I have been fortunate enough to find a group of buddies who are all interested in Custer and the Plains Indian wars of the 19th century. We have come to call ourselves Montana Mayhem even though we also have wreaked havoc over North and South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska. We get together every couple of years and travel the highways and byways in search of battlefields, historic markers, old graves, etc. We also hunt down micro-breweries and good buffalo ribeyes.
Remember way back...before Facebook? I had ended up in some online forums dealing with Custer and the different events surrounding his life. One of these was Delphi Forums. There were different Custer-related user groups on Delphi and these allowed for a back and forth discussion about the topic at hand. As is usual in most things Custer, there were some heated discussions, name calling, empty threats, and all the rest. Not much has changed and things are pretty much the same today. But what was born out of all that static and noise was a group of guys who just wanted to talk Custer and the Indian wars of the Great Plains. I was fortunate enough to be one of those guys. We started emailing each other and before we knew it we were planning a trip. I will admit that it was a bit weird to go on a trip with a bunch of guys I had never met in person before. How did I know one of them wasn’t a serial killer? Well, I didn’t and everything turned out fine. Today we are the best of friends and we keep in constant contact through phone calls, email, text messages, and our own private, super-secret Facebook group.
I have so many fond memories of our trips. We have been able to do things as a group that I doubt any of us could have done individually. Plus, it’s pretty cool to go on a trip to explore forts and battlefields in which you are all mutually interested. We spend the days hiking around the battlefields and the nights drinking beer and talking about it all. They are very special times.
Remember way back...before Facebook? I had ended up in some online forums dealing with Custer and the different events surrounding his life. One of these was Delphi Forums. There were different Custer-related user groups on Delphi and these allowed for a back and forth discussion about the topic at hand. As is usual in most things Custer, there were some heated discussions, name calling, empty threats, and all the rest. Not much has changed and things are pretty much the same today. But what was born out of all that static and noise was a group of guys who just wanted to talk Custer and the Indian wars of the Great Plains. I was fortunate enough to be one of those guys. We started emailing each other and before we knew it we were planning a trip. I will admit that it was a bit weird to go on a trip with a bunch of guys I had never met in person before. How did I know one of them wasn’t a serial killer? Well, I didn’t and everything turned out fine. Today we are the best of friends and we keep in constant contact through phone calls, email, text messages, and our own private, super-secret Facebook group.
I have so many fond memories of our trips. We have been able to do things as a group that I doubt any of us could have done individually. Plus, it’s pretty cool to go on a trip to explore forts and battlefields in which you are all mutually interested. We spend the days hiking around the battlefields and the nights drinking beer and talking about it all. They are very special times.
Here we are on the porch of Old Bedlam at Fort Laramie - June 24, 2013
“Montana Mayhem - tracking down history one beer at a time”.
Please click on the links below to check out our different trips:
I would also like to mention three members of Montana Mayhem who have passed on - Perry Baker, PJ Solla, and most recently, Gary Lemery. We will again raise our glasses to them this summer.
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