the Hefty bag.  Eric and I were rolling it was so funny, and Dwain was very entertaining.  A terrific day overall, we caught a lot and fully enjoyed our guide and all of his direction and expertise.

BAGMAN...

One of many rainbows I caught that day

Dwain with his 1st catch on this float...a nice rainbow trout

     
 

Great lunch on the River

      We really enjoyed this small town, they had a great museum cute shops and yummy eateries.  We also found this unique daycare center for adults.  You have to appreciate the humor...
     This has been really a great time for Dwain and I.  We have found another activity that we really enjoy doing together, Fly Fishing.  So we took the plunge and bought a boat.  We have taken 3 guided fishing trips 2 were in drift boats and one in a raft.  Dwain did a lot of research and with advise from our last guide we chose the NRS 14' Otter Raft.  We picked one up in Wolfcreek MT by the Missouri River just before we headed to Idaho.  We got a smoking deal, it is a 2013 and was used just this season.  We cannot wait to use it, especially this winter down in Yuma on the river.

Dwain's DayCare...

            Our new Toy...NRS 14' Otter Raft , what
            great fun this will be for us...

Me...outside of a museum, this is a house that was built in 1885, with an outdoor privy.  All I can say is I am so grateful for indoor plumbing we have now!!!

CROW FAIR...

Let the celebration begin...

     Well this was certainly worth the wait...the 95 annual Crow Fair, held in Montana about 12 miles S. of Hardin on the Crow Nation.  This fair was started in 1904 and has continued to grow each year, it traditionally starts the 3rd Thursday in August each year. It is also referred to as the Tee Pee Capital of the world, there were approximately 1200 to 1500 tee pees scattered throughout the encampment.  There is also an all Indian Rodeo during the Crow Fair Thurs. thru Sun., at 1p.m. each day.  Not only do you have your regular rodeo events there also is the Indian Relay Race which is so exhilarating as well as some traditional horse races.  There rodeo is a bargain only $5.00, and the food is CHEAP.  The Opening Ceremony started Thurs. evening at 6p.m., this is held in this huge arbor area with the Grand Entry.  This leads off with the Color Guard, their Royal Court and then the Tribal dancers in all their colorful regalia.  This is so awesome what a site, I am so grateful to have witnessed this in person.  Friday thru Sunday they held a morning parade where there were so many floats, Indians on horseback and alot of candy being thrown out to the kids that were bystanders.  Did I mention that they had a large selection of food as well as vendors selling their Native American jewelry and crafts at the Crow Fair, I don't want to leave that out.  I didn't buy much...just LOADS of food and this great strawberry-lemonaide.  So much for that diet right!!!  They have this stuff called Indian Fry Bread, yea you all have had it, I now have indulged in this tasty treat...man is it good with sugar and honey, and Dwain even liked it!!!   
                                                                                                                                                                               

Prince is in the middle he is a Men's Traditional Crow dancer

      I was so fortunate to set our chairs up the first morning next to the nicest Crow family, Linda and Grant Bulltail.  They had their children and grandchildren their taking part in the festivities as well as Linda and her grandson took part in dancing.  What a very sweet and beautiful women Linda is, and extremely patient with me as I was asking her question after question for 4 straight days, trying to

Men's Grass Dancer

grasp this amazing culture.  Our first day I asked one of their grandchildren if he was Crow and he said "yes", and then turned and said "are you Crow", I laughed removed my sunglasses and said "no, I wish, I am what they call a mixed dog, a mutt I have no heritage or culture to embrace", he laughed and laughed. It really is so wonderful that they have a culture and heritage to pass on from generation to generation, and so many families still embrace it by taking part in such things as the Crow Fair Pow Wow.  The dancers have many nights of competition.  There are various categories (traditional, jingle dress, fancy shawl, fancy feather, grass, fancy prairie chicken, and crow), as well as different age groups (tiny tots 0-5, juniors 6-11, teens 12-17, adults 18-64, and golden age 65 and up), these groups and categories are separated also by sex.  Everywhere you look there are brightly colored fabrics, feathers and headdresses.  There are multiple Native American drum groups around the arbor that consist of 8-12 members each, that are called out to sing and play for dance groups, and what a joyful sound they make. As groups are dancing spectators will run up to a competitor and throw money on the ground before them, this is in a sense a bribe to the judge an encouragement of your vote.  Of course Dwain had to run all the way across the arbor to get to this guy named Prince to give his vote,  we had met him in Sheridan during their Pow Wow and he is a great dancer.

Mens Fancy Feather Dancer

     It's been a great 17 days here, but it is time to move on...our next stop is Livingston Montana, we will be doing alot of fly fishing up there so...stay tuned till next time

My new friend Linda, Women's Traditional Dancer #1000

    

One tired little guy...

                                         These are all different Grand Entry Videos...enjoy!

         

                                                

The Final Battle...

     So today we traveled 14 miles south of our RV park in Hardin, near the Crow Agency here in Montana.  This is the site of the Little Bighorn Battlefield, commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand.

Crow country is aprrox. 2.5 mil. acres...

This was such a hair-raising experience to walk over the the site where the most well known battlefield in our American History took place.

For those of you who didn't pay attention in your history class back in the day...I will give you a brief synopsis.  A treaty was signed in 1868 at Fort Laramie WY, with the Lakota, Cheyenne, and other Tribes of the Great Plains.  When the government was unable to restrain western settlers from moving into Treaty territory of the Black Hills in South Dakota, nor control the uproar of the Indian attacks against these white settlers due to this, the U.S. Government refused to remove the white man settlers from the Tribal grounds and instead Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. Sherman dispatched orders to move the hostiles and return them to their reservations.  On June 25, 1876 George Armstrong Custer lead the U.S. Army 7th Cavalry into an inevitable massacre against the Lakota, Sioux, Northern Cheyenne and the Arapaho led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull.  Lt. Col. Custer attacked a sizable encampment of Indians, even after he had been encouraged by his U.S. Crow Scouts to wait for reinforcements the band was considerably more substantial for them to procure.  He also disregarded orders to wait for Col. Gibbons and Gen. Terry till the 27th of June, he refused to take a Gatling gun as it would slow him down and when his pack train containing ammunition and supplies got stuck he chose to press on rather than wait.  Some would describe Lt. Col. Custer as having Presidential aspirations, he was also said to have been head strong and reckless.

     A total of 263 soldiers and civilians were massacred in less than an hour.  Of those, Custer's own family members included 2 of his brothers, his brother in-law, and his nephew.
     Within five years after that battle almost all Sioux and Cheyenne Tribes would be confined to the reservation life.
     Our Government made treaties with the Native Americans and when it suited us we would negate the Treaty and what it stood for.  How sad is that.
     We also took a guided bus tour as well as listened to Park Rangers give interpretive talks on the "Battle", there was a great movie in the Museum that also helped tie the sequence of events together.  This was nothing less than Amazing, a must see...put it on your "bucket list".
     
     

     
Above, Dwain standing 4ft. to his left of the Custer Battlefield National Monument...is where they found Custer's body, many say that he was killed at the crossing of the Little Big Horn River and carried up to the battleground area.



The photo to the right:  This is of Last Stand Hill, and a fenced enclosure where a large potion of the battle took place.

 The photo to the Left shows where fallen soldiers were found, the marker that has black on the face is where they originally buried Custer's body.  The bodies were found 2 days after the battle and were buried where they were found.  Custer's body was exhumed a year later per his wife's request and reinterred in West Point Cemetery. A number of other officers were also removed and buried elsewhere per family members request.

     This photo on the Right:
Each soldier when buried was noted with a stake marker, in May 1890 those stakes were replaced with these marble markers.
All of these bodies have been removed and buried below the Custer's Battlefield National Monument as a mass grave site in 1890 when the Monument was erected.  The Custer National cemetery was established in 1886 for the interment of those who served honorably in the Armed Forces of the United States.  Many from Indian Battles of the Northwest.  Many other bodies that were involved in previous battles such as the Fetterman Massacre, Wagon Box Fight, Battle of the Rosebud, and all of the abandoned Fort graveyards on the Bozeman Trail these men were buried in this National Cemetery, along with several Crow Scouts.

 Photo on Left:
This is the Indian Memorial just that was placed below Last Stand Hill.  It was dedicated on June 25, 2003.  It is in memory of all Tribes that were defending their way of life at the battle. 

Within the Indian Memorial...

                                                                                      The photo above is one example of  the many

                                                                                      Tribes that are recognized on the interior walls

                                                                                      of the Indian Memorial.  These are the 6 U.S.
  Crow Scouts that Custer became enraged with
  when they tried to discourage him from
  engaging further.  Custer relieved them of their
  duty and they left...they lived to see many more
  days.                                      
                                                                               
   The photo to the Left:   On Memorial Day
   1999, the first of 5 red granite markers were
   placed denoting where warriors had fallen.
   Most warriors bodies were removed promptly
   after the battle by tribe members, this is why
   we don't know exactly how many were killed

    



Photo to Left:  This is a famous tree that stands in the
Battlefield area.  It is called the "witness tree"...the
stories it could tell, if only it could. 
                                                                                
                                                                                  

Movin On...

     We were so excited to receive our new Fly Reels today at the RV Park here in Cody...we had already purchased our Fly Rods here in Cody, but since the reel wasn't as important (it just holds your line) as the rod we got a better deal on the internet we just had to wait for it to arrive.  We leave this beautiful little town of Cody in the morning and look forward to what's ahead of us in the next town, hopefully some great fishing so we can use our new gear.

     Here are some of the pictures from our guided fly fishing adventure...I'm the one with all the fish, HAHAHAHA,  actually Dwain caught almost as many as I did, you notice how I said almost!!!  I can't say enough about our awesome guide Nate, we met him at 6am the morning of the trip, at the business where we booked the trip.  He drove us from Cody 1 1/2 hrs down to Thermopolis, where we launched our rubber boat, over this guard rail down this very steep bank to the Bighorn River.  That was cool, then he had someone pick up his truck later and take it to where we would eventually float/row down to at 5pm.  Nate gave extensive and precise guidance and was spontaneous with positive praise throughout the entire day.  He brought a great packed lunch, gourmet sandwich's with NO mayo, chips and different fresh fruit and topped it off with candy bars for dessert...this guy knew what I like.  So we continued to fish both from the boat and standing in the water.  I caught just as many standing in the water as I did from my position in the boat.  Did I mention that I stood all day in the boat or in the water, casting for 9 1/2 hours, but while we were fishing Nate was rowing or back rowing to get us in the perfect area...yes he rowed for the entire time less the time we spent eating.  WOW, you should see his callused hands.  The first picture is the take out point from our trip, the rocks have been built up over thousands of years with layers of sediments from thermal activity.  Hot springs and thermal activity are common in that area.  Well we are now hooked (no pun intended, lol), on this sport as you can see.

These rocks look very unusual...

Dwain's 1st catch, a rainbow trout

A great lunch...

Reel it in...

My 1st catch Fly Fishing, a rainbow trout

Here's a fatty...

Here is another rainbow

This is a cutbow, a cross rainbow and cut throat

Another good rainbow

Dwain's rainbow trout

My 2nd fish and its a brown trout

One more rainbow trout

I love the fatty's...rainbow trout

Warm and Windy, Cody Wyoming

     We headed to Cody with reservations at a RV campground for a week, we are now starting our 3rd
week here.  What can I say, we Love this town.   The Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museums(5)
are beyond words.  I spent 3 hours just in the Plains Indian Museum, and still had the Cody Firearms Museum, Whitney Gallery of Western Art Museum, Buffalo Bill Museum, and the Draper Museum of Natural History Museum to go through...good thing you purchase a 2 day pass.  We went to the
Cody Rodeo one night, enjoyed a narrated Trolley Tour of Cody, visited the Cody Dug Up Gun Museum (yep that's right, dug up guns), we went to the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center (one of many Japanese war relocation centers) another atrocity that the U.S. Government did.  I had heard that that they have the best fly fishing anywhere, here in Cody.  So that being said Dwain and I booked a full day, fly fishing float with a wonderful guide to teach us the art of fly fishing.  It was a successful day...we learned we conquered and we caught alot of fish, Brown, Rainbow and Cutbow.  All in all a PRICELESS day.  Oh and we look forward to many more of those days, we purchased our fly rods and are waiting for the reels to arrive any day now.  So one of the weeks we rented a car so that we could travel in and around Yellowstone and surrounding areas a bit easier, and one day we took a ride up to the Beartooth Highway a scenic byway...ya maybe for the first 8,000 ft. I was fine, then we had the major meltdown...did I mention I am afraid of heights, as in deathly afraid.  We won't be making that trip again that's for sure.  We went into Yellowstone National Park one day, and had a fantastic time.  It was as beautiful as you hear others talk about this park.  Everyone has seen those pictures on TV and in magazines with buffalo walking in and around cars in Yellowstone...well that was us that day.  I mean right next to Dwain and my car window...I couldn't decide aim and shoot my camera or roll up the window for protection, yep, Dwain laughed at me.  More recently we have been scoping out future RV sites close to the rivers for future visits.  I cannot recommend visiting Wyoming enough, and all it has to offer...visit Cody for sure.

Beautiful scenic cliffs in Cody

Buffalo Bill Center of the West

The Cody Firearm Museum

My Favorite Rifle.  The S. Hawkens, Circa
1835-1840.  Some day I will own one of these.

Cody Rodeo Park

   They have a rodeo every night from June
   through August...they had Break Away
  Calf Roping for women, and Steer Riding
  for kids, 2 events we have never seen... 

Beartooth Byway

This picture was before the meltdown...

The Buffalo herd crossing the road in Yellowstone

Hello Mr. Bison

.

Spectacular view in Yellowstone

The falls in Yellowstone.

Another view of the Falls.

I literally could have reached out and touched this BIG guy