FOLLOW THE STORY What is history, if not a collection of stories told through different perspectives? In Southeast Montana, natural beauty blends with the rich history of the Old West, along with the TRACE HISTORY IN SOUTHEAST MONTANA traditions of the Crow and Northern Cheyenne tribes, to transport you to storied days gone by. Walk over the battlefields where brave warriors and soldiers laid down their lives. Follow the courageous footsteps of Lewis and Clark. Or, experience the dynamics that ranching and railroad brought to these rolling prairies. 8 Frontier Gateway Museum There is no doubt that the individuals, families and native peoples who made Southeast Montana Glendive 14 Pierre Wibaux Museum their home were a hardy bunch. As you peruse the many museums, heritage centers and historic MAKOSHIKA STATE PARK sites across Southeast Montana, put yourself in their shoes, read their stories and understand their 253 journeys. That is what makes history. Wibaux 94 For, without history, we have no story. Write yours Out Here. 34 Miles to Theodore Terry Roosevelt MUSEUM, VISITOR CENTER OR HISTORICAL SOCIETY Fallon National Park Prairie County Museum Preserving the past of Southeast Montana 11 and Evelyn Cameron Gallery 7 NATIONAL MONUMENT OR STATE PARK 87 11 Evelyn Cameron Heritage A landscape of historical treasures Visitor Information Center 12 Melstone Ingomar 94 Montana State Park PIROGUE Ismay ISLAND 9 O’Fallon Historical Museum 12 12 Plevna Harlowton Miles City Baker 1 Range Riders Museum Roundup 12 89 12 Treasure County Rosebud County 59 191 13 89ers Museum 12 Pioneer Museum 10 Musselshell County Hysham Historical Museum 12 94 Rosebud 7 Lavina Forsyth 332 447 R E Medicine Rocks ER 39 IV 27 IV R State Park R E NE U Broadview 87 STO G OW Custer ON L T NORTH DAKOTA Huntley Project Museum E L 94 5 Y 3 Western Heritage Center of Irrigated Agriculture 59 CUSTER 16 Schoolhouse History Ekalaka 4 Moss Mansion & Art Center (SHAC) 332 GALLATIN NF Pompeys Pillar R 15 Yellowstone County Museum 20 E 6 Carter County Museum 191 National Monument 384 IV LAKE MONTANA Colstrip R ELMO Huntley R 89 Big Timber Canyon Creek Battleeld E 23 D National Monument W Big Horn County Historical 447 O 90 2 P CUSTER Museum and Visitor Center Reed Point Billings GALLATIN Bozeman NATIONAL Laurel Hardin 323 FOREST 90 Columbus 447 26 Pictograph Cave 19 Little Bighorn Battleeld Ashland Yellowstone Kelly State Park National Monument 28 Crow 212 Olive Livingston 90 Interpretive Site Lame Deer Agency Powder River Historical SOUTH DAKOTA St. Labre Indian 7 Museum and Mac’s Museum 212 566 17 School Museum Absarokee Joliet CROW INDIAN 313 Busby R Custer Battleeld E Saint 18 NORTHERN CHEYENNE CUSTER Broadus RESERVATION IV Museum R Xavier INDIAN RESERVATION GALLATIN WA 25 Chief Plenty N Reynold Battleeld R Coups State Park 41 R 22 RI Pryor O National Monument OR H NATIONAL T 212 Roberts IG RA B Lodge 314 IL H FOREST IGH Hammond Grass Birney WAY 212 Bridger Fort Smith Wolf Mountains Battleeld R 21 E National Monument IV R Rosebud Battleeld Red 24 R State Park TONGUE E 310 BIGHORN D Alzada RIVER W Lodge CANYON O 89 Belfry NATIONAL RESERVOIR P RECREATIONAL 90 MONTANA Gardiner Cooke City AREA 113 Miles to Mount Rushmore National Memorial 26.4 Miles to WYOMING 212 Sheridan, WY Sheridan 14A YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK West Yellowstone 14A Cody SOUTHEASTMONTANA.COM | 1.800.346.1876 | #OutHereMT | #SoutheastMontana Printed in Montana for free distribution. 13 TREASURE COUNTY 89ERS MUSEUM TRAIL TO THE LITTLE BIGHORN THE WARRIOR TRAIL 325 Elliott Ave. • Hysham, MT 59038 Southeast Montana was the epicenter of many battles Montana Highway 212, known to many as the Belle Fourche Local history is preserved here, including a fossil and in which the Plains Indians fought to preserve their way cutoff from the Rapid City area to Billings, Montana is FOLLOW THE STORY dinosaur collection, relics from the Indian Wars, a rope of life. The Trail to the Little Bighorn includes a series of known as the Warrior Trail because of the numerous battles used to hang outlaws, and an old drug store building. 19 roadside markers with narratives that tell the story of fought in the region including the Battle of the Rosebud, Discover the history of the Crow people, Lewis and the days leading up to and shortly after the Battle of the Reynold Fight, Battle of Powder River and Battle of the Little TRACE HISTORY IN Clark and astronaut Frank Borman—the mission Little Bighorn. Download or request a detailed map from Bighorn. As you travel this two-lane highway, study the SOUTHEASTMONTANA.COM | 1.800.346.1876 commander for the Apollo 8 flight around the moon. southeastmontana.com/history. landscape and imagine the many challenges the soldiers SOUTHEAST MONTANA visitmt.com/listings/general/museum/treasure-county- and warriors faced over the years of fighting. #OutHereMT | #SoutheastMontana 89-ers-museum.html 14 PIERRE WIBAUX MUSEUM A LANDSCAPE OF HISTORICAL TREASURES 112 Orgain Ave. • Wibaux, MT 59353 NATIONAL MONUMENTS + STATE PARKS Enjoy the historic walking tour of the Wibaux Business PRESERVING THE PAST MUSEUMS, VISITOR CENTERS + HISTORICAL SOCIETIES District, Old St. Peter’s Catholic Church and the Pierre The real story of a place is in the inhabitants who shaped it, and our treasured lands have many tales to tell. Wibaux Statue. Wibaux was the world’s largest cattle rancher in the late 1800s, who had his French gardener 1 RANGE RIDERS MUSEUM 5 HUNTLEY PROJECT MUSEUM 9 O’FALLON HISTORICAL MUSEUM 19 LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD 24 ROSEBUD BATTLEFIELD STATE PARK 435 Interstate 94 Business • Miles City, MT 59301 723 S. Main St. • Baker, MT 59313 craft a meticulous garden oasis of vibrant flora and a NATIONAL MONUMENT 45.22031 / -106.97590 • Busby, MT 59016 OF IRRIGATED AGRICULTURE grotto crafted of agate, petrified wood and lava. The Gain a glimpse of the Old West at this museum-turned- Here you’ll find Montana’s largest steer (at 3,980 Interstate 90 Frontage Road • Crow Agency, MT 59022 Also known as the “Place Where the Girl Saved Her 770 Railroad Highway • Huntley, MT 59037 grounds provide a perfect picnic spot. heritage center, with an eclectic assortment of farm pounds), a featured attraction in the museum’s main Studied perhaps more than any other battle on U.S. soil, Brother,” one of the largest of the Indian War battles Witness the reclamation project that changed the visitmt.com/listings/general/museum/wibaux-museum.html tools, historic photographs, an impressive barbed wire history of the region. The museum emphasizes the building, which was the original county jailhouse. A tar the Battle of the Little Bighorn stands as the Plains Indians’ took place here, just days before the Battle of the Little display and one of the nation’s premier arrowhead paper homestead house illustrates pioneer life, and the Bighorn. The site is preserved with paths to the Kobold homesteading era from the late 1800s through the early 15 YELLOWSTONE COUNTY MUSEUM greatest victory over U.S. military forces. Drive the 4.5-mile collections, plus an entire building dedicated to the Duffield and Lambert homes display everyday items tour road and along the way listen to the cell phone audio Buffalo Jump and to the top of Crook’s Hill. Get the Native 1900s, including the technology and history of irrigated 1950 Airport Terminal Circle • Billings, MT 59105 weaponry of one donor—including some pre-revolution from the early 1900s. Take a walk back in time at the narrative of the battle story. Open year-round; seasonal American perspective from Conical Hill and trek to agriculture in the northern Great Plains. Enjoy a custom The “Museum on the Rims” offers an unrivaled view pieces. rangeridersmuseum.com trading post, barber shop, dress shop and parlor. hours. nps.gov/libi/index.htm undeveloped Van Vliets Ridge, with stunning views of the tour across the amazing grounds dominated by century- of Billings plus a stunning array of cultural artifacts old cottonwood trees. huntleyprojectmuseum.com falloncounty.net/museum/museum.html battle site and the Bighorn Mountains. and rare memorabilia from the pioneer days into the stateparks.mt.gov/rosebud-battlefield mid 20th century. This treasure trove includes a vast 20 POMPEYS PILLAR NATIONAL MONUMENT 10 MUSSELSHELL COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM 3039 U.S. Highway 312 • Worden, MT 59088 6 CARTER COUNTY MUSEUM collection of weaponry from the days of Calamity Jane 524 First St. W. • Roundup, MT 59072 25 CHIEF PLENTY COUPS STATE PARK 306 N. Main St. • Ekalaka, MT 59324 and Jesse James, pioneer wagons and stunning tribal Rising nearly 200 feet high along the banks of the Experience life as it was in the Old West—the days of coal 1 Edgar Pryor Road • Pryor, MT 59066 Offering a history that spans 80 million years, the Carter beadwork. ycmhistory.org Yellowstone River, Capt. William Clark, of the esteemed mines, cowboys and cattle drives. Tour an original log One of the last great Crow Chiefs, Plenty Coups, left his County Museum—a member of the Montana Dinosaur Corps of Discovery, carved his name in this rock pillar on cabin built by English lords for their early cattle operation, reservation homestead to the people of Montana. Situated Trail—was Montana’s first county museum and the first 16 SCHOOLHOUSE HISTORY & ART July 25, 1806. But he was not the first, nor the last, to utilize plus an old barber shop and general store. Also, on within the Crow Indian Reservation, this day-use state park in the state to display dinosaurs. Exhibits range from CENTER (SHAC) this “communication tower” over the past centuries.