Webmaster's Note: This first update from the new superintendent was originally published in the Friends of the Little Bighorn Battlefield Newsletter, October 2009. Included in the newsletter was a very special message to all of the Friends members from Ms. Hammond. You can read that message in our "Custer Battlefield News" section posted December 8, 2009.

Fall has officially arrived here and we’ve been busy winding down our summer, closing out our fiscal year, and saying goodbye to the last of our seasonal staff. Having lived through my first summer season, I have a newfound appreciation for the importance of our seasonal staff – they really are the front line of the NPS at the Battlefield, and we had a great crew this past summer.

Here are a couple highlights from the past few months:

133rd Anniversary

We observed the 133rd Anniversary of the Battle of the Little Bighorn this year with special programs from June 24-28, 2009. Highlights included hosting a program by the Arikara Old Scout’s Society from North Dakota, a Lakota program by Enos Poor Bear, Jr of South Dakota, and the annual Big Horn riders and Morning Star riders equestrian programs. Descendents of Northern Cheyenne warrior Noisy Walking conducted a special ceremony at the Noisy Walking marker on Battle Ridge followed by a program at the amphitheater about Northern Cheyenne participation in the battle and an honoring ceremony for former Battlefield Superintendent Barbara Sutteer, current Superintendent Kate Hammond, and Historian John Doerner in recognition of their service to the Battlefield. Friends of Little Bighorn Battlefield volunteers once again provided outstanding interpretation on park trails. Steve Alexander, living history portrayer, conducted the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Last Stand Hill and the Indian Memorial, and Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Association laid wreaths at Reno Benteen and Last Stand Hill. Michael Terry, well known Plains Indian historian, presented special programs to park visitors over Anniversary weekend.

Over Anniversary weekend I had the pleasure to attend the Friends of Little Bighorn Battlefield annual meeting, the CBHMA annual meeting and symposium, and to attend one evening of the LBHA conference which was held in Billings this year. It was a pleasure to meet so many folks who are so dedicated to and passionate about Little Bighorn Battlefield, its story and its resources.

Visitation

After trending downward for the last 6 years, visitation (through August) is up 9.79% over last year’s figures. Other National Park sites around the country are experiencing similar increases.

Winter Hours

Little Bighorn Battlefield winter hours of 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM will go into effect on Sunday October 25, 2009. The self-guiding tour road to Reno-Benteen Battlefield will be open from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM daily. The Little Bighorn Battlefield (including Custer National Cemetery) and visitor center will be open from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM daily.

New Prairie Wildlife Nature Guide and Checklist

Melana Stichman, our natural resource specialist, is finalizing a Prairie Wildlife Nature Guide and Checklist color brochure for Little Bighorn Battlefield visitors. The free full-color prairie wildlife nature guide and checklist will be an important reference for visitors to use to identify plants, birds, animals, and reptiles living in our unique prairie ecosystem and was funded through our Recreational Fee Program.

Prairie Plant Identification Sign Project

Shane Archuleta, natural resource biotech seasonal ranger, completed an important prairie identification interpretive sign project at the battlefield. The small low profile signs are located along the new Indian Memorial interpretive trail below Last Stand Hill (adjacent to the 1984 Archeological Survey wayside) and help visitors to identify and interpret a small sampling of nine unique prairie plants here, and was funded through our Recreational Fee Program.

Museum Curator Position

Sharon Small resigned from her position as museum curator under the NPS Student Career Employment Program (SCEP) The museum curator GS-7/9/11 term position is currently open on www.usajobs.gov
until October 14, 2009. (Webmaster's Note: Since the publication of the newsletter, this position has been refilled by Sharon Small. See details on our "Custer Battlefield News" page for December 3, 2009.)

New Museum Exhibit Case

We anticipate delivery of a new museum exhibit case this fall to replace a case donated years ago by the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. The new exhibit case was made by the same manufacturer of our other cases to standardize our exhibits, and will be installed in the museum gallery below the “After the Battle” painting by Ken Ralston. A new museum exhibit is planned and we will have more news on this in the future.

Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI)

We are in the process of finalizing the CLI. The CLI is a joint partnership with NPS and Utah State University and is an important planning document that provides an accurate up-to-date baseline of the powerful cultural landscape here. We hope to have it finalized this year and have it available to the public in hard copy format and also on-line. More information on the CLI will be available in the next update.

White Swan Library

Battlefield Chief Historian John A. Doerner has been keeping up the library collection and announced that we now have 5,069 books pertaining to the Battle of the Little Bighorn and Little Bighorn Battlefield, Indian Wars, Plains Indians , Frontier Army, Natural Resources, and NPS related subjects accessioned into the library collection.

Cultural Resource Team Workshop

In June the park hosted a review of Cultural Resource management at Little Bighorn Battlefield to look at the park’s needs for curation, archeology, history, cultural landscapes, ethnography, and other cultural resource programs and develop a list of potential projects and priorities. The workshop resulted in 11 priorities for cultural resource management at LIBI: 1) Addressing Museum Collections Storage issues; 2) Developing Resource Significance Maps to aid in future planning/development; 3) Digitizing Museum and Library Collection; 4) Producing an Environmental History of 1876 Landscape; 5) Completing an Archeological Overview & Assessment; 6) Completing Historic Resource Study/Base Map/Historic Register Nomination Updates; 7) Developing a Consultation Plan with our 12 historically affiliated tribes; 8) Completing an Ethnographic Overview & Assessment; 9) Cemetery Headstones Conservation Plan and treatment; 10) Completing a Cultural Landscape Report (CLR); and 11) Conducting an Oral Histories project. LIBI staff is already moving forward with developing project statements and identifying funding sources to accomplish some of these priority projects.

Tribal Consultation Meeting

Throughout the month of May, I traveled through Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota to visit with tribal leaders from 8 of our 12 affiliated tribes. We held a consultation meeting at the Battlefield on in September to touch base with our affiliated tribes on battlefield related projects and overall stewardship of Little Bighorn Battlefield. While not all the tribes were able to attend, I was very pleased with the turnout and positive results from the meeting; in fact we are already looking at scheduling another follow-up in the future to maintain communication and open dialogue between us.

Friends of Little Bighorn

Bob Reece, President of Friends reports: “It has been a record breaking year for Friends support of projects at Little Bighorn Battlefield. In addition to $3,500.00 donated to NPS in March 2009, Friends has recently announced the donation of $10,000.00 to fund and support an Archeological Overview and Assessment of Little Bighorn Battlefield by Douglas D. Scott. This important project is a working document that will include an extensive historical overview and evaluation of archeology at LIBI, complete with maps, photographs, and illustrations, and will provide NPS managers recommendations for future archeological research. The Archeological Overview and Assessment is slated for publication and will be available to the public.

Friends also established a Facebook page on their website which provides a vehicle for timely news regarding the work we are doing together to help the battlefield. You can access this important new feature on the homepage of the website at www.friendslittlebighorn.com and click on the headline for Facebook, or the Facebook “F” icon and the bottom of each page. I’d like to take this opportunity to again thank the Friends organization and its dedicated members who helped us during the annual trails interpretation at the battlefield June 26-27, 2009. During the general Membership Meeting on Saturday June 27, I brought our members up to date on important news and projects at the battlefield. I enjoyed the opportunity to finally meet many of the dedicated members who share my love and passion for this very special place. I look forward to future board meetings with Friends as we continue to work closely with the NPS on important projects and mutual partnership of Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.