Walker Peyton Moncure papers, 1868-1970

Walker Peyton Moncure (1877-1964) was a rancher, petroleum investor, and owner of a general store in Busby, on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana. Moncure became a friend of Two Moon, a Cheyenne who participated in the Battle of Little Bighorn. Two Moon died in 1917 and Moncure had him reburied at Busby, erecting a monument for him. Moncure sold his store to join the Merchant Marine during World War I. He then homesteaded in Wyoming and speculated in oil on the Crow Reservation in Montana. In 1929 Moncure bought back the Busby store, which he continued to operate into the 1940s. Moncure organized festivals, some of which he called "Sun Dances," for his Cheyenne customers. In 1931, Moncure built what became known as the “Moncure Tipi,” a structure that became a site of tribal give-away ceremonies and dances. In addition, it housed Civilian Conservation Corps work crews during the 1930s construction of the Busby School. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.