Southeastern Montana

The camp the board gives to Two Moons, who was there, is named in today's commemorations as Box Elder, Black Eagle and Old Bear's Cheyenne camp, with Oglala lodges among it; the soldiers had been sent for Crazy Horse and believed they had found him. Burned out in bitter cold, the women and children walked three days to Crazy Horse's village. Reynolds was court-martialed at Cheyenne in January 1877 and found guilty on all three charges, the sentence suspended by Grant. On March 17, 2026, tribal members and neighbors marked the 150th year beside the river.

What the plaque says

Southeastern Montana Fur trappers came upriver in the wake of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806. These visitors left behind them tall tales of their adventures and a few trading posts scattered along the Yellowstone River. Southeastern Montana was Indian and buffalo country until the late nineteenth century. In March 1876, six companies of cavalry under the command of Colonel Joseph Reynolds attacked the village of famed Northern Cheyenne leader Two Moons about 36 miles south of here. During the day-long battle, soldiers captured the Cheyenne pony herd and burned the tepees, many of which were filled with ammunition. Later in the day, the Indians counterattacked, recaptured their horses, and forced the soldiers to retreat. Two warriors and four soldiers were killed in the battle. The skirmish strengthened the alliance between the Sioux and the Northern Cheyenne. It was one of the first battles of the Great Sioux War. By the early 1880s, the buffalo had disappeared and the Indian Wars were a memory. The grasslands of southeastern Montana drew the Texas-based Niobrara Cattle Company to the area. Within a generation, though, homesteaders' plows and barbed wire replaced the open range and high-heeled boots of the cowboys.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• The Hell Creek Formation — steps away
• Big Sky Country — steps away
• The Powder River Country — steps away
• Southeastern Montana — 1.8 mi