BILLINGS AND THE BIG OPEN - Montana and Wyoming - page 62

638-3897, www.lbhc.cc.mt.us , daily Memorial Day-Labor Day, $10 adults, $8 seniors, $5
children), organized through the Little Big Horn College. The tours are extremely reason-
ably priced, and guides can also be hired for group and private tours and as step-on guides.
Big Horn County Historical Museum and Visitor Center
Located in Hardin, 15 miles north of the Battle of the Little Bighorn National Monument,
the Big Horn County Historical Museum (1163 3rd St. E., Hardin, 406/665-1671,
www.bighorncountymuseum.org , 8am-6pm daily May-Sept., 9am-5pm Mon.-Fri. Oct.-
Apr., historic buildings closed Oct.-Apr., $5 adults, $4 seniors, $3 children 12 and over, free
for children under 12) contains 26 historic buildings outfitted from the periods in which
they originated—a 1922 schoolhouse, a 1917 Evangelical church built by German settlers,
a 1906 depot, and buildings from a 1911 working farm. The museum offers excellent hands-
on educational programs and a State of Montana visitor center.
Chief Plenty Coups State Park
For his bravery and leadership, Plenty Coups was made chief of the Crow Nation when he
was only 28 years old. In 1884, he became one of the first Crow Indians to own and work
a farm. Along with his wife, Strikes the Iron, Plenty Coups built a home, worked the land,
and operated a general store on his 320-acre plot of land just east of Pryor. Upon his death
in 1932, and according to the wishes of the chief and his wife, 195 acres of their land was
turned into a public park known as Chief Plenty Coups State Park (1 mile west of Pryor,
off Pryor Rd. or Pryor Creek Rd., 406/252-1289, www.fwp.mt.gov/parks , 8am-8pm daily
May-Sept., day use $5/vehicle nonresidents). The park is home to a museum and visitor
center (9am-5pm daily May-Sept., by appt. 10am-5pm Oct.-Apr., free) celebrating Crow
culture and a gift shop, along with Chief Plenty Coups's log cabin home, his general store,
and his grave.