Garryowen, Montana
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Garryowen is a private town in Big Horn County,
Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...
, United States. It is located at the southernmost edge of the land where
Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota people, Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against Federal government of the United States, United States government policies. Sitting Bull was killed by Indian ...
's camp was sited just prior to the
Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Si ...
, and the opening gunshots of the battle were fired only a few hundred yards from where Garryowen's structures stand today. Garryowen has a population of just 2 and consists mainly of a large building (the "Town Hall") with multiple functions. This building houses a
Conoco Conoco ( ), formerly known as Continental Oil, is an American Petroleum industry, petroleum brand that is operating under the current ownership of the Phillips 66 Company since 2012 and is headquartered in the Westchase, Houston, Westchase neigh ...
petrol station and convenience store, a Subway sandwich franchise, an arts & crafts store called "The Trading Post", and the Custer Battlefield Museum, a private museum whose exhibits focus on the battle and the period of the Indian Wars. Garryowen is owned by Chris Kortlander, and it was put up for sale in 2012, but an auction in August of that year was cancelled after no one registered to bid.


History of Garryowen

In 1895, the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado ...
(now
BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...
) Railroad established a tiny station on the Little Bighorn River, where water was taken on and US Army troops, supplies and mail were off-loaded for delivery to nearby forts and homesteads. This station was called "Garryowen," a name associated with the U.S.
7th Cavalry Regiment The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment formed in 1866. Its official nickname is "Garryowen", after the Irish air " Garryowen" that was adopted as its march tune. The regiment participated in some of the largest ba ...
because of the stirring Irish air of the same name which became the regiment's marching song. When the
Crow Indian Reservation The Crow Indian Reservation is the homeland of the Crow Tribe. Established 1868, the reservation is located in parts of Big Horn, Yellowstone, and Treasure counties in southern Montana in the United States. The Crow Tribe has an enrolled membe ...
lands were created in 1868, Garryowen became part of the Crow's holdings, but the land was later sold by the tribe and the Federal government to private citizens. By 1926, the "town" of Garryowen was in private hands, but still consisted of little more than a small market. It was at this time, just a month before the 50th Anniversary of the Battle, that work was being done on an irrigation ditch just east of Garryowen - along
Marcus Reno Marcus Albert Reno (November 15, 1834 – March 30, 1889) was a United States career military officer. He served in the American Civil War where he was a combatant in major battles, and later under George Armstrong Custer in the Great Sioux War a ...
's line of retreat. Much to their surprise, work crews uncovered a nearly complete set of skeletal remains (no skull was ever found), accompanied by several bullets and buttons, clearly indicating that this had been a Cavalry soldier. Because 14 of Reno and
Frederick Benteen Frederick William Benteen (August 24, 1834 – June 22, 1898) was a military officer who first fought during the American Civil War. He was appointed to commanding ranks during the Indian Campaigns and Great Sioux War against the Lakota peopl ...
's men were never accounted for following the Battle, accurate identification of the remains was impossible. However, with planning for the celebration's events in full swing, The Custer Memorial Association decided a memorial service, with full military honors, was due this long-lost Unknown Soldier. Plans called for the body to be entombed in a special monument in Garryowen, following a "
Burying the hatchet "Bury the hatchet" is a North American English idiom meaning "to make peace". The phrase is an allusion to the figurative or literal practice of putting away weapons at the cessation of hostilities among or by Indigenous peoples of the Americas i ...
" ceremony, during which US government and Indian representatives smoked a
peace pipe A ceremonial pipe is a particular type of smoking pipe (tobacco), smoking pipe, used by a number of cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in their sacred ceremonies. Traditionally they are used to offer prayers in a religious ceremo ...
and placed a tomahawk in the base of the monument.


Attractions


Tomb of the Unknown Soldier & Peace Memorial

The tomb is a monument that commemorates the end of hostilities between the Lakota-Cheyenne and the U.S. Government. Although it is publicly described as the resting-place of an unknown Army combatant from the Reno retreat, disclosure documents from an auctioning firm responsible for the August 2012 auction of the town raised some uncertainty as to whether there are actual human remains in the tomb.


Custer Battlefield Museum

The Custer Battlefield Museum features many artifacts from the Battle as well as books and memorabilia. In 2005 and 2009, 22 artifacts from the museum, described as "a trove of war bonnets, medicine bags and other items" alleged to have been stolen from the
Crow tribe The Crow, whose Endonym and exonym, autonym is Apsáalooke (), are Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans living primarily in southern Montana. Today, the Crow people have a List of federally recognized tribes in the United St ...
were seized by Federal authorities. Although the case was dropped in 2009, as of March 19, 2012 some of the items had not been returned.


The Center Pole

Located on Wellknown Buffalo's historic Indian trust land on the Crow (Apsaalooke) Indian Reservation, this Native, non profit organization's mission is to increase knowledge, justice and sovereignty in Native communities. The property is home to Wellknown Buffalo Coffee Shop, Buffalo Nickel Thrift Store, a community enterprise selling recycled clothing and housewares, and Crow Voices Community Radio, the first radio station on the reservation. Three of the buildings are hybrid straw bale constructed buildings and a demonstration alternative energy "earth lodge" is in the process of being completed. Center Pole's Executive Director Peggy Wellknown Buffalo is a Petra Fellow (www.petrafoundation.org) and an Unsung Hero of Compassion (www.newunsungheros.org) and blessed as such by the Dalai Lama in 2014. More information can be found at www.thecenterpole.org.


Notable person

Henry Real Bird of Garryowen was appointed Poet Laureate of Montana by Governor
Brian Schweitzer Brian David Schweitzer (born September 4, 1955) is an American farmer and politician who served as the 23rd Governor of Montana from 2005 to 2013. Schweitzer served for a time as chair of the Western Governors Association as well as the Democr ...
in 2009.


References


External links


The Center Pole homepageCuster Museum homepage
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Big Horn County, Montana Unincorporated communities in Montana