Montana Things to Do Tips by Yaqui Top 5 Page for this destination

Clark's Signature In Stone

Clark wrote in his journal,

"This rock which I shall call "Pompy's Tower" is 200 feet and 400 paces in secumpherance.....the nativs have ingraved on the face...the figures of animals and near which I marked my name and the day of the month & year."

For many years thereof, "Pompeys Pillar" became the landmark for people traveling westward that left their signatures too for their loved ones to know they had survived the trip and to note the trail they were on.

William Clark had nicked named Sacajawea son Jean Baptiste - "Pomp", a Shoshoni word for Chief. And is was on this returning trip Lewis and Clark split up, with Clark taking the Yellowstone River. They encountered the most impressive sandstone butte beside the river on July 25, 1806.

Rates & Fees
$3.00 per vehicle (Day)
$25.00 per bus or group
Admission is free with Golden Age, Golden Access, and Golden Eagle Passports.

Seasons / Hours
Memorial Weekend through Labor Day: 8:00 am - 8:00 pm daily
Labor Day through September 30: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Walk in traffic permitted during the off season. Please respect your cultural heritage.

Fishing on the Yellowstone River at Pompeys Pillar National Monument allowed with a valid Montana State Fishing License.

Directions: 25 miles east of Billings, Montana. The area is easily accessible from Interstate 94, using exit 23, or from State Highway 312.

Phone: 406-875-2233/406-896-5013

Website: http://www.pompeyspillar.org/

Little Bighorn Battlefield

This is located on the Crow Reservation. Park rangers give a tour and educate those properly with the events that lead up to the battle of Custers Last Stand. It has as a very nice vistor center with restrooms. If you look out into the fields you can see white markers that show where the U.S. Army's Seventh Cavalry soldiers fell and died. It's a very humbling sight to see.

Little Bighorn was fought on June 25-26, 1876 lead by Lt Col. George Armstrong Custer. 262 soldiers of the 7th Cavalry, guided by Crow and Arikara scouts, met at terrible death by an overwhelming force of over 1,500 Lakota Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors. It was his own arrogance that he could actually defeat such an overwhelming force. It was also later discovered that no only being out numbered, they were out gunned by better weaponry.

Operating Hours & Seasons
Memorial Day to Labor Day: 8:00 a.m. to 9 p.m. Spring and Fall: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Winter: 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

The entry fee is $10.00 per private vehicle; $5.00 for pedestrians, this includes motorcycles . Vans & Mini-Bus 7-25 people are $40. Motor Coach 26+ is $100.

There is no charge for visiting the National Cemetery

Little Big Horn Vistor Center
Open
Open All Year
Open From 05/28 To 07/31and 08/01 To 09/01 8 a.m. - 9 p.m.and 8 a.m.- 8 p.m.
Open From 09/04 To 10/01 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Open From 10/01 To 03/31 8 a.m - 4:30 p.m

Address: Interstate 90 Exit 510

Directions: Billings MT is just 1.5 miles NW Crow Agency, Little Bighorn Monument

Phone: (406)638-3224

Website: http://www.nps.gov/libi/index.htm

Pompeys Pillar

William Clark had nicked named Sacajawea son Jean Baptiste - "Pomp", a Shoshoni word for Chief. And is was on this returning trip Lewis and Clark split up, with Clark taking the Yellowstone River. They encountered the most impressive sandstone butte beside the river on July 25, 1806.

Clark wrote in his journal,

"This rock which I shall call "Pompy's Tower" is 200 feet and 400 paces in secumpherance.....the nativs have ingraved on the face...the figures of animals and near which I marked my name and the day of the month & year."

For many years thereof, "Pompeys Pillar" became the landmark for people traveling westward that left their signatures too for their loved ones to know they had survived the trip and to note the trail they were on.

Rates & Fees
$3.00 per vehicle (Day)
$25.00 per bus or group
Admission is free with Golden Age, Golden Access, and Golden Eagle Passports.

Seasons / Hours
Memorial Weekend through Labor Day: 8:00 am - 8:00 pm daily
Labor Day through September 30: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Walk in traffic permitted during the off season. Please respect your cultural heritage.

Fishing on the Yellowstone River at Pompeys Pillar National Monument allowed with a valid Montana State Fishing License.

Directions: 25 miles east of Billings, Montana. The area is easily accessible from Interstate 94, using exit 23, or from State Highway 312.

Phone: 406-875-2233/406-896-5013

Website: http://www.pompeyspillar.org/