Some stories can’t be seen from the ground alone
In June of 1876, the hills along the Little Bighorn River became the site of one of the most well-known battles in American history. Today, those same hills are quiet. The river still runs through the valley. The wind still moves through the grass the same way it did 150 years ago. And every summer, people travel from across the country and around the world to stand in that landscape and try to feel what happened there.
Southeast Montana is home to some of the most historically and culturally significant tribal land in the country. Multiple tribal communities have deep roots in this region, and the landscapes, landmarks, and events connected to that history draw visitors from around the world.
The Crow Reservation alone covers over 2.2 million acres, encompassing the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Chief Plenty Coups State Park, Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, the Bighorn River valley, and the Pryor Mountain wild horse range.
The Northern Cheyenne Reservation borders to the east. Hardin, the gateway community just off I-90, is home to the Big Horn County Historical Museum and serves as the starting point for most visitors heading into the area.
Every summer, Little Big Horn Days brings people from across the country and around the world to Hardin for a four-day celebration of the region’s history. The Custer’s Last Stand Reenactment, the PRCA Stampede Rodeo, Indian relay races, parades, and living history demonstrations at the museum make it one of the biggest annual events in eastern Montana. Just down the road, Crow Fair draws thousands more, with powwows, traditional dance, and one of the largest teepee encampments in the world.
The history and culture are already here. The landscapes speak for themselves. But telling that story to the people who haven’t visited yet is where aerial imagery can make a real difference.
Showing the Scale of the Landscape
Ground-level photography does a good job of capturing details, but it can’t communicate the scale of what’s out here. The Bighorn Canyon walls rise over a thousand feet. The battlefield stretches across rolling hills that are impossible to take in from a single vantage point. The river valleys, the open rangeland, the mountains in the distance: these are landscapes that were made to be seen from above.
Aerial photography and video give tourism organizations, tribal programs, and local businesses a way to showcase these places with the kind of perspective that makes someone stop scrolling and start planning a trip.
Supporting Events and Cultural Tourism
Events like Little Big Horn Days, Crow Fair, and Crow Native Days are powerful draws, but reaching new audiences takes good visual content. Aerial coverage of these events, with appropriate coordination and permissions, can produce promotional materials that capture the energy and scale in ways that a camera on the ground simply can’t.
The same goes for heritage and cultural tours. Aerial imagery of historic sites, scenic routes, and natural landmarks can support visitor guides, websites, grant applications, and marketing campaigns that bring more attention and more visitors to the region.
Preserving What Matters
Tourism and preservation go hand in hand. Aerial documentation can help create visual records of culturally and historically significant sites, supporting both education and long-term preservation efforts. High-resolution imagery captured over time provides a baseline that helps track changes and supports the kind of stewardship that keeps these places intact for future generations.
This kind of documentation can also serve as a resource for tribal education programs, museums, and cultural centers looking to share their history with younger generations and visitors in new and engaging ways.
Aerial imagery helps people understand the scale before they ever arrive. It connects the river, the hills, and the open land in a way that is hard to grasp from the ground.
But the story really begins when you stand there yourself. The wind, the distance, and the quiet do the rest. Some places are meant to be seen from above, but understood from the ground.