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U.S. Cavalry School

"Custer's Last Ride" Adventure/Little Bighorn Cavalry Adventure is 14-22 June 2025

Relive Custer's Last Stand Battle by retracing his Trail, Camping on the Banks of the Little Bighorn, riding with General Custer for 3 days at the Annual Battle of the Little Bighorn Reenactment, and much more. History, Horsemanship, Excitement, Fun and Camaraderie in the Wild West. This is our 17th year that we have taught this course on the Little Bighorn.

 

Custer's Last Ride Adventure at Little Bighorn Reenactment

Click to Enlarge Pictures.

USCS Banner
 

Leading String
 

Custer's Last Stand Fight
 

 

Rosebud Battlefield
 

With General Custer
 

Custer's Last Stand-Battle
 

 

Staff Ride
 

Cavalry School Graduates
 

 

Staff Ride
 

Custer's Last Stand Fight
 

 

US Cavalry School Deluxe (Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced Courses) Training Encampment Courses at the Little Bighorn Battle Reenactment - Crow Agency, Montana

This is the West's Best Horse Adventure!! This is not a field trip nor a nose to tail trail ride; but a complete training in the history of the times and study of military life on the Frontier, Custer's Last Stand, and review of Native American Culture. We have been teaching Staff Rides of the Little Bighorn to the US Military for over 14 years; as well as Cavalry history, tactics, packing and horsemanship.  Open to males and Females 18 and over (16 with parental/legal guardian supervision). Ride with the Best!
 

Little Bighorn Reenactment

Click to Enlarge Pictures.

War Party
 

Custer's expedition
 

 

Warriors Moving
 

 

Pistol Charge
 

 

Staff Ride
 

Includes the following:

  • Professional Training by Military & Little Bighorn Subject Matter Experts

  • Professional Horsemanship & Cavalry Training by Outfitters, Movie Horseman, National Champions, Trainers

  • Amazing Campfire/ Dutch Oven Cooking, Frontier meals that will please everyone

  • Mounted Weapons training for Sabers and Pistols

  • Fire Live Weapons of the Period; .45 Long Colt and 45-55/70 Springfield Carbine Firearms Training on the Range

  • Authentic Cavalry Encampment next to Little Bighorn River (where the Sioux Tribe was camped)

  • History Lessons and Training on US Cavalry (what was life like for the trooper in the Army)

  • Military Tactics and Patrol Training, Exercises, and Small Group Missions (Fun and Exciting Rides)

  • Military Staff Ride (same course we teach the Active Military) of Little Bighorn

  • Retrace/Race Custer's trail

  • Ride with Custer for 3 Days at the Real Bird's Little Bighorn Reenactment

  • Ride in Crow Agency's Native Parade with the 7th U.S. Cavalry

  • Cultural and History class by Native American tribe elder

  • Reviews of Crow's Nest and Rosebud Battle

  • Full Days of Training, Camaraderie, and fun; Campfires and entertainment

  • Cavalry Drill and Patrol Training

  • Transportation to and from Billings airport, Museums, Parades, and town

  • Discounts for military veterans, groups, and returnees

  • Training for your personal Horse

  • Reasonable Rentals of Trained horses and correct Military Clothing, Tack, and Firearms

Culture and Charisma

Click to Enlarge Pictures.

Stage Arrival
 

Horse Holder
 

 

A Meeting of Cultures
 

 

Cavalry Trooper & Mount
 

 

Ladies with horse
 

 

What you will NOT need (as we provide Lodging, All Meals, and Transportation to/from Billings):

  • Lodging-Example: Hotel Rental for 8 nights can cost @ $1,120.

  • Transportation-Example: Rental Car and gas for 8 days @ $360.

  • That's a Total Savings of $1,480 just in Lodging and transportation costs.

 
~ Bring your horse, .45 LC Pistol, Uniform/Clothing, and Military Tack or Rent Ours.
 

Garryowen/Crow Agency, MT - Little Bighorn Battlefield Cavalry Encampment

Click to Enlarge Pictures.

Class under the Trees, Little Bighorn River
 

Little Bighorn Reenactment, Indian Braves, Crow Agency, MT
 

 

Campfire Entertainment at Cavalry School
 

 

The site of the Little Bighorn Reenacment
 

 

Little Bighorn Battlefield, Reno's Battlefield and Retreat
 

Still once in a lifetime opportunity! The Novice, Intermediate and Advanced courses will be run concurrently and students are invited to participate in the Battle of Little Bighorn Reenactment. This is not a show and tell class of history; this is more than dude ranch vacation or adventure - it is a hands-on training, where you will not only visit and learn at the historical sights, but we train you to become Cavalry trooper. LEARN FROM THE BEST - with instructors that have been Cavalry trainers in and for U.S. Military Horse Mounted Units, National Cavalry Competition champion, and Military Battlefield Staff Ride lecturers/instructors that have taught the many different units of the US Military on the Little Bighorn, Rosebud, and other U.S. Battles. Now Eight + days of excitement, living the life of an Army horse soldier on the American Frontier.
 
Are you a history buff, love the cavalry/military, want the best horse vacation trip in the west, to improve your horsemanship, want to be in a film, or want to be a re-enactor?
If so, you need to be here! Most all classes within our courses are adaptable for non-riders. Even if you can not or choose not to ride a horse - this couse is still for you, this is the horse/history/western adventure of a Lifetime!

 

Includes all of the regular Cavalry Encampment courses and trainings listed below.  Ride the ground that the Cavalry covered the last 2 hours of Major General (Brevet) George Armstrong Custer's life and the Seventh Cavalry troopers that rode into the history books with him. Medicine Tail Coulee, Cedar Coulee, and Weir Point are among the historic locations we will visit.   The encampment runs from 15-23 Jun 2024 and starts with orientation on 15 June, Saturday night (Sunday arrivals are acceptable), with training starting the next morning, and completion on Sunday the 23rd of June.  Successful students are invited to participate in the Real Bird's Battle of the Little Bighorn Reenactment, held at 1 pm on the Fri, Sat, and Sun Closest to the anniversary of 25th of June with authentic Crow Warriors.  There is a part in the reenactment for most levels of horsemanship or for some dismounted troopers.  This special course is being hosted by the U.S. Cavalry School for the third time at the Real Bird Family Ranch, located 2 miles south of Crow Agency, Mt and 2 miles north of Garryowen. This sacred land, where a portion of the battle was fought, joins and is intermingled within Little Bighorn Battlefield Park and only an hour south of Billings, Mt. 

   This amazing 8 plus day has even more riding, firearms training, shooting competition, history/cavalry lessons, cavalry camp entertainment, camaraderie, and fun. We added more riding of portions of the battlefield, more authentic training of Mule handling/packing during missions/rides. The package includes your tuition, US Cavalry military horsemanship training (such as the differences with Western horsemanship), training fees, access fees, shuttle service to and from Billings Airport, excellent Cavalry Camp meals, and authentic field encampment equipment, blank ammo for reenactment, live ammo for 45 Colt and carbine Live Fire range training, staff rides (similar to the ones we teach to the US Military), history lessons from Native American elder, and much more. Awe-inspiring Battlefield tours and educational "Staff Rides" (in the training manner of the U.S. Army) by Native American and U.S. Military Scholars are also included.

   Tuition start at $1,999. Tuition discounts for Veterans. Horse, Firearms, Uniform, and Tack rentals are available to students not providing their own. Our students have said, "This is the Best Horse Vacation I have ever taken, and I have been to South America and France on horse riding trips" - "This course exceeded my expectations and was a dream come true, definitely once in a lifetime opportunity to relive the past" "Worth every penny and more". Most of our students have came back to attend again, and they have been amazed at the expanded training during the week and our extra day. Call us for additional information. Call and reserve your seat as soon as possible, training seats are limited in number!!
 

 


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U.S. Cavalry School: Related Sites
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Related Sites


Associations

U.S. Cavalry Association

www.uscavalry.org

The Military Horse

www.militaryhorse.org

National Indian Wars Association

www.indianwars.org

Order of the Indian Wars

www.indianwars.com

  U.S. Armor Association www.usarmor-assn.org

 

 

Battlefields

Big Hole

www.nps.gov/biho

Brices Cross Roads

www.nps.gov/brcr

Cowpens

www.nps.gov/cowp

Gettysburg

www.nps.gov/gett

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument

www.nps.gov/libi

Washita Battlefield NHS

www.nps.gov/waba

 

 

Equine

American Morgan Horse Association

www.morganhorse.com

Back Country Horsemen of Washington

www.bchw.org

Equisearch

www.equisearch.com

Equiworld

www.equiworld.com

Info Horse

www.infohorse.com

Free Horse Ads

www.freehorseads.com

Ultimate Horse Site

www.ultimatehorsesite.com

Horse Trail Directory

www.horsetraildirectory.com

Horse-Guide

www.horse-guide.com

Hunter's Pony Farm

www.huntersponyfarm.com

NorthernHorse.com

www.northernhorse.com

Trail Rider Magazine

www.derbyglass.com/trailrider

Vancouver Police Mounted Squad

www.geocities.com/mountedsquadhorses

Washington State Equestrian Network

www.raineyvalleyfarm.com/wshis/

Washington State Horse Council

www.raineyvalleyfarm.com/wshc/link.htm

 

 

Historic Cavalry Forts

Fort Davis, TX

www.nps.gov/foda

Fort Kearny, NE

www.ngpc.state.ne.us/parks/ftkearny.html

Fort Phil Kearny, WY

www.philkearny.vcn.com

Fort Larned, KS

www.nps.gov/fols

Fort Laramie, WY

www.nps.gov/fola

Fort Leavenworth, KS

leav-www.army.mil/cac/history.htm

Fort Riley, KS

www.riley.army.mil/history/history.html

Fort Abraham Lincoln, ND

www.ndparks.com/Parks/FLSP.htm

 

Cavalry Unit Information

Cav Troops, Sqdns, & Regts. www.geocities.com/Pentagon/9059/arm-cav.html
Lineage and Honors www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/lindex.htm

 

 

Historical Biographies

Army Leaders:

Frederick Benteen

www.inlink.com/~leonard/benteen.html

John Buford

www.civilwarhome.com/bufordbi.htm

Eugene A. Carr

www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/CC/fcadd.html

George Crook

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/crook.htm

George Armstrong Custer

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/custer.htm

John Gibbon

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/d_h/gibbon.htm

Oliver Otis Howard

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/d_h/howard.htm

Nelson A. Miles

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/i_r/miles.htm

Marcus Reno

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/i_r/reno.htm

Philip Sheridan

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/sheridan.htm

William Tecumseh Sherman

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/sherman.htm

Alfred Terry

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/terry.htm

Noteworthy Scouts:

William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/cody.htm

Native American Leaders:

Allalimya Takanin (Looking Glass)

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/i_r/looking.htm

Black Kettle

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/blackkettle.htm

Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt (Chief Joseph)

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/chiefjoseph.htm

Makhpiya-Luta (Red Cloud)

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/i_r/redcloud.htm

Pizi (Gall)

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/d_h/gall.htm

Tatanka-Iyotanka (Sitting Bull)

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/s_z/sittingbull.htm

Tashunca-uitco (Crazy Horse)

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/crazyhorse.htm

 

 

Historical Societies

Colorado Historical Society

coloradohistory.org/discover.htm

Idaho State Historical Society

www2.state.id.us/ishs

Kansas State Historical Society

www.kshs.org

Montana Historical Society

his.state.mt.us

North Dakota State Historical Society

www.state.nd.us/hist

South Dakota State Historical Society

www.sdhistory.org

Washington State Historical Society

www.wshs.org

Wyoming State Museum

spacr.state.wy.us/cr/wsm

 

 

History

About Civil War Women

www.aboutcivilwarwomen.com

Battle of Brandy Station

www.militaryhistoryonline.com/civilwar/brandystation

Buffalo Soldiers

www.nara.gov/publications/record/mar98/buffalo.html

Confederate Saddles

www.confederatesaddles.com

Nez Perce War

www.bitterroot.net/usdafs/NezPerceflight.html

New York Times, July 1876

www.hillsdale.edu/academics/history/Documents/War/ America/Indian/1876-BigHorn-Times.htm

The Cavalry Horse

www.sota-oh.com/users/kenbrown/cavhorse

Union Cavalry Operations

www.civilwarcavalry.com

War on Horseback

www.civilwarhome.com/horsebackwar.htm

 

 

Links of Interest

Lineage and Honors www.army.mil/cmh-pg/lineage/lindex.htm
Reenactor.net www.reenactor.net
  Battle of the Little Bighorn Reenactment - hosted by Real Bird Family, Crow Agency, Mt www.littlebighornreenactment.com
  Custer's Battlefield Museum, Garryowen, MT www.custermuseum.org
     
   Sutlers  
  Hamilton Dry Goods hamiltondrygoods@multipro.com
  Quartermaster Shop qmshop@comcast.net
  Regimental Quartermaster regtqm@regtqm.com

 

 

Military and Re-enactment/Living History Units

  1st U.S. Cavalry (Washington) www.1stuscav.org

2me RĂ©giment de Dragons

www.2dragons.be

2nd U.S. Cavalry Association (Montana)

2nduscavalry.org

3rd Texas Cavalry nickledyson@sfasu.edu
7th United States Cavalry, Company F (Band Box Troop) www.US7thCavCoF.com/Re-enactment.html
9th Virginia Cavalry 9thvirginia.tripod.com/9th1.htm
18th Light Dragoons (Hussars) - 4th Troop www.horsesoldiers.btinternet.co.uk
Frontier Army of the Datoka web.ndak.net/~fadstein/
Ft. Riley Mounted Color Guard www.kbrhorse.net/her/mcghors1.html
Kansas National Guard, Adjutant's General Mounted Color Guard www.ks.ngb.army.mil/EgueCG
Living History Online www.livinghistoryonline.com
  Northwest Historical Military Society www.hevanet.com/1860colt/nhms.html

 

 

Native American Peoples

National Museum of the American Indian

www.si.edu/nmai

Smithsonian - Department of Anthropology

www.nmnh.si.edu/departments/anthro.html/anthrove.html

Southwest Museum

www.southwestmuseum.org

Cheyenne Indians

members.nbci.com/eaglewing

Lakota Tribe (Rosebud)

www.littlesioux.org

Oglala Band of Lakota Tribe

www-personal.umich.edu/~jamarcus

Nez Perce Tribe

www.uidaho.edu/nezperce/neemepoo.htm

Crow Tribe

lewisandclark.state.mt.us/crow1.htm

Pawnee Nation

www.pawneenation.org

Shoshone Tribe

lewisandclark.state.mt.us/Shoshone.htm

 

Living history/Re-enactment:

Warriors Plus

www.warriorsplus.com

 

 

PProfessional Journals

American Indian Culture and Research Journal

www.sscnet.ucla.edu/esp/aisc

Montana: The Magazine of Western History

his.state.mt.us/departments/magazine/mag.html

Western Historical Quarterly

www.usu.edu/~history/whq

 

 

Regional Interest

Highland Stage Company

www.highlandstageco.com

North Cascades Outfitters

www.cowboypoet.com

Sun Mountain Lodge

www.sunmountainlodge.com

Methow Valley

www.methow.com

Twisp, WA

www.twispinfo.com

Winthrop, WA

www.winthropwashington.com

Okanogan County, WA

www.visitokanogancounty.org

Tonasket, WA

www.visitokanogancounty.org

Ferry County, WA

www.ferryco.com

Republic, WA

www.ferryco.com/republic

Chelan County, WA

www.chelancounty.com

Lake Chelan, WA

www.lakechelan.com

 

 

Research Sources

Army Center for Military History

www.army.mil/cmh-pg

Military History Institute

carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi

Denver Public Library

www.denver.lib.co.us

Newberry Library

www.newberry.org/nl/newberryhome.html

Library of Congress

www.loc.gov

National Archives

www.nara.gov

 

 

Western Heritage Adventure

Highland Stage Company

www.highlandstageco.com

North Cascades Outfitters

 

 

Western Settlement

Buffalo Bill Historical Center, WY

www.bbhc.org/index_flashversion.html

Fort Phil Kearny/Bozeman Trail Assn.

Frontier Heritage Alliance

Frontier Montana Museum

Grant-Kohrs Ranch, MT

www.nps.gov/grko

Old Cow Town, KS

The West (PBS)

www.pbs.org/weta/thewest