Boy did we gain a lot of wisdom in Wisdom, MT! During our time working on the Big Hole National Battlefield, we moved more than 1800 logs, hundreds of pounds of sandbags, and rebuilt many of the tipis on the battlefield that had weathered the winter.

We started our hitch in the visitor’s center of the park learning about the rich and disheartening history of the battle that had taken place at the Big Hole, and the importance of that battle for the Nez Perce. For a few days of the hitch, the crew learned how to build tipis and worked on rebuilding almost 40 tipis on the battlefield that serve as the main attraction of the park due to their importance to the history of the horrific battle. While a difficult and heavy project to take on, the crew worked diligently to restore the tipis that serve as a powerful memorial to the battle.

Furthermore, the beautiful forest around the Battlefield has recently gone through intense beetle kills and fires and was in need of litter removal and trail upkeep. Our crew tirelessly worked on this all while trying to stay dry during daily downpours (rain pants were a must). The logs provided many challenges for the crew, but hundreds were successfully moved out of the forest to the prairie dog (PDs) run boneyard. We also moved the sandbags close to the trail that had been redirecting water flow after the fires.

The crew enjoyed our time staying at the luxurious American Legion Memorial Campground just a few minutes out of the park, furnished with its very own beaver slide (a historically important farming tool invented close to the town in the 1800s). We also enjoyed our nightly visits to the only market in town for ice cream and Wisdom merchandise and were practically locals by the end of our hitch.

Yellow Crew’s first hitch was so sick that someone needs to page a nurse! We will miss the infinite wisdom in Wisdom, and the endless calls of the large sandhill crane population.