Where the Buffalo Roam* 9.8.24

Where the Buffalo Roam*

We have been to Theodore Roosevelt National Park before, three years ago, on our first long road trip in 2021.  I had forgotten just how wonderful it is – huge, with wide open spaces, herds of bison, and prairie dogs everywhere.  Driving through the park, we realized we really wanted to stay and take it in for a bit, not just pass through.  We were glad we did, because it gave us a chance to experience the wonderful hospitality you sometimes see on the road. 

We camped at little cost because of our National Park Senior passes.  Though not luxurious, the sites had everything we needed.  We met three men who were fellow retirees from the Chicago suburbs at the next campsite.  They moved on the next day, headed for Glacier National Park, so then we had a fairly large area to ourselves.  On this trip, we did not see the big herds of bison from the road as we had in the past, but there was a smaller band of perhaps 6-8 adults and a calf, roaming freely through the campground.  On the second day, when the adjacent campsite was empty, they came through.  Huffing and grazing as they went, they were no more than 8 or 10 feet from us, but we were inside the trailer, which they ignored.  It was amazing to see these huge, ancient animals up so close.  They moved on toward a field that surrounded the campground, but we stayed inside for quite a while.

After a day of driving around the scenic road, we had a nice buffet at Badlands Pizza in Medora, the town closest to the park.  There were not many choices of places to eat but it was a good meal. 

On Thursday we drove south to a town on the Cheyenne reservation.  Two days of camping in a very undeveloped area, at little cost, made us want more of the same.  The internet showed a campground at the town of Lame Deer.  It did not show that about 30 miles of the road to the town was washboard gravel.  So it was slower than usual.  This is very remote farming country, with big spreads of beef cattle and farms with horses. 

There was no campground in Lame Deer.  The clerk at the gas station confirmed what we had not found, but said there were tribal powwow grounds outside of town and anyone could stay there.  She said “anyone” several times, so we felt good about checking out this option.  We drove out and sure enough, there was a deserted area with a small arena for equestrian events, grandstands, and an area that probably contains booths and food stands during a powwow.  There appeared to be electricity, but we did not use it because we were not paying, just dry camping, and for free.  (Dry camping means parking  and living without electrical, water or sewer hookups, using our own battery power and water tanks.) 

The next morning as we were leaving, a man drove up and introduced himself as the owner of the ranch next to the grounds.  He asked if we had enjoyed our stay and if we’d had any trouble.  We were enthusiastic in our thanks and talked with him for a while.  We had been to some of the same places.  He wished us a safe journey.  We felt like the Cheyennes had let us in on a bit of their culture.

Driving north on Friday, toward our goal of being in Spokane on Monday morning, we had trouble locating camping areas in the Gallatin National Forest.  We ended up on yet another gravel road.  We asked another driver what was at the end, and he described a wilderness camping area with no facilities, no RVs, at the end of another 10 miles of gravel, but this time the road went up a mountain.  We decided to turn back but found the road was too narrow, and the shoulders too deep.  While we were backing up, a young woman with long, dark hair, conveniently wearing a t-shirt emblazoned “Local,” stopped and asked if we needed help.  She said her name was Bianca and that she was headed for her boyfriend’s ranch which was miles away on the gravel road.  She helped us turn around and gave us her phone number, saying she had a place with an area where we could camp if necessary.

It turned out it was necessary.  The BLM campground we headed for next was full.  As it was getting late, rather than continue to drive around checking out the many (widely dispersed) BLM campgrounds, we called Bianca’s number.  She gave us the address to her place and we dry camped in her driveway.  Her house was in the tiny town of Pray (named after a former North Dakota congressman, not an injunction to approach a deity!).  Pray is five acres of privately owned land with a hot springs resort.  There about 700 residents total in the area.  There was a deer in the yard in the evening.  Later we realized there was a whole family of deer, several adults and several yearlings.  We could see where they easily jumped a fence to get into the yard – leaping over one by one, looking just like cartoon deer.  They were very bold, freely roaming the yard and around our rig.  We stayed inside when they were close, because even a deer can be dangerous if it feels threatened, especially if there are young ones involved.  When I ventured out they hardly moved and did not take their eyes off me.  I did the same. 

We felt privileged to have the hospitality of Westerners, and to have seen wildlife up closer than ever before.

*  Bison, actually.  They are a bit smaller than buffalo, have beards, and shorter horns.  Buffalo are found in Asia and Africa; bison are found in the Americas and in Europe.