Unlocking the Mystery of Custer’s Last Stand

"Call of the Bugle," by J.K. Ralston is one of the more accurate depictions.

On the afternoon of June 26, 1876, on high bluffs above the Little Big Horn River, Col. George Armstrong Custer halted the 7^th Cavalry and dictated an order.  “Benteen.  Come On.  Big Village.  Be Quick.  Bring Packs.  P.S.  Bring Packs.”  The order was scribbled and handed to trumpeter John Martin, who grabbed it and galloped off in the direction of Captain Benteen and the left battalion of Custer’s command.  As he rode away, the trumpeter turned in his saddle for one last glimpse of the 7^th Cavalry.  The blue-coated soldiers were galloping down into a ravine, flags flying, the gallant Custer, dressed in buckskins, leading the way

In less than two hours, Custer and all 210 men of his command would be dead.  

Custer graduated last in his class of West Point.

What happened in those two hours is one of the great mysteries of history.  None of the cavalrymen survived.   Accounts by the Sioux and Cheyenne warriors who wiped them out were confusing or contradictory.  Many Indians, fearing retaliation, told the whites what they wanted to hear.  Others related what they saw, but their story was not believed.

And so, in place of fact, a legend developed.   According to the myth, a courageous, but perhaps rash, Colonel Custer underestimated Indian strength and attacked overwhelming numbers of painted warriors who were camped on the Little Big Horn.  Surrounded, betrayed by his subordinates, captains Reno and Benteen, who failed to come to his aid, Custer had no choice but to gather his men on what came to be called Last Stand Hill.  Here, fighting back to back, his soldiers realized they were doomed, but they were determined to sell their lives dearly.  Custer, with his long golden hair flowing and two blazing pistols, stood beside the flag and fought to the last bullet.

The romantic, legendary version of the battle.

It was this romantic version of Custer’s Last Stand that became the basis for hundreds of paintings, films and books.

Unfortunately, very little of it appears to be true. 

Today, a visitor to Southern Montana’s Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument can learn what historians, archeologists and scientists think really happened on that afternoon in 1876.  Using metal detectors, microscopes and CSI techniques, they have been able to study thousands of rifle cartridges and bullets discovered on the battlefield.  Because each rifle cartridge has a distinctive mark from a firing pin, they were able to trace where each gun was fired, and therefore, where each soldier fought and how well they fought.  Coupled with new interpretations of Native American accounts, this has helped historians piece together the ebb and flow of the battle and write a much different view on what may actually have happened.

  

A Unique Battlefield

Last Stand Hill, where Custer and his two brothers fell.

The high bluffs along the Little Big Horn River are rolling grasslands with unending views across what Montana calls “Big Sky Country.”   Even without the history, this would be a wonderful place to stop and appreciate the beauty of the countryside.  But once you know what happened here, this becomes haunted and hallowed ground.  The museum at the entrance to the national monument is a good place to begin your introduction.

The Little Big Horn Battlefield is unique in the world in that there is a macabre marble marker indicating where every single soldier was killed.  Two days after the battle, when the relief force finally arrived, they found a gruesome and dreadful sight.  Scattered over a wide area on several hills, were all 210 of Custer’s men… each man lying in the sun, scalped, stripped naked and often mutilated.  One victim had 105 arrows stuck in him. 

One of 260 marble markers.

Shocked, the relief force buried every soldier exactly where they had fallen and marked the spot with a wood cross.  These were later replaced in 1890 with marble markers, and all the bodies were eventually interned in a single grave under a large monument.  What was believed to be Custer’s remains were removed and buried at West Point.

But these first elementary markers allowed historians to know where every single soldier had been killed in the battle.  The lingering question was, how did they get there and why were they scattered in so many places?

Exhibits in the museum set the stage for the battle.

In 1876, several centuries of conflict between Indian and Euro-American cultures were coming to a finish.  Both whites and Indians had repeatedly broke treaties.  Frustrated and seeing their way of life threatened, Indian leaders including Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse moved a large band of 7,000-8,000 Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne off the reservation and into the buffalo-rich country of southeastern Montana.  In response, the U.S. government ordered the cavalry to round them up and move them back. Leading one of the attacking forces was the youngest general to come out of the Civil War, the flamboyant, dashing and immensely popular, George A. Custer.

The remains of 220 soldiers and civilians are buried under this monument.

Strategic thinking held that the way to round up Indians was to capture the women and children and hold the noncombatants as hostages.  Indian villages, if threatened by cavalry, would break up into small groups and scatter like the wind.  Capture the women, children and elders, and the warriors would be reluctant to counterattack and forced to surrender.   Of course, this could result in large numbers of women and children being killed, but that did not deter the U.S. army.

So Custer’s main concern on June 26 was not fighting a battle, but rather locating and surrounding the Indian camp before they could separate and flee. His plans, however,  were changed when some Indians discovered the 7^th Cavalry first.

Afraid that the Indians, now warned, would disperse, the always-aggressive Custer went on the offensive.   He divided the 7^th into three battalions.  Captain Benteen was ordered to search the west side of the Little Big Horn, while Custer and Reno took the main body north along the river. In a few miles, Custer came upon the large Indian camp he was seeking, and although his men were exhausted, the battle was underway.

Custer ordered Reno to attack the camp from the south with one battalion, while he circled around the ridge with the other battalion and hit the Indian village from the north.   Based on all previous Indian-soldier encounters, this was a risky, but workable strategy.  However, things went array from the start.

Alleged photo of Crazy Horse

Reno’s charge faltered.  Instead of attacking straight into the village, Reno halted 200 yards away and formed a skirmish line.  And with good reason.  Custer’s intelligence had estimated a village with 800 warriors, but there were, in fact, as many as 2,000 fighting men.  Even with surprise on his side, Reno’s 140 men were outmatched and soon forced on the defensive. 

At a crucial moment of the firefight, a friendly Crow Indian scout standing next to Reno was shot in the head, splattering Reno with brains and blood.  Reno, understandably, appears to have become disoriented. He ordered a retreat that soon became a panicked rout.  By the time his command got to a safer position, 40 of his men were dead.  Shortly later, Benteen arrived on the scene.  With Indians still attacking, Reno himself shattered, and his battalion in chaos, Benteen elected to stay put and help Reno’s men.  Custer was now on his own.

Custer’s Last Battle

While historians can never be certain, based on archeological evidence, this is what they think happened.  Unaware of the outcome of Reno’s attack, Custer remained on the offensive and rode north to attack the village from its upper reaches.  However, by the time he got there, the women and children had fled.   Still aggressive, Custer divided his force into two wings.  The right wing held what came to be called Calhoun Hill and waited here for Benteen, who they assumed would be on his way.  Custer led the left wing in search of a new ford further north from which he could still capture the noncombatants.

Charles Marion Russell painting of the battle.

From archeological evidence, we know the right wing formed a skirmish line.  Tactics of the time called for men to stand five yards apart in a line, and archeologists found shell casings consistent with a defensive line.  But as more and more Indians left the Reno fight and turned their attention to Custer’s men, the pressure on the right wing intensified.  Men in battle who become fearful tend to bunch together and the shell casings indicate the men on the ridge fell back and this “bunching” started to occur. 

If the pressure of an attack becomes too intense, it can lead to panic.  Men in panic seldom fight back.  Many even throw away their guns, as they run to what they perceive will be a safer place.  This is apparently what happened to the right wing.  Overwhelmed by superior numbers of Indians, the soldiers gave way to panic and fled.  Indian accounts of the battle spoke of the soldiers acting like they were drunk, running like a buffalo stampede, throwing away their guns and crying like babies.  

Kicking Bear's depiction of Little Big Horn.

The Custer legend interpretation depicted the soldiers in this part of the battle bravely fighting a retreat back to Last Stand Hill.  The lack of gun casings in the area and the high number of marble markers leads archeologists to a new depiction – that of panicked soldiers fleeing and being shot down as they ran.  As you stand on Calhoun hill and see the white marble markers stretching out across the grassy slopes, each indicating the spot where a soldier fell, you can feel those awful moments and get a sense of the terror the men must have felt.

Eric von Schmidt's "Here Fell Custer" is believed to be the most accurate.

Custer, meanwhile, had found his river crossing, but he had too few men to capture the village.  Still confident, he turned back to collect the rest of his troops (and hopefully Benteen’s battalion) and arrived at a viewpoint in time to see the horrifying collapse of the right wing.  Custer with just 85 men raced to Last Stand Hill to offer support.  Only 20 men from the right wing survived to join him.  Now, with half his men dead, surrounded, in dust and confusion, Custer would have realized for the first time he was no longer on the offensive, and was instead, cut off. 

The end came swiftly.  Rather than the fight to the last bullet often depicted, nine men tried to escape by horseback heading south, but were cut down.  Another 45 tried to break out towards the river or hide in a ravine, but they too were sought out and killed.  Custer, flanked by his two loyal brothers, a beloved nephew and some 50 other troopers, was quickly overrun. From shell casings, we know the battle at the end lasted just minutes – not the long protracted battle of films.

Who was to blame?  The easiest answer is that Custer didn’t lose so much as the Indians won.  They had vastly superior numbers, they were fighting for their homes and families and were brilliantly led by chiefs Crazy Horse, Lame White Man and Gall. 

The marker indicating where Custer fell.

Certainly, Custer was let down by Reno, who did not press his charge on the village, and by Benteen, who did not “come on,” as ordered, to his support.  Had Reno and Benteen come forward. they might well have suffered Custer’s fate.  However, under the strict guidelines of the 19^th Century army, they must take some blame for not following orders, even if those orders led to disaster, and history has been harsh in its judgment of them.

As it has been on Custer.   Custer divided his force in the face of uncertain numbers, fought on ground he did not know, and as commander, bears the ultimate responsibility.  Throughout the Civil War, he fought a dozen battles in similar circumstance and always came out on top.  At Little Big Horn, his luck ran out.

As it did for the Indians. Though victorious here, within three years, they were defeated and forced back to the reservation.  Both Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull were murdered in unusual circumstances by white and Indian guards.  Little Big Horn proved to be the high point…and the beginning of the end for the free Plains Indians.  Within a few years, everything changed for everyone who fought at Little Big Horn.  Only the battleground remained the same.  It is, and always will be, a strange and haunted place.

IF YOU GO:  

Little Big Horn Visitor Center

Part of the appeal of Little Big Horn Battlefield is that it’s in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by mile after mile of unchanged grassland. The closest place to stay is Sheridan, Wyoming, about an hour away. 

Sheridan is part college town, part Wild West, which makes for an entertaining combination.  There are a number of small chain motels near the highway.   The Mint Bar on Sheridan’s main street is a must stop.  The saloon dates back to 1907 and the walls are covered with historic photos, guns and stuffed animal heads.  This is a true cowboy bar, attracting as many real ranchers as tourists.

The Mint Bar

A couple of blocks away, Sheridan has its own brewpub, the Black Tooth Brewing Company, which caters to a younger college crowd.  They have eight beers on tap (standards IPA, amber, pale ale, etc.) and attribute their success to low mineral deposits in the local water.  It’s good beer, but the beers are also available at most local restaurants, which offer more atmosphere.   Warehouse 201, across the street, is an incredibly stylish steak, seafood and martini bar that would not look out-of-place in Denver’s hippest neighborhoods, and features live music on the weekends.

For a more true Old West experience, stay in Buffalo, Wyoming, about 1.5 hours from the battlefield.  This classic 1890’s town was known as the “Rustler’s Capital,”  because Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’s Hole in the Wall hideout was nearby.  The town figured prominently in the Johnson County War between big cattlemen and rustlers.  Today, it retains its Old West character with a main street lined with historic buildings that now house Western art galleries and tourist shops mixed in with authentic ranching stores. 

The bar in the Occidental Hotel, Buffalo, Wyoming

Stop by the Occidental Hotel and have a beer at the same bar that has hosted Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane, Annie Oakley, Butch Cassidy, Teddy Roosevelt and Ernest Hemingway.  The bar staff are friendly and love talking about the saloon’s history.

The operating hotel also serves as a museum and has tours and historic photos of its famous guests.  It’s believed that the 25-foot long bar served as the inspiration for Owen Wister’s novel, “The Virginian,” which included the first written description of what was destined to become a Western classic – the quick draw gunfight.

The West’s Second Largest Massacre

Buffalo is also the center of more Indian-soldier battlefields than any other place in the West.  Ten years before Custer, Captain William J. Fetterman and 81 of his men were wiped out near here in the U.S. Army’s second worst defeat of the Indian wars.  If anything, walking the Fetterman Battlefield is more eerie, and certainly more deserted, than Custer’s. 

The Fetterman Battlefield is unchanged.

On December 21, 1866, Fetterman had been sent out from Fort Phil Kearny with a detachment of cavalry and infantry to rescue a wagon train under attack by Sioux.  Newly arrived in the West, Fetterman had been warned not to pursue the Indians, but to just rescue the train.  But when Fetterman got to the wagons, there were ten Indians, just out of rifle range, taunting him with insults.  One of them was Crazy Horse, who had devised this trap. 

Fetterman ignored his orders and set out in pursuit with his entire command.  Today, you can walk the same ground, and see how Crazy Horse enticed the soldiers to follow him along a narrow ridge that appeared to be leading towards a dead end.  It was.  But in the steep gullies surrounding the ridge were hidden a thousand Sioux warriors, who at the right moment, sprang up, surrounded the soldiers, and in 30 minutes, wiped them out to a man.

Historic markers along the mile-long ridge tell the tale.  This is a battlefield that has to walked.  Only then can you understand how the terrain of steep gullies would have enticed Fetterman ahead, until it was too late.

Old Western historian Sid Wilson on the ramparts of Fort Phil Kearny.

Five miles away, a portion of Fort Phil Kearny has been restored.  This is the classic log fort that served as the inspiration for dozens of Western movies.  It’s also the only Western fort the U.S. Army abandoned in defeat; the fort was eventually taken over and burned by Chief Red Cloud and his warriors. 

The area here, along the Bozeman Trail, saw almost daily fighting between soldiers and Indians and the fort has a small museum that does a good job of telling the story, omitting no gruesome or horrifying detail.   When Fetterman did not return, the commander, Col. Henry B. Carrington, sent out a patrol to see what happened.  In the distance, the patrol saw what looked like stacked cordwood, but as they got closer, they discovered it was Fetterman’s command, stripped naked and left in a pile of bodies. 

The Fetterman Monument, where the last troops fell.

Carrington did not have enough men left to defend the post, but he could not stand the thought of the 81 dead bodies left lying in the sun just over the ridge.  So he ordered all the women of the fort into one building, with instructions to blow it up if he did not return, then left a skeleton force in the fort while with the rest of his men, he went out to bring back the dead.  Since many of the men’s wives were in the fort, that had to be a horrible night.  One of the victims with a wife was a Lt. George Grummond.  Carrington and Grummond despised each other, but the commander must have given the grieving widow some comfort.  He later married her. 

Attractions Along the Trail

 If you’re traveling to Little Big Horn from Denver, plan to spend a few hours in Casper, Wyoming along the way.  This is another surprising college town in middle of nowhere, with cappuccino and a sophisticated bookstore across the street from shops selling boots and saddles.  The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center is a must stop.  This is one of the nation’s finest museums of Western history.  Located on a hill, it has a commanding view of the North Platte River and the valley that made Casper such an important location. 

National Historic Trails Interpretive Center has life-size dioramas.

Between 1840 and 1870, some 500,000 people moved across the western plains traveling to Oregon, the Great Salt Lake, or the gold fields in California and Montana.  All of the passed through Casper because all the trails met here, as did the Pony Express.  

The museum tells the story of each of the trails and of the different people who went west looking for religious freedom, land, wealth or new opportunity.  There are seven large galleries filled with life-size dioramas of covered wagons, stagecoaches, and Pony Express riders.  The museum also has Disney-quality interactive exhibits that let you rumble across a river crossing in the back of a covered wagon, or ride a stagecoach from town to town.  They are very well done and give a complete illusion that you are there. The museum is closed Sun. and Mon.; it’s worth planning your trip to make sure you pass through Casper when it’s open. 

Fort Casper

The Fort Casper Museum is also worth a stop.  While the Trails Interpretive Center is huge, modern and high tech, Fort Casper is homespun with homemade signs – but it’s also the real deal, where the history was made.  A short walk leads to one of the many river crossings in the area and gives some idea that crossing this river in a wagon was no picnic.   

A little further up the road in Douglas, the Wyoming Pioneer Memorial Museum is a big rambling structure started in 1925 as a log cabin and is filled with guns, uniforms and a thousand mementoes of the Old West.  There are better things ahead, but it makes an   If the timing is right, stop in the White Wolf Saloon across the street for a quick one.  This is one crazy bar – a mixture of Old West and pirates (the owners came from Florida and brought the stuffed alligators with them).  Be careful.  You can spend a long time in the White Wolf looking at all the crazy things hanging on the walls, but just as Fetterman discovered, it’s sometimes dangerous to get distracted from your mission. 

entertaining bathroom stop and stretch on the long drive from Denver.

Walking and Drinking Beer in Yosemite

On March 27, 1851, a gold miner named James Savage, led a group of militia into the rugged Sierra Nevada mountains of central California in search of Tenaya, chief of the Ahwahneeche people.  The tribespeople had burned Savage’s trading post, so in revenge, Savage formed the Mariposa Battalion and ordered his armed men up the Merced River.  Every time they encountered a Native American camp, they burned it, destroyed its provisions, and drove the people from the land.

El Capitan, Kenny Karst, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, Inc. 

As they marched up river, these soldiers were the first European-Americans to ever enter this strange valley of sheer cliffs and thundering waterfalls.  One of them, Lafayette Bunnell, was greatly moved by what he saw and as he passed along, he named the prominent features.  A mountain of granite (later proved to be the largest piece of exposed granite in the world) he called El Capitan.  The valley itself, he named Yosemite, a corruption of the local tribe’s word for grizzly bear, Oo-soo’ma-te. 

When he returned from the campaign, he wrote a book about his adventures, stating, “We had explored one of the most remarkable geographic wonders of the world.”

Today, the four million annual tourists who come to Yosemite would agree.  Whether enjoying the same view of El Capitan, or hiking among the world’s largest concentration of granite domed mountains or climbing up a cliff through the spray of a waterfall on the Mist Trail, or strolling on quiet paths through mature 2,000 year old groves of redwood sequoias, the landscape of Yosemite is unique.

Yosemite Valley, Kenny Karst, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, Inc

So is its position in history as the world’s first national park.  From its bloody encounters with Native Americans through 150 years of encounters with tourists, the magic of Yosemite has endured.  But it hasn’t been easy.

Saving Yosemite

Bunnell’s book and its incredible descriptions of Yosemite caused a sensation, and by 1855, the first tourists were arriving.  So were lumberjacks, who began clear-cutting the giant sequoias.  Sheepherders let their flocks eat fields of wildflowers, while shoddy entrepreneurs built cheap tourist camps, starting forest fires, polluting the streams and piling up mountains of garbage.

Half Dome by Kenny Karst, DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite, Inc

By 1864, conditions were so extreme that early environmentalists went to the U.S. Congress.  At the height of the Civil War, just days after one of its bloodiest battles, President Abraham Lincoln took time out to sign the Yosemite Grant, preserving Yosemite Valley as a state park.  It was the first park of its kind in the world and the first attempt by anyone to protect wild lands for future generations. 

But what was a government owned park to be like?  No one was sure, but some ideas started to ferment in 1868, when a Scottish naturalist and writer landed in California and set off for Yosemite on foot.  His name was John Muir.  Over the next 46 years, Muir would hike and write about every corner of Yosemite.  The foundation he started, The Sierra Club, would eventually convince the public and the U.S. government of the need for conservation.   In 1890, Congress made Yosemite a 1,300 square mile national park – an area larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined. 

View from valley floor in mid-November

To maintain order over such a vast territory, the government had little choice but to send in the U.S. Army.  For 26 years, Yosemite was managed by the army, including the 24^th Infantry, a segregated regiment of African-Americans who were known at the time as “Buffalo Soldiers.”  The army built roads, kept out poachers, and stopped illegal lumbering, but that was the extent of their improvements.

Then in 1914, Yosemite had another fortuitous visitor – retired millionaire Stephen T. Mather.  Mather had made his fortune by advertising Borax, a laundry detergent, and had retired to his love of being an outdoorsman.  But Mather found camping conditions at Yosemite to be deplorable.  The campsites were filthy, the roads in disrepair, and services non-existent.  He wrote to his old friend, Secretary of the Interior, Franklin Lane and told him so.

Lane wrote back:   “Dear Steve, if you don’t like the way the National Parks are being run, come on down to Washington and run them yourself.”

Stephen T. Mather in Yosemite

Mather did, and in the next 14 years he created the National Park Service.  Nearly everything we associate with national parks today began in the Mather era, from the uniforms and “Smokey the Bear” hats the rangers still wear to the popular campfire and naturalist programs. 

At the time, many people wanted to build railroads and golf courses in national parks.  Others saw these well preserved areas as perfect for logging and dams.   But Mather resisted, writing, “Is there not some place in this great nation of ours where lakes can be preserved in their natural state; where we and all generations to follow us can enjoy the beauty and charm of mountain waters in the midst of primeval forests?  The country is large enough to spare a few such lakes and beauty spots.”

Late fall colors in the valley, mid-November

He used his own money to purchase the rundown, privately owned 56-mile Tioga Road that twisted across Yosemite, and then repaired it and donated it to the government.  He hired naturalists as rangers and introduced educational programs on botany and geology.  He lobbied Congress, took senators on camping junkets and criss-crossed the country on publicity trips.  The result?  Funding for national parks increased 20 times while he was director.

Believing that it was hard to enjoy nature after a bad night’s sleep, Mather approved the building of deluxe accommodations in the parks, leading to construction in 1927 of Yosemite’s amazing Ahwahnee Hotel. 

Considered one of the great hotels of the world, it incorporates a mixture of Art Deco, Native American and Middle Eastern designs.  The exterior required 5,000 tons of stone and 30,000 feet of timber to be transported over twisting mountain roads.   To make it safe from fires that had destroyed many previous Yosemite lodges, the wood-like exterior façade is actually concrete, poured into wood frames and stained to look like redwood. 

The Great Lounge of the Ahwahnee, by John Bellenis Photography

The huge Ahwahnee Dining Room has 34-foot high ceilings and is surrounded with floor to ceiling windows framed by stained glass, all affording panoramic views of Yosemite Falls and the Valley.   Sitting by the massive fireplace in the hotel’s Great Lounge with a view of Half Dome is one of the top Yosemite experiences.

Touring Yosemite Today

An attraction 65 million years in the making cannot be seen in a day.  But if time is short, Yosemite offers three distinctive zones worth visiting. 

Vernal Falls in November

Yosemite Valley.  The seven mile long, half-mile wide valley was carved by glaciers and was at one time the bottom of a lake, so the land is board flat with meadows and forests of oak and conifers lining the Merced River.  Rising on all sides are granite cliffs that climb as high as 3,000 feet.   Waterfalls tumble down between the granite domes and pinnacles.  Upper Yosemite Falls drops 1,430 feet in one fall – the equal in height to nine Niagaras.  No single photo can capture the valley, and in fact, most photos give sort of a false impression.  The view is almost always 360 degrees and changes as you walk along.

You can explore the valley by foot, bike, or horse, in shuttle buses and tour trams.  The one way you shouldn’t attempt to explore it is by car.  Traffic, especially in summer, can be horrendous.  I was there in November and there was ample parking everywhere, but in summer, the reverse is true.  The park service has instituted ingenious one-way roads and central parking areas.  Stash your car near the visitor center and get around by foot and shuttle bus.  Popular waterfall hikes range from an easy but spectacular stroll to the base of Yosemite Falls ....to a strenuous 600 stair climb up a cliff face on the Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Falls.  In summer, this is the park's most popular hike because climbers get wet from the spray of the falls. There was no mist in November, but it's still a fantastic hike on a stairway built into cliffs.

The view from Panorama Trail at Glacier Point

Glacier Point.  This observation point is 30 miles and 3,214 feet above Yosemite Valley, offering the park’s best views of Half Dome and the area’s other pinnacles, granite domes and waterfalls.  There are long (but downhill) hikes to the valley, or you can go along the contour for a bit on the Panorama Trail with endless views, or follow it all the way down to Vernal Falls.  There's a fairly easy two mile  scramble up Sentinel Dome with views down the valley.

The Grizzly Giant is 210 feet tall

Mariposa Grove.  This grove is home to 500 mature giant sequoias, one of the oldest, largest and fastest growing species on Earth.  One tree is so large, a tunnel was cut in 1895 to allow stagecoaches to drive through it.  It is still alive.  The Grizzly Giant is 1,800 years old and 96-feet in circumference.  Trails wind through the giants, taking in many of the most famous trees.  Walking here, it’s easy to agree with the eulogy given Stephen T. Mather in Congress:  “There will never come an end to the good he has done.”  People complain about the crowds here in summer, but in November, I was literally the only one doing a 4 mile high in the grove, which was annoying -- I was not able to get people in the photos for scale until just as I was leaving. 

If you go:  Yosemite Valley is 195 miles from San Francisco (with lots of twisting, mountain roads so it takes 4-5 hours) and 313 miles from Los Angeles.  Staying in the park at the Ahwahnee Hotel requires reservations months in advance and can cost $400-500 a night.  A better option – visit the hotel for lunch or tea, and stay in the great old Gold Rush town of Mariposa, about 45 minutes from the park.  There are ample and affordable motels (I stayed in the Miner's Inn which was very reasonable and is close to everything).

The Gold Coin in the Gold Rush town of Mariposa

The "Old West" town of Mariposa is an attraction in itself with a colorful main street, a mining museum and interesting architecture.  A bus service from Mariposa to the park makes it easy to get to Yosemite without the trouble of trying to park the car, a real bonus in summer, but not as necessary in the off season.

The Prospectors Brewing Company in town does several nice beers (I liked Long Tom IPA), but for dinner, try Bett's Gold Coin, an historic Old West saloon that dates back to 1849.   It is the real deal.  There's an antique firearm collection, but the highlight is four wall-size murals of ships, sea wrecks and sea battles, including the Battle of Mobile Bay (of all things).  They were done by local artist Cornelius J. Vejer.  It was John C. Fremont, "the Pathfinder and one of the first explorers of California, who started the building in 1849 and it's been a gambling hall among many other things.  The Basa catfish is superb, but the bar offers great food, wonderful history and a good selection of local craft beers.  Ask if the owner Bob is around -- he has lots of colorful stories on the bar and the town.   

www.YosemiteExperience.comwww.YosemiteExperience.com is great site for all to know in the area.

Walking and Drinking Beer on the Street of Dreams -- Hollywood Boulevard

From the 1920s to the 1950s, Hollywood Boulevard was the most glamorous street in the world – a place where movie stars came to party, walk the red carpet to film premieres past search lights and popping flashbulbs, meet with their agents in Art Deco offices, cruise in convertibles with hair flying,  palm trees overhead, or hobnob with writers and directors in long, cool dark bars like the Musso & Frank’s or the Cat & Fiddle.  

But times change.  In the 1960s, the street, like the movies, went into a steep decline.  Hollywood Boulevard became a joke on Johnny Carson – a haven for drug users, prostitutes, bikers, and run-a-ways.  It was here that Hugh Grant was arrested in his BMW for lewd conduct.  Along its darker edges, Janis Joplin and John Belushi died of drug overdoses, while Charles Manson and his followers murdered a house full of strangers.  

The New Hollywood

Hollywood and Highland Shopping Center

It has taken decades and billions of dollars of investment, but today, Hollywood Boulevard is finally coming back to its glorious past.  Oh, don’t expect too much glamour.  There are still two dozen look-a-likes posing for tips -- everyone from Superman and Elvis to Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson – and the street has more than its fair share of tattoo parlors, biker bars, rotting and abandoned old movie theatres and wandering homeless hippies. 

But today they share the same real estate with flashy clubs filled with black-skirted high heeled hipsters and high style restaurants, mixed in with wax museums, souvenir shops, tiki bars, and an assortment of gorgeous old Hollywood bars and theatres.  It's a mish-mash alright, but an interesting one.  

The movies have moved on and are made elsewhere, but Hollywood Boulevard has rebounded as the ground zero tourist center for the world’s largest entertainment industry.  There are Hollywood walking tours, theme parks, studio tours, cemeteries...and 10 Hollywood museums. 

Look-a-likes pose for $1 by their star on Hollywood Blvd

The Hollywood History Museum is a dusty version of a Planet Hollywood with an ecletic mix of stuff (from Hannibal Lecter's prison cell to the plastic cannons from Master and Commander) .  It's mostly props and costumes, but how could you not like seeing W.C. Field's top hat from My Little Chickadee?

You can see the homes (or at least the front gates) of today’s stars by buying a map, or going on only slightly cheesy narrated bus tours.  You can even fly over the star’s homes on a helicopter.  You can buy daily production sheets to see where movies are being filmed on location, or hang out at popular industry eateries like Mr. Chow in hopes of seeing stars in person.  Incredibly, there's a jogging tour of Hollywood, where to give you a taste of what it’s like to be a star, you are chased by running paparazzi. 

Whether you dream of being a star -- or just seeing one – the first stop is Hollywood Boulevard.  Marilyn Monroe knew the street well.  She grew up in a orphanage just a few blocks away and wrote:  “I used to think as I looked out on the Hollywood night, ‘There must be thousands of girls sitting alone like me dreaming of being a movie star.’ But I’m not going to worry about them.  I’m dreaming the hardest.”   

Touring Hollywood by Foot

Universal CityWalk is pedestrian (and neon) friendly 

A good itinerary is to stay around Hollywood and Highland (The Roosevelt has been restored -- it was here in 1929 that the first Oscars were held, and the ghost of Marilyn Monroe has been seen in a mirror).  Cheaper and a tad dodgey, but centrally located is the Hollywood Liberty Hotel.   You can walk Hollywood Boulevard in late afternoon to dusk, see the lights come on, have drinks at the old Hollywood bars, and then take the Red Line subway from Highland to Universal CityWalk for dinner and neon, then come back and get off the subway at Vine and walk back to 

your hotel (about a mile) along Hollywood Boulevard past the clubs and bars.  It's sketchy at night, but there's plenty of people about, and lots of packed clubs and bars you would never know existed in the day.  The street, however, is absolutely dreadful on a Sunday Morning, so head immediately to Universal Studios. 

Some Top Things to Do in Hollywood:

Marilyn is everywhere

See the stars – There are 2,400 bronze medallion stars set in the Walk of Fame sidewalk of Hollywood Boulevard and along Vine Street, honoring the legends of the film, television and recording industries.    Some are obscure, behind the camera folks, but it’s a rare block where you don’t bounce from one super star to another as you stroll along.  Some of the most popular:  Marilyn (at 6744 Hollywood);  Jack Nicholson and Michael Jackson (6925 Hollywood); and Marlon Brando (1765 Vine).  Modern stars pay about $25,000 for the honor of having a star on the street.

Buy a map of the stars home's and you can see the site of Marilyn Monroe's elementary school, where she shared an apartment with actress Shelly Winters, where she spent her first honeymoon or the apartment where she lived with Joe Dimagio, where she posed for her famous nude photo and the house where she was found dead.  There are murals, wax sculptures and look-a-likes of Marilyn up and down Hollywood Blvd.
 

Have a drink – There are three classic old Hollywood bars.

Musso & Frank Grill (6667 Hollywood) opened in 1919 and is today the same dark wood haven that was familiar to Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, and Elizabeth Taylor.  Raymond Chandler immortalized the bar by putting it in his classic LA mystery, The Long Goodbye.  Step out of the bright California sunshine into this dark oasis and place your cocktail on the same polished wood bar where Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable once rested their martinis.  
Here’s Chandler’s homage: 

“I like bars just after they open for the evening. When the air inside is still cool and clean and everything is shiny and the barkeep is giving himself that last look in the mirror to see if his tie is straight and his hair is smooth. I like the neat bottles on the bar back and the lovely shining glasses and the anticipation. I like to watch the man mix the first one of the evening and put it down on a crisp mat and put the little folded napkin beside it. I like to taste it slowly. The first quiet drink of the evening in a quiet bar—that’s wonderful.”  Chandler’s drink was a gimlet – half gin, half Rose’s Lime juice.

Pig ‘n Whistle:  When it opened in 1927, this was a concession stand for the Egyptian Theatre next door. Shirley Temple bought candy here, and Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant were regulars.  Today, it’s a bar and restaurant known for the hand-painted decorative tiles of the Pig ‘N Whistle logo – a dancing, flute-playing pig -- and for the elaborate carved wood ceiling.

Snow White Café:  The best beer bar in Hollywood just might also be the weirdest. Opened in 1946, it features Disney murals allegedly painted by real Disney artists.  With a slogan like “Where your problems dwarf,” how could you not like it? Funky and 40s, but good beer selection.

Visit Grauman’s Chinese Theatre

This is the “Ground Zero” of Hollywood, the world’s most gaudy movie palace, and the spot where the crazies and tour buses gather.  And why not?  It’s fun, and there are never less than a dozen costumed characters posing for photos.  Since 1927, stars have been setting their footprints and handprints in cement, and tourists have been walking around putting their own feet in the prints and snapping photos.  Most popular appeared to be Michael Jackson, John Wayne and Judy Garland (who went to high school just down the block at Hollywood High).  Most eerie?  On a dry day, Natalie Wood’s footprints were filled with water.

Red Line subway stop at Hollywood and Highland

See the Famous Sign from Hollywood & Highland – The huge Hollywood and Highland shopping and entertainment complex has a Lowes hotel, the usual mall stores, three levels of escalators and outdoor cafes, and the modern Dolby Theatre, which is now the annual home of the Academy Awards. You can take a pricey tour of the theatre and look in the Green Room.  But what really makes the shopping center worth a look is the incredible décor – a throwback to the sets for D.W. Griffith’s 1916 masterpiece, Intolerance.  Few people today have ever seen or heard of Intolerance, but you will still be impressed, if slightly bewildered, by the 33-foot high white elephants and gigantic Babylonian columns.  In the background, framed by the mall’s grand arch, is the famous “Hollywood” sign, now a symbol of the industry.  

There's explosions every minute at Universal Studios Hollywood

Actress Peg Entwistle jumped to her death from the “H” in 1932.   During a recent restoration of the sign, Alice Cooper purchased one of the “O’s” in honor of Groucho Marx.  Other letters were “saved” by Hugh Hefner, Andy Williams and Gene Autry. 

Ride the Subway to Universal CityWalk Hollywood

LA has an amazingly complex and beautiful subway system.  Catch the Red Line at the Highland shopping center for a one stop ride to Universal CityWalk.  Free outdoor trams meet each train and will whisk you up the hill to this incredible complex of restaurants, bars, shops and neon that serves as the fun entrance to the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.  CityWalk is huge, loud, and touristy, but it’s free to walk around, pedestrian friendly, there’s some amazing neon sculptures and it offers great people watching.

You can feel the heat from the explosions at Universal Studios

Tour a Studio

Universal Studios Hollywood is the studio tour de rigor.  Part homage to movies like King Kong, Jaws, and Jurassic Park, it’s also a working studio where you can see sets for everything from Desperate Housewives to Psycho.  But it’s also a movie-based theme park with indoor roller coasters, water thrill rides, 3-D movies, animal trick shows, stunt shows and explosions galore.  Special effects are the specialty, and more than a few times you can actually feel the heat from an exploding gas tank or be drenched by the spray from power boats.

Exploding gas tanks in the Jaws portion of the tram ride

For a more serious look at movie making, Warner Bros., Paramount and Sony Pictures (formerly MGM) all have more subdued behind-the-scene studio tours where you get to walk or take a golf cart through backlots, viewing everything from Old West towns used in hundreds of Westerns to streets from medieval Europe to New York  There are artifacts from classics like Casablanca and Wizard of Oz, and (depending on filming schedule) you can often walk right on to the set of current television productions (although they are mostly obscure television shows now).  You can't take photos on these tours, which is disappointing, but it was a thrill to walk down the same Western street at Warner Bros. that Gary Cooper did in High Noon.

Stargaze in Beverly Hills

Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills

You can see where the stars lived on the manicured, palm-lined streets of Beverly Hills (Jack Benny, Lucille Ball and James Stewart all lived next to each other in pretty modest houses on the 1000 block of Roxbury Drive).  Or see where they shopped and dined on Rodeo Drive, before being driven out by hordes of tourists.  But you’re still as likely to see a celebrity here as anywhere, and the architecture and setting on Rodeo will be familiar from a hundred films, and it is pretty, and there are amazing cars parked, and you can at least afford a coffee and a look.  If you truly want to go “star-gazing,” the best bet is at a cemetery.  Westwood Village Memorial Park has Marilyn (but you have a better chance of seeing her ghost in the Roosevelt Hotel); Forest Lawn Glendale has Walt Disney, Spencer Tracy and Errol Flynn; Forest Lawn Hollywood has Betty Davis, and Liberace; and

Hollywood Forever has Cecil B. DeMille.

IF YOU GO:  “Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul. I know, because I turned down the first offer often enough and held out for the fifty cents.”  Marilyn Monroe   Best overall site is Fodors.  For a car free trip (yes, you can do it in LA!):  www.discoverlosangeles.com/blog/discover-hollywood-car-free

Everything else in LA:  www.discoverlosangeles.com

Thunder by the Falls

 

Walking and Drinking Beer,
On The Bloody Battlegrounds for the Niagara Frontier

Battle of Fort George (courtsey of Friends of Fort George)

At just 36 miles in length, the Niagara is one of the shortest rivers in the world.  And one of the most violent.  Almost a million gallons of water cascade down the river every second, reaching speeds of 30 miles per hour.  The river is actually not a river at all – it is the drainage runoff from the higher Great Lakes of Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior.  Water spills down from these higher lakes into the Niagara Gorge and over the legendary Niagara Falls on its way thundering and roaring to Lake Ontario.
 

Horseshoe Falls on the Niagara River

Another historical reason the Niagara is a violent river is that it forms the border between the United States and Canada.   For 1,000 days between 1812 and 1814, it was the scene of desperate fighting with bloody battles on both sides of the river in what came to be called The War of 1812.

More than 25 percent of the casualties of the entire war took place along this 36-mile stretch of river.

American troops, courtsey of the Niagara Parks Commission

Today, the U.S.-Canada border is the longest and most peaceful in the world, but for the 200^th anniversary of the forgotten War of 1812, both sides are restoring forts, cleaning muskets, sprucing up battlefields and planning re-enactments.   As a bonus, the battlefields and forts are just a few minutes drive from the most famous waterfall on the planet.

A Mere Matter of Marching

Events began on June 17, 1812, when the young United States declared war on the most powerful nation on earth, Great Britain.  To many, this seemed like an insane act, but England had angered Americans by interfering with their commerce at sea.  Equally important to expansionist Americans, the time appeared right to seize Canada.  The population of the U.S. was 15 times the population of Canada.  British armies were occupied fighting Napoleon on the European continent.  Many people thought Canadians wouldn’t fight and might even welcome invading American armies.  Thomas Jefferson wrote that taking Canada would be “a mere matter of marching.”

The Americans planned a three-pronged invasion:  a force from Detroit would capture western Canada; another army would cross at the Niagara frontier, while a third would move on Montreal. 

In the end, it wasn’t quite that simple.  All three invading American armies were destroyed or captured.  Not only were the Canadians willing to fight – they were damn good at it.  

As the war progressed, American armies became better trained and scored some victories.   The war surged back and forth across the Niagara River at more than a dozen battlefields.  Finally, Britain won its war with Napoleon, freeing the Empire to send large numbers of trained redcoat soldiers to America.  By 1814, cooler heads prevailed and the so called the War of 1812 came to a close, ending as a “draw” with the borders reverting to exactly where they were at the start.    Ironically, at the end of the war Americans held Fort Erie on the Canadian side of the Niagara River while the British held Fort Niagara on the American side. 

Who won the war?  No territory exchanged hands, but at the start of the war, it was unclear if French and English Canadians considered themselves one country.  Would they fight? Before the War of 1812, no one knew.  Afterwards, no one ever questioned it again.  The War became a defining moment in Canadian history and gave the country many of its greatest heroes.

Touring the Battlefields

Three forts and five battlefields are all within a musket shot of the Niagara River Parkway, a road that Winston Churchill called, “The prettiest Sunday drive in the world.”   The best sites to visit during the 200^th anniversary:

Fort George and Fort Niagara: 

Two of the great historic forts of North America are within sight of each other, less than a mile apart on opposite sides of the Niagara River.  On the Canadian side, Fort George has been reconstructed as a dirt, stone and wood stockade with soldier’s barracks, a guardhouse and an excellent small museum.  The Americans attacked and seized this fort in May 1813.  Today, British soldiers in bright red uniforms give musket demonstrations, fire cannons and march to the sound of fife and drum.   Regimental sergeants “enlist” kids into the army, outfitting them with blue or red uniforms with wood guns for some basic drill in 19^th Century tactics.   

"New recruits" form and charge at Fort George

On the other side of the river, Old Fort Niagara has been restored to its appearance in 1759, when the British captured it from the French in the earlier French and Indian War.   But there are also military artifacts and exhibits on the story of how the British re-captured it, this time from the Americans, in December 1813.  In summer, a company of redcoats guards the fort and there are ramparts and drawbridges to explore, as well as regular reenactments and military and Native American encampments.

Niagara on the Lake:

Pretty Niagara on the Lake is known for an annual summer Shaw Festival

  With an ideal location on the banks of Lake Ontario, the town offers a pleasant main street lined with flower baskets, art galleries, craft stores, restaurants and pubs. The surrounding gently rolling landscape is home to 30 wineries that produce 80 percent of the wine in Canada.  Stop by the Angel Inn, an authentic-looking English pub, for a pint under a low timber ceiling. The Americans burned this beautiful village to the ground in 1813, but today it is called “the prettiest town in Canada.”

Laura Secord, the “Paul Revere of Canada:”  

Laura Secord homestead, courtsey Niagara Parks Commission

On June 22, 1813, American officers took over the home of James and Laura Secord in Queenston, Canada, and began planning a secret attack on a nearby British army.  James was bed-ridden recovering from a wound, and the Americans dismissed Laura as just a woman of no concern.  They were wrong.  Laura overhead their plans, snuck out of the house, and walked 17 miles in the dark, past hostile Native American camps, to warn the British outpost.  The next day, it was the Americans who were surprised and their entire army was forced to surrender. 

Today, Laura is a Canadian hero.  You can visit her homestead where she overheard the plans, follow her 17-mile trek on a driving route, walk the battlefield where her husband was wounded at Queenston Heights, or stand by her grave, which is at a cemetery on another battlefield, Lundy’s Lane, in downtown Niagara Falls, Ont.  

The Niagara Falls Museum, a short walk away, has Laura’s bonnet and some of her other possessions, as well as a superior museum on the battle and the war for the Niagara region.  They also have British uniforms and shakos (their hats) that you can try on, while hefting a Brown Bess musket.

Old Fort Erie: 

Aerial of diamond-shaped Fort Erie, Niagara Parks Comm.

Old Fort Erie is the site of the largest and bloodiest battlefield in Canada, and their worst defeat of the war.  Although it is on Canadian soil, in the battle, the Americans were defending the fort and the British were attacking it.  This means in the resorted fort of today, Canadian historical interpreters wear American uniforms.  When they conduct cannon firing demonstrations, the fort’s historians are careful to point the cannon toward Lake Erie and not toward visible Buffalo, New York. Firing a cannon at America might be considered an act of war.   This large fort has ramparts lined with guns, soldiers in uniforms from both armies, and the best and most comprehensive War of 1812 museum in the Niagara region.

Old Fort Erie

In the gift shop, they sell two different bumper stickers that ask the same question, “Who won the War of 1812?”    One says the Americans, and one says the British.

 

Touring the Famous Falls

And then, of course, there are the famous falls that attract some 12 million honeymooers and sightseers a year.  And justly so.  They are amazing.  Some quick tips on seeing the falls along with the forts: 

Maid of the Mist in front of the American Falls

The views are superior on the Canadian side, and that is where to stay.  But do walk across the Rainbow Bridge to the U.S. on a day trip for the spectacular views and to visit Cave of the Winds. Here, an elevator takes you down 175 feet of solid rock to within 20 feet of the base of the falls.  You must trade your shoes in for plastic flip-flops and a poncho, and you’ll be thoroughly soaked, but standing at the bottom is the true way to appreciate the power of the falls.

Cave of the Winds

Ride the Maid of the Mist. Boats have been carrying passengers up the river to the base of the falls since 1846, and they have all been called Maid of the Mist.  You’re guaranteed another soaking – and a thrill, as your boat rocks and rolls in the churning waters under the falls.

 

Be prepared that Niagara Falls is a schizophrenic destination with two distinct personalities.  Queen Victoria Park along the gorge on the Canadian side is majestic – a wonderful green space with gardens and continual views of both the American and Canadian falls.  The Niagara Parks Commission does everything first class, the part of Niagara Falls that they run compares with any national park in the world.  It is best in early morning before the tour buses arrive at 9 a.m. or at twilight, when crowds are at a minimum. 

 

Clifton Hill

But be warned.  The rest of the town of Niagara Falls, particularly Clifton Hill, can be dreadful -- a loud, tacky tourism nightmare with haunted houses, a “Hall of Fame” dedicated to serial killers, wax museums, miniature golf, and other oddities.  There are also two casinos, every chain restaurant and a dozen other ways to see the falls, from helicopters to IMAX films to huge towers.

 

But it’s always easy to escape the madness.   From anywhere in town, it’s no more than a ten minute walk to the park and a drop-dead view of the falls…and if you’re lucky, a rainbow.

Horseshoe Falls from the Canadian side.

Beer on the Niagara Frontier:

Niagara is not a craft beer center.  This is wine country with 80 percent of Canada's wine produced in the region.  The nicest bar in Niagara Falls, Ont., is in EdgewatersRestaurant.  Run by the Niagara Park Commission, it’s in the park near Horseshoe Falls.  There’s an outdoor patio and a nice bar with views of both the American and Canadian falls. Try the Creemore Springs larger from Toronto. 

 

Kelsy’s is another outdoor bar at the top of Clifton Hill. It’s in the center of the insanity, across the street from the Criminal Hall of Fame, but they have a live singer, and you’ll need a beer after experiencing Clifton Hill.

For great craft beer, travel 90 minutes to Toronto.  Steam Whistle Brewery is built in an old roundhouse in the center of town; their pilsner is a popular beer available all over the city.  Mill Street Brewpub is in the Distillery District, a fashionable area of old warehouses that are now restaurants and one-of-a-kind shops.  Worth the short cab ride.

For more information: www.niagaraparks.com/