Tribe Says Loss Of Park Service Won’t Stop Battlefield Plans

Plans for a multimillion-dollar tourist park at the edge of the Little Bighorn National Battlefield will move ahead whether the National Park Service is involved or not, a top official of the Crow Indian Tribe said Tuesday.

“At the moment there is no reason to consider this as a flopped project,” said Arlo Dawes. “As a matter of fact, in all instances, technically, we have already gone around third base and are heading for home right now.”

The Park Service said Monday it has pulled out of the proposed threeway partnership with the Crows and the promoter, Lawson Stowe Warren of Nashville, Tenn., although it still considered the project feasible. It said the financial and professional data and other information Warren submitted failed to demonstrate his ability to carry off the project.

Dawes, executive assistant to Crow Tribal Chairman Clara Nomee, said the tribe would prefer to have the Park Service involved but was prepared to proceed without it. He said tribal officials will meet with Warren and potential financial backers next month in Boston.

The Crow reservation in southeastern Montana surrounds the famed battlefield and would provide the estimated 11,000 acres to accommodate the numerous exhibits and enactments for the park.