Title: Fort Robinson - Outpost on the Plains
Author: Grange, Roger Tibbetts, Jr.
Language: English
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                             FORT ROBINSON
                         OUTPOST ON THE PLAINS


    [Illustration: Lt. George F. Hamilton of the 9th Cavalry, 1897.]

                        by Roger T. Grange, Jr.

                   NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

           Reprint from _Nebraska History_, Volume 39, No. 3,
                  September, 1958. (Copyright, 1958.)

           Fourth reprinting, with minor changes and some new
                      illustrations, April, 1978.



                             FORT ROBINSON
                         OUTPOST ON THE PLAINS


                        BY ROGER T. GRANGE, JR.



   _Roger T. Grange, Jr. was formerly Museum Director of the Nebraska
                       State Historical Society._

As men of the Sioux Expedition marched out of Fort Laramie in the cold
March weather of 1874 they probably had more than a few misgivings about
the outcome of their adventure. They were headed for one of the hottest
spots on the Plains—Red Cloud Indian Agency. General Sheridan hoped that
the 949 man expedition was large enough to intimidate the Indians and
permit a peaceful occupation of the agency, but it was his belief that
“were it any other than this inclement season ... hostilities would have
commenced at the crossing of the North Platte River.”[1] Even with the
large force and bad weather, open war with the hostile Sioux Indians was
a distinct possibility and officers warned their men that straggling in
camp or on the march might well be fatal. They kept all Indians away
from their camps and marching column and warned their men not to fire at
either game or Indians, unless in an unmistakable attack, lest
injudicious gunfire needlessly start a battle.


                            RED CLOUD AGENCY

The treaty of 1868 had guaranteed the Sioux and other tribes food and
supplies in exchange for lands ceded to the United States. The annuity
goods granted the Oglala Sioux by this treaty were issued at the Red
Cloud Agency which was located on the Platte River until 1873.[2]

In June 1873 approximately 13,000 Indians were present at Red Cloud
Agency to receive issue goods. There were 1,858 lodges, mostly of the
Oglala, Wajaja and other Sioux bands regularly supplied at Red Cloud,
but including 168 lodges of Cheyenne, 237 lodges of Arapaho, and another
262 lodges of Miniconjou and other northern Sioux.

Among the Indians living at the agency a small faction was friendly to
white men while the majority, depending upon the circumstances, wavered
between friendliness and hostility. There was also an openly hostile
faction consisting primarily of the northern Sioux, but Oglala warriors,
including the already famed Crazy Horse, were among the hostile war
parties pursued by cavalry patrols from nearby Fort Laramie.

The Platte River location of Red Cloud Agency was in the unceded hunting
territory defined by the treaty of 1868. Although the government desired
to relocate the agency on the permanent Dakota reservation, the Oglala
stubbornly refused to leave the Platte Valley.

During the summer of 1873, while the more recalcitrant Indians were off
on a buffalo hunt,[3] Indian Agent Daniels induced those remaining at
the agency to agree to move northward to a new site on the White River.
Such leaders as Sitting Bull of the South[4] were incensed at losing the
line of the Platte River but were unable to prevent it. The
accomplishment earned Daniels a promotion by the Episcopal Church, which
nominated agents under the Peace Policy, and Dr. J. J. Saville was
appointed as the new agent.

Dr. Saville arrived to assume his duties while the move was in progress.
During the summer and fall Saville was busy organizing his agency and
staff. He removed Jules Ecoffey as agency trader, giving the appointment
to his friend J. W. Dear. Construction contracts for buildings at the
new site were given to A. R. Appleton, Saville’s brother-in-law.

The summer and fall were relatively quiet at the agency, but winter
brought increasing problems for Saville. He was troubled particularly by
the hostile, northern Sioux who came to the agency for the winter. They
objected to his efforts to obtain an actual count of Indians present so
that issue supplies could be ordered.

On one occasion, when Saville rode out on a counting attempt, a group of
northern warriors led by Little Big Man and Pretty Bear surrounded him.
They forcibly returned him to his office, and there held an impromptu
court-martial which might have cost Saville his life had not Red Cloud
intervened. Undaunted by this experience, Saville gave a feast for the
Indian leaders at the agency on Christmas Day in another effort to gain
assent to the counting. At this meeting he found that not only the
northern Indians, but the chiefs he thought of as his supporters all
opposed the counting. Saville’s other troubles included the jealousies
of various chiefs and the overbearing attitude of the younger warriors
who raised trouble during the issue of beef, annoyed agency workmen, and
demanded payment for wood cut for use at the agency.

On another occasion a group of about three hundred warriors from Red
Cloud Agency threatened a group of cowboys returning to the Platte River
country to pick up a herd of cattle to be delivered to the agencies.
James H. Cook, one of the cowboy group, turned the potentially violent
meeting into a friendly encounter by convincing the war leader that an
attack on the cattlemen would have serious results. Such incidents,
although causing no direct harm, created tensions around the agency.

Saville’s problems were increased by government misunderstanding of the
complexities of social organization among the Indians at Red Cloud
Agency. Red Cloud, for whom the agency was named, was recognized by the
government as its chief, but after the Christmas feast Saville reported
to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs that Old Man Afraid of His Horses
was both the leader of the sincerely peaceful faction and the legitimate
head chief recognized by the Oglala. In more than one desperate crisis
at the agency Red Cloud either refused to assist the agent or was
powerless to act. At such times Saville looked for aid from Old Man
Afraid of His Horses, his son Young Man Afraid of His Horses,[5] Sitting
Bull of the South, and other friendly Indians. The failure to make more
effective use of the political power and social control of the Indian
leaders was an important factor in prolonging difficulties at the
agency.

Military authorities, aware of the troubles at the agency, discussed
stationing troops there as early as mid-January, 1874. General Sheridan
opposed the move since he believed such an effort would result in open
war. He was also unwilling to dispatch troops until April or May because
of the severity of winter weather. Moreover, neither the agent nor the
Indian Bureau had yet requested military assistance.

Events in early February made military assistance necessary. A large
hostile war party in full regalia rode through the unfinished stockade
at Red Cloud Agency, shot out the windows, and left on a raiding
expedition. On February 6 teamster Edward Gray, headed for the agency
with freight, was killed by Indians on the Running Water (Niobrara
River). Three days later, on February 9, while Saville was at nearby
Spotted Tail Agency for a conference with Agent Howard regarding the
tense situation, Frank Appleton, acting agent at Red Cloud, was shot and
killed by a hostile Miniconjou warrior who had entered the agency. On
the same night fourteen mules were stolen from a government contractor
near the agency. The troubles were not confined to Red Cloud. The
Indians at Spotted Tail Agency drove off the beef herders there and did
their own issuing. An attempt to shoot Agent Howard was prevented by
Black Crow.

Saville reported Frank Appleton’s death and the departure of the large
war party to Colonel Smith at Fort Laramie, saying at the same time “I
do not anticipate any more trouble.”[6] His employees did not share his
optimism as shown by the agency physician, Dr. Grove, who took
Appleton’s body to Fort Laramie and declared his lack of desire to
return to Red Cloud to be “made a target of.”[7]

On February 9, the same day Frank Appleton was shot, the Army at Fort
Laramie experienced losses at the hands of hostiles from Red Cloud
Agency when a large war party ambushed Lt. Levi H. Robinson, Corporal
Coleman, and Private Noll. The three men had separated themselves from a
wood train and were attacked on Little Cottonwood Creek some twelve
miles east of Laramie Peak. Lieutenant Robinson and Corporal Coleman
were killed, but Private Noll managed to escape from the forty to fifty
hostile warriors.

J. W. Dear, the agency trader, reported the situation at the agency to
Colonel Smith, commander at Fort Laramie, and to Mr. Unthank, a personal
friend and the telegrapher at Fort Laramie. Dear said that the Indians
were all going about with guns loaded and bows strung, and even he dared
not go outdoors at night. The hostiles had established a war camp called
Soldiers Lodge up on the Powder River, and Sioux warriors were reported
raiding in every direction. It was clear that Red Cloud Agency had
become a virtual powder keg.

While Saville told Colonel Smith that he did not expect any more
trouble, he had taken steps to protect the agency. He had his men
complete the construction of the stockade and move the steam sawmill
inside to prevent its destruction. He also arranged for sufficient arms
for his men to protect the agency, and a group of Indian policemen led
by Pumpkin Seed was organized to help.


                          THE SIOUX EXPEDITION

Very shortly after Frank Appleton’s death, Agent Saville requested that
troops be sent to Red Cloud Agency, but his communications, sent to
Colonel Smith at Fort Laramie, were contradictory ones. He told Colonel
Smith that Crazy Horse had declared for war. Saville also told the
Colonel that although some of the hostiles were leaving and all was
quiet at the agency he wanted to have troops to protect the agency and
its personnel because affairs among the Sioux were too complex to trust
the Indians for protection. He suggested that because of the departure
of the hostiles it was a good time to get troops to the agency without
trouble but cautioned the Colonel to send a force sufficient to deal
with an estimated 2,000 warriors. The agent detailed a plan of march by
which he thought the military column could avoid detection by the
Indians. However, he admitted that Indian scouts were stationed all
along the Platte.

A request for troops to be stationed at the agency was an admission of
the failure of the Peace Policy. Saville’s reluctance to ask for help
was apparently overcome by his alarm over the serious troubles at the
agency. His action was later investigated and approved by Bishop Hare.

The Sioux Expedition was organized by the Army in response to Saville’s
request for troops. The arrival of the troops at the agency was delayed
by the intense cold, but the tension there had eased enough that
officers, as well as Saville himself, felt that they could hold out
until the soldiers arrived.

Cold weather was not the Army’s only problem; the call for extra
supplies and ammunition had caught them unprepared. Two hundred rounds
of ammunition per man were specified in the orders. To get this amount,
Fort Leavenworth was drained of supplies, and requisitions had to be
forwarded to Frankfort Arsenal. The lack of ammunition set off some
bitter correspondence between responsible officers. The Chief of
Ordnance reported to the Adjutant General “... that the want of
ammunition in the present seeming emergency can not be attributed to the
failure of this bureau to provide, but rather to the neglect of the
users to make the proper requisition at the proper time.”[8]

The Sioux Expedition got under way when eight infantry and four cavalry
companies marched from Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming Territory, to Fort
Laramie. The troops reached Fort Laramie on February 26 and 27, 1874
after suffering severely from frost bite in the 38° below zero cold. At
Fort Laramie four more companies of cavalry were added to the
expedition. At Fort D. A. Russell the Sioux Expedition had been divided
into two battalions, one cavalry and one infantry.[9]

The 547 cavalrymen, led by Major Baker, left Fort Laramie on March 2,
1874 and reached Red Cloud Agency on the fifth. Captain Lazelle and his
battalion of 402 infantrymen left Fort Laramie on March 3, arriving at
the agency on the seventh. Each battalion had a Gatling gun, and the
column was provisioned by a supply train of fifty civilian and seventy
government wagons. The supply train carried ten days’ rations and five
days’ forage and included a beef herd.

Generals Sheridan and Ord were on hand for the departure of the Sioux
Expedition from Fort Laramie. The officers considered keeping the
expedition route a secret, but it was apparent that the Indians were
certain to discover such a large force. The troops took the obvious
route, following the well known Fort Laramie to Fort Pierre fur trade
trail. On reaching the headwaters of the White River the expedition was
forced to ford the stream thirteen times.[10] As the expedition neared
the agency the troops passed abandoned Indian camps and when they
reached Red Cloud they found the northern troublemakers had all departed
for a new camp on nearby Hat Creek.

When the troops arrived at the agency Saville was undecided about the
establishment of the military camp. His first suggestion was that a
single camp be established at a point equidistant from the Red Cloud and
Spotted Tail Agencies. By the next day he had changed his mind and
wanted the soldiers at Red Cloud, so the tent camp was established
alongside the blockhouse of the agency.

Four companies of infantry and one of cavalry were left at Camp Red
Cloud Agency, and the remainder of the Sioux Expedition marched on to
Spotted Tail Agency to establish a camp there. The camp at Spotted Tail
was named Camp Sheridan and on March 29, 1874, the name of Camp Red
Cloud Agency was changed to Camp Robinson in honor of Lt. Levi H.
Robinson, who had been killed at Little Cottonwood Creek the previous
month.

Owing to heavy snow and lack of grass for cavalry horses, most of the
cavalry did not stay at the agencies. Each camp was garrisoned by four
companies of infantry, one of cavalry, and a Gatling gun was left at
each camp.[11] The other six cavalry companies returned to Fort Laramie
on March 16. Lieutenant Ray and the supply train left with the returning
cavalry to get another load of supplies for the two garrisons at the
agencies.

The garrisons left behind at the agencies began the work of getting
settled. By mutual agreement Spotted Tail and Captain Lazelle, post
commander at Camp Sheridan, forbade intercamp visits at that agency.
Lazelle had his men dig rifle pits in front of their tent camp. Although
the Brule leaders Spotted Tail, Swift Bear, Standing Elk, and Two Strike
said they would not help the troops in the event of war with the hostile
faction, Colonel Smith reported that the Brules at Spotted Tail Agency
seemed resigned to the presence of soldiers.

In contrast, Colonel Smith reported that a sullen attitude towards
soldiers persisted at Red Cloud Agency where apparently even the
friendly faction was being difficult. When Dr. Saville ordered all
friendly Indians to camp on the south side of the White River he had to
threaten the loss of issue rations to enforce his order. The Indians
declared the north bank of the White River a deadline for all white men,
thus making necessary a longer wagon haul for needed wood supplies.

The hostiles broke camp on Hat Creek and moved to Spotted Tail Agency.
Colonel Forsyth’s official report of the Sioux Expedition lists Lone
Horn of the North, White Bull, Roman Nose and Stooping Bear as the
principal chiefs among the northern Indians at Spotted Tail Agency. The
principal warriors among this faction were also listed by Colonel
Forsyth; they were Turtle Ribs, Thunder Hawk, High Bear, Dog Back, and
Crazy Horse.[12] Despite the return of the hostiles, the relative quiet
at the agencies and ease of occupation by the troops prompted General
Sheridan erroneously to predict “any war we may have with Sioux Indians
will be simply the pursuit of small raiding parties.”[13]


                             CAMP ROBINSON

Difficulties continued at Red Cloud. Interpreter Rowland, who had
delivered Saville’s message calling for troops, attempted to conceal his
part in the arrival of the Sioux Expedition but was unable to do so. A
Cheyenne, Crawls in the Water, attempted to shoot Rowland but was
himself killed. Rowland fled to the military camp for protection, and
agency employees rescued his wife and children while the hostiles burned
his house and haystack.

The young warriors amused themselves by shooting over the military tents
and Colonel Smith warned that he would attack the Indian village if any
of his men were injured. Troops from Camp Robinson generally carried
arms, and the daily wood train was under heavy escort.

Gradually the Indians became more reconciled to the presence of troops,
and when the annual Sun Dance was held at Red Cloud in the early summer,
Lieutenant Carter was able to arrange for J. Tavernier, a French artist
employed by _Harper’s Weekly_, to attend the dance. Unfortunately,
lightning struck the sacred pole during the height of the ceremonies.
This was interpreted by the Indians as supernatural disapproval of their
visitors, and the artist and officer hastily left the scene.

The infantry at Camp Robinson had their camp alongside the agency
stockade while Lt. Emmet Crawford’s troop of Third Cavalry camped a
short distance away in the bottomlands of the White River. By spring it
was evident that the location of Camp Robinson in close proximity to Red
Cloud Agency was not an ideal arrangement. Daily contact invited
friction between soldiers and Indian warriors, but an even more serious
problem was the lack of sufficient grass for the cavalry horses. When
warm weather made the rotting refuse of butchered issue beef “difficult
to bear” the need for relocating the encampment became critical. In May
1874 Colonel Smith moved Camp Robinson a mile and a half west of the
agency; there near the confluence of Soldier Creek and the White River
the permanent post was later built. The troops remained in tents
throughout the first summer.

Soon after Camp Robinson was moved to its new site the Indian warriors
made an attack on the military encampment. This very serious affair
occurred as the result of the arrest of an escaped convict, Toussaint
Kenssler, by Lieutenants Crawford and Ray at Red Cloud Agency. Kenssler
had escaped from a jail in Wyoming Territory and hidden among his Indian
friends. While at Red Cloud he threatened the agent, his employees, and
the Army officer who had originally arrested him. He attempted to
assault a man who had been a witness during his trial and on one
occasion delayed the Camp Robinson mail carrier for several hours. When
the officers identified Kenssler they tried to apprehend him. He
attempted to escape and Lieutenant Ray shot him through the legs. This
action incensed many of the Indians and the two officers experienced
some tense moments before they got their prisoner safely from the agency
to Camp Robinson.

About midnight the Indians made an attempt to rescue the prisoner by
attacking the military camp. The soldiers formed a skirmish line and
moved out towards the flashing Indian guns. The warriors fell back in
the face of the soldiers’ gunfire and the troops withdrew to their camp
only to discover that their entire supply of beef on the hoof had been
driven off by other Indians during the brief engagement. Lieutenant
Crawford and the cavalry troop recovered a large number of the stolen
cattle.

The Kenssler affair was a demonstration that despite the small size of
the garrisons the troops were not going to allow themselves to be
intimidated by the Indian warriors. Rifle target practice was held at
Camp Robinson, and at Camp Sheridan target practice with the Gatling gun
was held in July. Such impressive demonstrations of military power must
have had a tempering effect on the Indians at the agency.

Other activities also occupied the post garrison. For example, in July
Lieutenant Crawford spent a great deal of time giving assistance to
homesteaders in the Loup Valley of Nebraska where a serious plague of
grasshoppers struck.

Since neither of the two agencies was on the permanent Sioux
reservation, the military hesitated to begin construction of winter
quarters. An Indian commission headed by Bishop Hare arrived to
investigate the recent troubles at the agency and to settle this
problem, and during July and August troops from Camp Robinson escorted
the commissioners. Bishop Hare decided that Red Cloud Agency would
remain at its White River location despite the fact that it was not
within the limits of the permanent reservation. After considerable
discussion Spotted Tail agreed to the relocation of his agency and both
the Spotted Tail Agency and its associated military establishment, Camp
Sheridan, were moved to a more favorable site on Beaver Creek. With the
location question settled, the Army began construction of permanent
quarters for the troops.

In June 1874 Capt. W. H. Jordan and Companies A and I of the Ninth
Infantry arrived at Camp Robinson, replacing Company F, Eighth Infantry
and Company F of the Fourteenth Infantry. Post Commander Jordan soon
issued orders to start cutting logs and to begin construction of
barracks. Ten wagons and sixty mules were employed in hauling materials,
and the sawmill at Red Cloud Agency was made available for use by the
troops. By November, although barracks and urgently needed warehouses
were ready, only two sets of the adobe officers’ quarters were
completed. The post surgeon complained bitterly of “criminal
neglect”[14] when the delivery of heating stoves was unnecessarily
delayed.

The northern hostiles, absent during much of the summer, began returning
to Red Cloud Agency in October 1874 in anticipation of the issue of
annuity goods in November. With their arrival came new troubles at the
agency, and it almost seemed as if the agent was trying to create
problems for himself and the Army. Saville requested the aid of the
soldiers at Camp Robinson in arresting those responsible for killing
Frank Appleton the previous February, but when he found that the
military commander was instructed that his function was to protect the
agency and not to make arrests, Saville gave up the idea. It was just as
well that military help was denied because an attempt to make such an
arrest would surely have had serious results.

Next Saville decided to erect a flagpole at the agency and for this
purpose had a tall pine cut and brought inside the agency stockade. The
chiefs were opposed to the flagpole, but Saville did not take their
objections seriously. The northern faction was strongly opposed to the
flagpole and on October 23, 1874 a group of armed warriors entered the
agency stockade while Saville was inside his office talking to Red Cloud
and Red Dog. He was called out just in time to see the flagpole being
chopped to bits by the warriors, led by the same men who had made him a
prisoner in his own office the year before.

Saville immediately sent a messenger to Camp Robinson with a request for
a troop of cavalry, but he neglected to inform the commanding officer of
the serious nature of the disturbance then in progress. Shorthanded
because some of the cavalry were off on an escort mission, Captain
Jordan sent only twenty-two men, led by Lt. Emmet Crawford. When
Lieutenants Crawford and Steever and their men reached the agency they
were immediately surrounded by some four hundred Indian warriors.

A group of Akicita or Indian camp police arrived on the scene, led by
Sitting Bull of the South who carried a distinctive three-bladed club.
These Indians rushed between the troops and the angry warriors and with
their clubs beat the hostiles back, clearing a path so that the soldiers
could gain the safety of the agency stockade. Old Man Afraid of His
Horses then dispelled the crowd after a long harangue, and several other
agency leaders were helpful in preventing further trouble.[15]

One report of the affair stated that flagpoles at Indian agencies were
both unusual and unnecessary. The flagpole incident caused considerable
ill feeling between the agent and the military men, the latter believing
the agent had needlessly put the soldiers in a very serious position.

Whether or not it had anything to do with the flagpole incident at Red
Cloud Agency in 1874, the American flag was not raised over Camp
Robinson until Washington’s Birthday, 1876. The honor of raising the
flag on that occasion went to Sgt. John Kailey, Ninth Infantry, whose
twenty-seven years of service were the longest of any man then stationed
at the post.[16]

Indian Agent Saville’s efforts to get a count of the Indians receiving
supplies at Red Cloud were finally crowned with success on November 30,
1874. Two factors combined to produce this result. First, Saville
announced that no more rations would be issued until the Indians
submitted to counting. In the face of this threat Old Man Afraid of His
Horses changed his mind and counting began. He is also reported to have
compelled Red Cloud to withdraw his opposition. The enumeration revealed
a total of about 12,000 Indians: 9,339 Sioux, 1202 Cheyenne and 1092
Arapaho.”[17]

Events at the agency and the camp still did not go well. Indian leaders
were quick to sense the divided opinions of various authorities and
would complain to the Army officers about the agent’s handling of their
affairs. When officers listened, the agent regarded it as interference
on the part of the military. Many soldiers did not agree with the aims
and methods of the Grant Peace Policy of agency administration under
which various church groups nominated Indian Agents. As one officer put
it, the efforts were to “civilize these people immediately whether they
are willing or not. This may be good church theory but it is very
impractical. These Indians had better by far be left alone at their
agency than to be forced into hostilities by being forced to accept
civilization and a religion they can’t understand and don’t want to
understand.”[18] Another officer assessed the plans to convert the Sioux
to peaceful farmers in the following way: “... it is not easy to see how
they are to become farmers when they have no good farming land to work
on....”[19]

Red Cloud Agency had many visitors, including Professor O. C. Marsh
whose paleontological expedition into the nearby fossil area was
furnished with a military escort. Professor Marsh was instrumental in
focusing national attention on Red Cloud Agency. In the course of
securing permission of the Indians to excavate fossils in their land
Marsh became acquainted with Chief Red Cloud. He was given samples of
particularly foul supplies which he was told were normal issue goods.
The professor’s evidence of frauds at the agency was given wide
publicity, and Red Cloud Agency became a political as well as a military
hot-spot. A full scale investigation of agency affairs followed, and
newspaper accounts of the hearings were full of possible frauds by the
supply and freight contractors. Although Agent Saville was exonerated,
he was removed from his post and replaced by J. S. Hastings.

Although war with the Sioux had been a latent possibility during some of
the more serious difficulties at Red Cloud Agency, it had been avoided.
While incidents at the agency failed to spark a general conflict, events
not too far off were developing into a situation which led to war with
the hostile Indians in 1876.

The Sidney Trail was developed to supply the agencies and the military
posts; it also became a major route to the Black Hills following the
discovery of gold there by the Custer Expedition in 1874. Men from Camps
Robinson and Sheridan were called upon to check the illegal influx of
miners into the Black Hills, an area guaranteed to the Indians by
treaty. Although the soldiers frequently removed parties from the Hills
there were far too few troops to cope with the situation. Soldiers from
Camp Robinson took regular turns at the base camp near Harney Peak, and
at the subpost on Hat Creek.

The Black Hills patrols from Camp Robinson produced one of the heroic
marches of the period. On the day after Christmas, 1874, Capt. Guy V.
Henry was ordered to take his troop of Third Cavalry, accompanied by
Lieutenant Carpenter and fifteen men of the Ninth Infantry, to the Black
Hills in search of gold miners. They failed to find the miners, but on
their return the command was caught in a severe blizzard and would have
perished but for Captain Henry’s leadership. Nearly all of the men were
badly frozen and on their return to Camp Robinson in January 1875 the
new additions brought the sick list to over 50 per cent of the garrison.
As late as January 20 Mr. Raymond, the scout, was still in the hospital.

Some miners, like California Joe, served the Army as scouts and used the
time thus spent in the Black Hills to prospect future claims. California
Joe served as guide for the 1875 Jenney geological expedition escorted
by Col. R. I. Dodge and eight companies of troops.

Indians were not the only persons contributing to the troubles at Red
Cloud Agency which occupied the attention of the soldiers from Camp
Robinson. Many horse thieves such as “Doc” Middleton’s gang hung out in
the area and stole Indian mounts. The agency became “a mighty tough
place” according to George Colhoff, an employee at the Yates Trading
Company. It was a road agents’ rendezvous, with men like Black Doak, Fly
Speck Billy, Lame Johnny, Paddy Simons, Tom Reed and Herman Leisner
frequenting the agency between their attacks on the stagecoaches
traveling the Sidney-Deadwood and Cheyenne-Deadwood trails.[20]

Excitement still prevailed at Red Cloud Agency during the winter of
1875-76 when the agent, Hastings, reported considerable trouble with
whiskey runners. Some of the Army’s valuable scouts, Big Bat Pourier and
Frank Grouard, were involved in fights at the agency as well. The camp
Robinson mail carriers were killed by Indians on December 25, 1876, and
in the spring (1876) Indians not only ran off the agency beef herd in
broad daylight but killed Charles Clarke, the civilian mail driver, near
the White River. Agency trader J. W. Dear recovered Clarke’s body and
mentioned in a description of the affair that the Indians had also run
off stock at his ranch and attacked the wagon train of the Yates Trading
Company.


                      WAR WITH THE HOSTILE INDIANS

The attempt by the Allison commission to purchase the gold-rich Black
Hills from the Sioux, in a treaty conference near Camp Robinson in
September 1875, developed into another incident in the almost incredible
series of near disasters which plagued dealings with the Indians at Red
Cloud Agency.

The first meeting of the commission was held on September 17 in the
council room of the agency, but the Indians refused to attend, saying
they would sign no treaty under duress. Despite Spotted Tail’s warnings
of possible trouble, the commission agreed to move the treaty site to a
point some eight miles east of Camp Robinson where a meeting was held
under a lone cottonwood tree. The assembled throng of Indians numbered
several thousand, with large numbers from each of the several Sioux
agencies. A troop of cavalry lined each side of the canvas shelter
provided for the commissioners. Young Man Afraid of His Horses ranged
his friendly camp police behind the hostile Indian warriors, and his
assistance in the ensuing troubles was credited with preventing disaster
once again.

Both Red Cloud and Spotted Tail were scheduled to speak in favor of
selling the Black Hills but just as Red Cloud began to make his oration
Little Big Man, armed to the teeth, threatened to shoot the first Indian
who spoke in favor of ceding the Black Hills to the white men. Spotted
Tail advised the commissioners to return to the safety of Camp Robinson
immediately—advice which they took.

The dismal failure of the treaty effort almost assured a war with the
hostile Sioux. The coming campaigns were to be led by the Army’s supreme
Indian fighter, General George Crook, who had taken command of the
critical Department of the Platte the previous spring and had
immediately set about to bring the companies of the Third Cavalry up to
full strength.

General Crook’s first campaign against the hostiles was no more
successful than the Black Hills treaty efforts had been. When cavalrymen
led by Colonel Reynolds attacked and managed to destroy the greater part
of a hostile camp on the Little Powder River on March 17, 1876 they were
forced to withdraw rapidly from the captured village. In an ensuing
running fight the captured Indian horse herd changed hands so many times
that General Crook had the remaining ponies killed to prevent their
recapture. The destruction of the property of one camp did not drive the
hostiles to the agencies in submission; if anything it stiffened their
resistance.

With the spring campaigns inconclusive, Crook prepared for the summer.
The summer campaign of 1876 was designed to trap the hostiles between
three columns: Gibbon from the west, Terry and Custer from the east, and
Crook from the south. Crook’s force numbered 1,774 men and Terry had
1,873. To raise these columns all posts in the Departments of the Platte
and Dakota were stripped of their garrisons. Crook’s column met Crazy
Horse and the hostiles on June 17, 1876 in the Battle of Rosebud Creek
and, although the General claimed a victory when the Indians left the
field, he fell back to his base camp to await reinforcements. On June 25
at the Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Black Moon led
the same hostiles and crushed Custer’s command. Even before the Omaha
Military Headquarters had heard of Custer’s defeat, the Indians at Red
Cloud Agency were discussing it. Frank Yates, one of the traders at the
agency, was a brother of the Captain Yates who fell with Custer. When
the rumors were reported to him he went to Camp Robinson where officers
rejected the possibility of such a disaster. They telegraphed Omaha but
no word had yet reached officers there.

On July 17, 1876, seventeen officers and 346 men of the Fifth Cavalry
commanded by Col. Wesley Merritt passed through Camp Robinson on their
way to reinforce Crook. They paused long enough to intercept a group of
about eight hundred Cheyenne Indians who were leaving Red Cloud Agency.
The Indians claimed to be going on a buffalo hunt, but it was feared
that they were attempting to join the victorious hostiles. Met by the
troops, the Indians were forced to return to the agency after a brief
skirmish. During the fighting Yellow Hand was killed by gunfire and the
scout “Buffalo Bill” Cody took his scalp in an incident which was later
much publicized and embellished.

The great Indian victories brought an end to the Peace Policy, and on
July 22, 1876 control of the Indian agencies was transferred from the
Department of the Interior to the War Department and on June 31 Lt. O.
Elting of Camp Robinson became the acting agent at Red Cloud Indian
Agency. In August the officers discovered a serious shortage in Indian
Department funds and the Army had to loan needed supplies for issue to
the Indians at the agency.

Crook’s column remained in the field throughout the summer, following
the battles of the Rosebud and the Little Big Horn. In September, while
marching towards the Black Hills, Crook found that his supplies were
exhausted, and his men ate their dying mounts in the famed “Horsemeat
March.” A small detachment was sent ahead to obtain supplies. Led by
Capt. Anson Mills and including Lieutenant Crawford of the Third
Cavalry, the advance party discovered and captured a Sioux camp in the
Battle of Slim Buttes, obtaining a considerable supply of meat.
Additional supplies were taken by troops from Camp Robinson to meet the
expedition in the Black Hills. Crook and his staff left the troops, came
in to Robinson, and went on to Fort Laramie. On October 23 and 24, 1876
the men of his command reached Camp Robinson, where the expedition was
disbanded. The sick and wounded were placed in the post hospital, and
Contract Surgeon Valentine T. McGillycuddy was assigned to duty there.

Col. Ranald Mackenzie had come to Camp Robinson with eight companies of
cavalry in August. Mackenzie assumed the command of the post and the
additional troops were quartered in three temporary cantonments. One of
these, Camp Canby, was the original Sioux Expedition cavalry camp. The
others were called Camp Custer and Camp of the Second Battalion, Fourth
Cavalry. In October groups of recruits of 85 and 224 men arrived to
bring the companies up to strength. Colonel Forsyth reported some
companies consisted of nearly two-thirds recruits, owing to recent
discharges of disabled soldiers.

For the brief period when the men of both Crook’s and Mackenzie’s
commands were there, Camp Robinson and its cantonments were very
crowded. General Crook took advantage of the temporary presence of the
fifty-three companies of troops at the post to hold a conference with
Indian leaders at Red Cloud Agency and in no uncertain terms demanded
loyal behavior of them.

Upon the arrival of Mackenzie’s forces, Red Cloud and Red Leaf had moved
their camps some twenty-five miles away from the agency to Chadron
Creek. In October, in preparation for the coming winter campaign,
Colonel Mackenzie sent two battalions of cavalry and the newly arrived
Pawnee Scout battalion, led by Nebraskans, Frank and Luther North, to
disarm these bands and to prevent their joining the hostiles. Two
hundred thirty-nine Indians and 722 ponies were captured. The friendly
Arapaho and Cut-Off Sioux were not disarmed. Crook noted that this was
the first time in the history of Red Cloud Agency that the friendly
Indians were treated better than the stubborn ones.

Preparations for the winter campaign were observed by a visiting
delegation of Japanese army officers at Camp Robinson before Crook and
Mackenzie moved their forces to Fort Fetterman where the campaign would
begin. In the meantime General Miles transported fresh troops to the
northern plains by Missouri River steamboat. Miles fought several
engagements with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Crook sent Mackenzie and
the cavalry and Pawnee Scouts on ahead of his main column and in late
November they routed and destroyed Dull Knife’s Cheyenne village, moving
relentlessly to crush the hostiles’ resistance.

In September 1876, long before the winter victories, the successful
purchase of the Black Hills was negotiated by a new commission headed by
George Manypenny. This Black Hills treaty was signed at Red Cloud Agency
September 26. The commission met the Indians at each agency separately,
thus depriving them of the solidarity of numbers. It also took advantage
of the fact that the hostiles were not present to create confusion. The
Indians later claimed that the use of whiskey, bribes, threats of loss
of all rations and false impressions of the terms of the treaty were
methods employed by the commission, and the validity of the treaty was
questioned. The treaty of 1868 had provided for a specific proportion of
signatures to validate future treaties, and in 1876 only forty Indian
signatures were obtained at Red Cloud, whereas it was later estimated
some 2,267 were needed. However, the Black Hills passed to U.S.
ownership.


                         THE HOSTILES SURRENDER

The winter successes of the Crook-Mackenzie and Miles campaigns
foreshadowed the end of the Sioux War. In April one thousand Sioux
hostiles led by Touch the Clouds surrendered at Spotted Tail Agency and
Dull Knife brought his Cheyenne in to Camp Robinson. The final total of
hostiles who surrendered at Camps Robinson and Sheridan reached almost
4,500 people.[21]

Emissaries to the hostile camps brought back word that Crazy Horse was
on the way in and on May 6, 1877 he and his followers, 889 men, women
and children, surrendered at Camp Robinson. They gave up some 2,000
ponies, and the 217 men turned in 117 guns and pistols. The impressive
surrender march of Crazy Horse’s band was described by the officer who
met the hostiles:

  When the Sioux Chief Crazy Horse came in and surrendered in 1877, he
  formed all of his warriors in line, in advance of the women and
  children; then, in front of this line, also mounted, he had some ten
  of his headmen; and then in front of these he rode alone. I had been
  sent with Indian scouts to meet him. He sent me word requesting a
  similar formation on our part, and asked that I should ride on in
  advance alone. Then we were to dismount and first shake hands, while
  seated on the ground, that the peace might be solid. After all this
  had been done his headmen came up, the peacepipe was produced, and we
  solemnly smoked. One of his headmen put a scalp-jacket and war-bonnet
  on me, and presented me the pipe with which peace had been made.[22]

What to do with the surrendering hostiles was a problem. Crazy Horse and
some of the other warriors were enrolled as scouts, and a grand review
was held for General Crook. Nevertheless, in General Sheridan’s opinion
these hostiles should be given the same treatment as troublesome Kiowa
and Cheyenne warriors who had been imprisoned at Fort Marion, near St.
Augustine, Florida, following previous campaigns.

Too, Crazy Horse acted in a manner which aroused suspicion on the part
of the military authorities at Camp Robinson. The soldiers described his
attitude as sullen and restless despite his expressed desire to live
peacefully. Some chiefs of the agency bands also found his increasing
popularity among their followers a threat to their positions.

Indian opposition to Crazy Horse was intensified after a council with
seventy leaders was held at Red Cloud Agency on July 27, 1877. General
Crook sent word that the Indians were free to go on the forty day
buffalo hunt he had promised them, and they in turn were to give their
word to return to the agency after the hunt. A delegation to Washington,
D. C. was also discussed. A feast was a usual part of such an important
meeting, and when Young Man Afraid of His Horses suggested that the
feast be held at the camp of Crazy Horse and Little Big Man no one
objected, but Red Cloud and his followers left the council room. Later
that night the Red Cloud faction voiced their objections to feasting at
Crazy Horse’s camp to Agent Irwin. They said Crazy Horse was
unreconstructed, tricky, unfaithful and waiting for his chance to escape
from the agency. Because the possibility that the hostiles would flee,
rejoin Sitting Bull in Canada, and begin the war anew was not a pleasant
prospect, the buffalo hunt was cancelled as a precautionary measure.

Crazy Horse had continued to speak in favor of the new northern agency
for his people once promised by General Crook. This was contrary to the
1877 government plan to move the agencies to the Missouri River where
supplies could be more economically delivered by river boat, an
arrangement favored by army officers.

Crazy Horse further alienated the Army, now involved in a new Indian
campaign, this time the outbreak of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce
tribe. Efforts were made to obtain Indian scouts for the new campaign
from among the former hostiles at Red Cloud Agency. At first Crazy Horse
opposed their enlistment on the grounds that they would be used to fight
Sitting Bull and their Sioux friends rather than Chief Joseph’s people.
Finally Crazy Horse consented to fight the Nez Perce but Frank Grouard,
acting as interpreter, made an error in translation and reported that
Crazy Horse said he would fight until not a white man was left. Whether
this error was an honest mistake or a deliberate one,[23] the
mistranslation reinforced the rumors that Crazy Horse planned to murder
Crook and other officers and that he planned to go on the warpath again.
General Crook directed that the famed warrior be apprehended and “sent
out of harms way.”[24]

A cavalry battalion from Camp Robinson and a large party of Indians
(including Crazy Horse’s personal enemy, No Water, with whom he had had
a squabble over a woman) rode to Crazy Horse’s camp nearby to arrest
him. They succeeded in capturing many of his band, but Crazy Horse
escaped and fled to Spotted Tail Agency, seeking refuge in the camp of
his friend Touch the Clouds. His arrival caused considerable excitement
in that camp, but loyal Brules interceded and restored order. Touch the
Clouds and about 300 warriors then escorted Crazy Horse towards Camp
Sheridan. Halfway there they were met by Lt. J. M. Lee, acting agent at
Spotted Tail Agency, two other officials, and an interpreter. Just as
this group reached the post parade ground Chief Spotted Tail arrived
with an equally large number of his Brule warriors. This support for the
small Camp Sheridan garrison turned the balance in their favor. With
Spotted Tail backing the Americans, Crazy Horse apparently realized his
position was not a strong one.

The crowd finally was dispersed and Lee and a few others had a
conference with Crazy Horse who explained his desire to transfer to the
Spotted Tail Agency. An attempt was made by interpreter Louis Bordeaux
to correct Grouard’s mistranslation of Crazy Horse’s statement about
fighting the Nez Perce. Lieutenant Lee and Major Burke assured Crazy
Horse that he would not be harmed. In response to Lee’s persuasion Crazy
Horse agreed to return to Camp Robinson the next day on condition that
he be allowed to explain how he had been misunderstood and
misinterpreted and that he wanted peace, not trouble. By this time,
however, most officers, particularly those at Camp Robinson, completely
distrusted him.

On their arrival at Camp Robinson, the post commander, Colonel Bradley,
refused to hold a council with Crazy Horse despite Lee’s efforts to
arrange one. Bradley’s orders gave him no alternative except to imprison
Crazy Horse, and an effort was made to put him in the guardhouse. When
he saw the cells inside Crazy Horse drew a knife and attempted to free
himself but he was bayoneted by one of the guards during the struggle.
Little Big Man was injured while trying to restrain Crazy Horse. Both
friendly and hostile Indians were in the excited crowd of witnesses, and
the friendly Indians prevented Crazy Horse’s friends from firing at the
guard. When another attempt to put the mortally wounded warrior into the
guardhouse was made, the Indians seemed so close to an outbreak that
Colonel Bradley reluctantly agreed to Surgeon McGillycuddy’s suggested
compromise and Crazy Horse was taken next door to the adjutant’s office
where he died shortly before midnight on September 5, 1877.[25]

Great excitement developed among the Indians around Camp Robinson as a
result of the killing of Crazy Horse and serious trouble was threatened,
but the efforts of Indian leaders prevented a violent outbreak. In a
report of the incident Lt. W. P. Clarke listed the Arapaho, Black Coal
and Sharp Nose, and the Sioux leaders Red Cloud, Young Man Afraid of His
Horses, American Horse, Yellow Bear, Little Big Man, Big Road, No Water,
Three Bears, and No Flesh as the men who prevented an outbreak by
controlling their people. That so important a man as Crazy Horse could
be killed in such a way without any more serious consequences than a few
days uproar was an indication that the war with the Sioux was about
over.

After Crazy Horse was killed the plan to relocate Red Cloud Agency on
the Missouri River went ahead rapidly. On October 25, 1877 the move was
begun, with troops from Camp Robinson escorting the Red Cloud Indians
and those from Camp Sheridan escorting the Spotted Tail Indians and the
hostiles of the late Crazy Horse’s camp. Although seemingly subdued, the
hostiles still managed to embarrass the soldiers. Before the two columns
had proceeded very far the northern Indians broke away from the Spotted
Tail column and joined the Red Cloud group. Then they broke away from
that column, and, carrying Crazy Horse’s bones, fled north to join
Sitting Bull in Canada, pausing on the way to raid in the Black Hills
and along the Bismarck stage line. The first report was that some 1,700
Indians had escaped, but a recheck cut the figure to 800.

The soldiers from Camp Robinson who escorted the Indians built and
formed the garrison of a military post at New Red Cloud Agency,[26] but
the new location was used for only a short time. The Oglala refused to
go to the new agency site and set up their camp seventy-five miles away.
In 1878 the government gave up the Missouri River plan and the agency
was moved west again to become the present Pine Ridge Agency about fifty
miles northeast of Fort Robinson in South Dakota.


                             GARRISON LIFE

Camp Robinson was renamed Fort Robinson in January 1878. It remained an
important post and its garrison was called upon in several Indian
emergencies after the death of Crazy Horse.

Garrison life was normal at the post, with the officers’ families
joining them as soon as quarters were available. The first women to come
to live at Camp Robinson in the winter of 1874-1875 were the wives of
Capt. W. H. Jordan, the post commander, and Lt. J. M. Lee, both Ninth
Infantry officers.

Social activities included picnics, walks to the nearby buttes, long
horseback rides, visits to Indian camps and dances, and fossil hunting
in the nearby Bad Lands. Company dances were held with some regularity
and social calling was an important part of the daily routine of
officers and their ladies. Not all of the women were well impressed by
the post. When Surgeon Valentine T. McGillycuddy’s wife joined him at
Camp Robinson on December 13, 1876 she noted in her diary: “Commenced
enjoying the camp. Finished.”[27] Mrs. McGillycuddy later tempered this
first judgment of the post with diary entries that indicate her
enjoyment of horseback rides and social calls by such notables as
General Crook. Surgeon McGillycuddy’s wife even went along with her
husband and a detachment of troops on an extended stay in the Black
Hills in 1877.

The officers often entertained prominent Indian chiefs like Spotted Tail
and Red Cloud, inviting such leaders to join them for lunch. Lt. John G.
Bourke, General Crook’s aide, spent hours learning Indian languages from
his native friends. Bourke once had an amusing contest with the Cheyenne
medicine man High Wolf. Lieutenant Bourke used an old static electricity
generator to deliver a shock to Indians he tempted to reach into a pail
of water. The trap was baited with coins. In imitation of songs sung by
Indian medicine men, Bourke sang “Pat Malloy” while operating the
generator and acquired a reputation for having powerful “medicine.” A
challenge match was arranged to test the relative powers of Bourke and
High Wolf. There was a liberal prize and side bets by spectators. High
Wolf received such a strong electrical charge on his first attempt that
he fell and damaged Bourke’s machine. He shrewdly demanded a second
chance and won the contest.

Despite the efforts of the post surgeon, medical care was sometimes
inadequate to cope with the hazards of the frontier; an August whooping
cough epidemic in 1876 claimed the lives of two children at Camp
Robinson and was much more severe in the nearby Indian camps. The post
surgeon noted in his medical history that “among the remedies employed
vaccination has seemed to be very serviceable.”[28]

Some deaths at Fort Robinson were due to disease or natural causes,
while others were the result of violence. The first burial at Camp
Robinson, on July 3, 1875, was that of Pvt. James Brogan, Company A,
Ninth Infantry, who died of “congestion of the brain.” Several victims
of gunfights were also buried in the post cemetery. In 1876 “California
Joe” (Moses Milner), a civilian hired as a scout for the Mackenzie
expedition, was shot and killed by Tom Newcomb. The killing was the
result of the scout’s efforts to publicly blame Newcomb for a murder he
himself had probably committed. Sgt. Frank Owens, Ninth Infantry, killed
Pvt. Eugene Carlton of his company while at a ranch nearby, and Surgeon
McGillycuddy was unable to save the life of a Sergeant Casey mortally
wounded by a trooper at Camp Canby.

The main center of entertainment for the men of the garrison was the
post trader’s store and saloon. When the Sioux Expedition first
established Camp Robinson, Mr. John T. Collins, post trader at Fort
Laramie, was appointed acting trader by the expedition commander Col.
John Smith. Later Major Paddock became post trader at Camp Robinson and
held the position until the 1890’s. In efforts to control the results of
drinking sprees which accounted for most of the courtmartial offenses,
the post trader at Camp Robinson was required to keep a list of men
buying drinks. Enlisted men were allowed only two drinks a day and those
were to be three hours apart. Unauthorized sources of whiskey and
entertainment, available just off the military reservation, made
enforcement of this rule difficult. Holidays were marked by excesses
among officers as well as enlisted men; Mrs. McGillycuddy’s diary
records, in connection with the New Year period in 1876, “Outfit all
drunk.”[29]

Standards of discipline changed with commanding officers. When he became
post commander at Camp Robinson Colonel Mackenzie directed that the
officers’ billiard room in the post trader’s store would be closed and
no cards or billiards would be played on Sundays. Court-martials of
enlisted men were frequent and punishment sometimes went beyond simple
hard labor. One thirty day sentence provided that for twelve days the
prisoner was to “stand on a barrel from reveille to retreat allowing one
half hour for each meal.” Some sentences were for relatively minor
infractions. At Camp Sheridan a musician was court-martialed for
disobeying an order relative to the key in which he played “First
Call.”[30] Men of the garrison worked six days a week, their routine
beginning and ending with the rising and setting sun. On Sunday morning
there was a full dress parade and inspection.[31]

Beef and bread, supplemented by wild game and vegetables grown by the
soldiers in company gardens, were the main items of diet, although the
issued foods included pork, bacon, flour, cornmeal, beans, peas, rice,
hominy, coffee, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper. Beef was often eaten
twice a day; steak for breakfast and roast for lunch, with the evening
meal consisting of pancakes or stewed dried apples. Both officers and
men could purchase additional foods at the post commissary which carried
canned tomatoes, raisins, hams and other items. In addition to post
trader Paddock’s store at Camp Robinson, Clay Dear’s store at Camp Canby
and J. W. Dear’s at Red Cloud Agency were sources of delicacies. Mrs.
McGillycuddy describes her efforts to obtain oysters from these
suppliers.

A major problem of the Army during the Indian Wars was desertion. Some
men enlisted merely to obtain shelter for the winter or transportation
to the West and others became dissatisfied with the rigors of Army life.
In contrast were the enlisted men who devoted their lives to the service
and formed the noncommissioned core of the Army. Sergeants and corporals
often had to back up their commands with more than their chevrons when
dealing with unruly members of the ranks. One sergeant of the guard at
Fort Robinson so stoutly enforced his commands that the recalcitrant
private died of a fractured skull.[32] The sergeant’s action was
vindicated by a court inquiry.

The officers were an experienced group and devoted to an Army career.
Many had risen, like Guy V. Henry, to the rank of general during the
Civil War, only to revert to their regular rank when the Army was
reduced to its “peacetime” Indian War size of about 25,000 men. Others
came “up from the ranks,” as Emmet Crawford who fought through the War
between the States as an enlisted man and noncom and was then
commissioned. John G. Bourke graduated from West Point after serving
through the Civil War as a private.

Promotion was slow in the small army of the Indian War period. It was
not at all unusual to spend a decade or more as a lieutenant, and an
equal period faced a new captain before he could hope to become a field
officer. The families of officers and enlisted men alike shared the
rigors and isolation of frontier service. The years of campaigning
against hostile Indians required a devotion to duty of the highest
order.


                  CRUSHING THE LAST INDIAN RESISTANCE

In August 1877 Dull Knife and the Northern Cheyenne who had surrendered
at Camp Robinson were taken to Indian Territory. During the next twelve
months they suffered greatly from lack of food and from diseases to
which they had no natural immunity. The Cheyenne had reluctantly
accepted removal to Indian Territory on a trial basis, but when they
requested permission to return north it was refused in spite of their
hardships. On September 8, 1878 they took matters into their own hands
when, led by Dull Knife and Little Wolf, they began their almost
unbelievable march back to their northern homeland. Their bid for
freedom is one of the epics of the frontier.

Leaving their tipis standing, the Cheyenne slipped away from the troops
guarding them near Fort Reno and proceeded to fight their way across
Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, pursued by thousands of infantry and
cavalry soldiers. The Indians fought several sharp skirmishes with the
troops and managed to elude capture, breaking through lines of
intercepting troops along the Kansas Pacific and the Union Pacific
Railroads. General Crook ordered General Bradley at Fort Robinson to
form a third line of defense. Along with soldiers from Camp Sheridan and
other posts the Fort Robinson garrison patrolled the sandhills area of
Nebraska. Finally a group of 149 men, women and children led by Dull
Knife were met and taken into custody by Captain Johnson’s Company from
Fort Robinson.

The Cheyenne had planned to seek refuge among their Sioux friends at Red
Cloud Agency, not knowing that it had been relocated. They did not want
to go to Fort Robinson, but when additional troops and artillery were
brought up the Cheyenne were convinced that resistance was useless.

The Indians were taken to the post and imprisoned in the log cavalry
barracks at the southeast corner of the parade ground. From their
capture in October 1878 until January 1879 the Indians lived at the
Fort. Little Wolf and the remaining Cheyenne stayed nearby for some
time, then completed their escape to the northern Plains. That group did
not surrender for several more months.

The Cheyenne held at Fort Robinson were told that they would have to
return to Indian Territory to live on the reservation there. Dull Knife,
speaking for his people, said they had returned to their homeland and
that they would be killed there rather than return south. In January
efforts were made to starve them into submission, and a few of the men
were taken prisoner during conferences.

The Indians decided to try to escape. On the night of January 9, 1879
the Cheyenne Outbreak began. Using the few guns they had managed to hide
when they were disarmed and imprisoned the previous October, the
warriors opened fire on the soldiers guarding their barracks prison. The
guards were killed or wounded, and their arms and ammunition captured by
the Cheyenne. While the women and children fled towards the river the
men fought a stiff delaying action against the hastily aroused garrison.
Troops sleeping in nearby barracks went into action in the bitter cold
clad only in their underclothing, engaging the fleeing Indians until the
cavalry could mount and ride to the scene. Many Cheyenne fell between
the parade ground and the sawmill by the river, but some escaped to the
hills behind the post.

The Fort Robinson soldiers spent the next two weeks pursuing the
Cheyenne in the rough butte country west of the post. Each day their
quarry eluded capture. Both the Cheyenne and the soldiers suffered
additional casualties in these encounters. On January 22 the last of the
Indians were killed or captured.

About sixty-four Cheyenne died in the outbreak and many others were
wounded before being captured. Eleven soldiers were killed and ten
wounded along with the Sioux Indian scout, Woman’s Dress. In the medical
history Post Surgeon E. B. Mosely wrote:

  During this whole period the fighting was of the most desperate
  character being from a hand to hand struggle up to a range almost
  always inside of fifty yards. The great proportion of fatal wounds is
  remarkable and their concentration on the trunk of the body shows a
  deliberation and skill in handling the improved breech-loading arms
  with which they were liberally supplied, a fact which explains why
  this particular tribe enjoyed the reputation of being the best
  warriors on the Plains. The conduct of the white troops is worthy of
  the greatest praise. Taken by surprise the first night, they rallied
  in the most prompt manner and followed the flying enemy even
  barefooted in the deep snow with thermometer at 10° F. until ordered
  back by their officers.

  In the final charge the men advanced under a heavy and fatal fire to
  the edge of the hole in which the enemy were hidden and in a few
  minutes of short work finished the affair.

  By an unfortunate fatality a large number of the killed were of the
  very best and most respected men of the command.[33]

In terms of the number of casualties and intensity of the fighting the
Cheyenne Outbreak can be regarded as one of the major battles of the
Indian Wars,[34] Many of the Cheyenne had been fighting for, rather than
against, the Army only two years before. “Among these Indians,” wrote
General Crook “were some of the bravest and most efficient of the
auxiliaries who have acted under General Mackenzie and myself in the
campaign against the hostile Sioux in 1876 and 1877, and I still
preserve a grateful remembrance of their distinguished services of which
the government seems to have forgotten.”[35]

When the Indians were removed from northwestern Nebraska, ranchers moved
in and established big cattle ranches in the desirable lands by 1878.
The Graham, Bronson and Newman ranches were some of the first
established, but their uncontested hold on the free range was of
relatively short duration.

The Freemont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad which reached Fort
Robinson in 1886 stimulated settlement. So many homesteaders followed
the railroad that the post commander at Fort Robinson was forced to
carefully mark the boundaries of the military wood reserve to prevent
its settlement. Rancher-homesteader conflicts developed, but the
presence of Fort Robinson was a big factor in preventing a large scale
range war. The Fort was also a source of assistance to the settlers. For
example, “Old Jules” Sandoz was treated in the post hospital by the
Surgeon, Walter Reed. The town of Crawford was founded at the boundary
of the Fort Robinson reservation and profited from military
business.[36]

A typical “wild-west” town, Crawford and its entertainment facilities
caused many a headache for the post commander who was forced to cancel
the practice of allowing the cavalrymen to have “mounted” passes during
off-duty hours. One Ninth Cavalryman was sentenced to a year at hard
labor for riding his horse into a Crawford saloon during a “frolic.” In
1906 a 10th cavalry trooper killed Art Moss, one of the town’s law
officers, in a gunfight. During one eighteen month period three soldiers
from the post, one a holder of the Congressional Medal of Honor, were
murdered in the vicinity. All three crimes went unpunished.[37]

The arrival of the railroad at Fort Robinson not only brought settlers
to the area but it brought about the end of a famous military post, Fort
Laramie. Fort Robinson was easier to supply by rail and it was closer to
the Sioux reservation at Pine Ridge, South Dakota. The expansion of Fort
Robinson began in 1887 and Fort Laramie was ultimately abandoned in
1890. The expansion of Fort Robinson resulted in a change in its
function and it became a regimental headquarters cavalry post.

Actually the summer of 1885 saw the beginning of this change at Fort
Robinson, when the first elements of the Ninth Cavalry arrived to
garrison the post. The Ninth was one of the Army’s two all-Negro cavalry
regiments.[38] The men of the Ninth continued the routine tasks of
repairing telegraph lines, patrolling the area, and pursuing stage-coach
and train robbers as well as carrying out their usual military training.

    [Illustration: Red Cloud Agency on Issue Day. ca. 1875.]

    [Illustration: Pencil sketch of Camp Robinson at Red Cloud Agency by
    Lieutenant W. H. Carter, 1874.]

    [Illustration: Camp Robinson from the diary of Captain John G.
    Bourke. ca. 1876. Courtesy of West Point Military Academy.]

    [Illustration: Soldiers and Indians at Red Cloud Agency, 1874.]

  1. Lieutenant W. H. Carter.
  2. Red Dog.
  3. J. Tavernier, artist.

    [Illustration: Post Sutler’s Store, Fort Robinson. Courtesy of
    Denver Public Library Western Collection.]

    [Illustration: Saloon at Fort Robinson. Courtesy of Denver Public
    Library Western Collection.]

    [Illustration: (Seated, from left) Chief Red Cloud, Baptiste Garnier
    or Little Bat; (Standing, from left) Chief Knife and Jack Red
    Cloud....]

    [Illustration: Chief Dull Knife, leader of the imprisoned Cheyenne
    at Fort Robinson.]

    [Illustration: Camp of Young Man Afraid of His Horses, Oglala Sioux
    Leader.]

    [Illustration: Baptiste Garnier (Little Bat), half breed scout, and
    his family at Fort Robinson. Little Bat is third from left. Edward
    Hatch, on horseback, left. Colonel Edward Hatch, Post Commander, on
    horseback extreme right.]

    [Illustration: Lieutenant Levi H. Robinson, soldier for whom the
    post was named.]

    [Illustration: Captain Wm. H. Jordan, 1874 Commanding Officer in
    charge of construction of the Post.]

    [Illustration: Captain Emmet Crawford.]

    [Illustration: Captain Guy V. Henry.]

    [Illustration: Troop I, 6th Cavalry, 1897, near Saddle Rock and
    Lovers’ Leap.]

    [Illustration: Old Parade Grounds, 1897: buildings left to right
    include 1874 Adjutant’s Office where Crazy Horse died, 1884
    Guardhouse, and 1874 Guardhouse where Crazy Horse was wounded.]

    [Illustration: Commanding Officer’s Quarters, constructed in 1884.
    Early 1890’s home of Col. Adna R. Chaffee.]

    [Illustration: Retreat—evening gun, fired by 10th Cavalry (Negro)
    troopers, 1907.]

    [Illustration: Infantry Company in front of 1887 barracks ca. 1898.]

    [Illustration: Interior of 1887 barracks at Fort Robinson. Courtesy
    Fort Laramie National Historic Site.]

    [Illustration: Celebration in front of Post Headquarters on Red
    Cloud’s last visit, 1906.]

    [Illustration: Field Music at Fort Robinson ca. 1900. Courtesy Fort
    Laramie National Historic Site.]


                          Ladies of the Post.

    [Illustration: Kate C. Hamilton, daughter of Col. A. R. Chaffee.]

    [Illustration: Lady and escort out for a ride on Christmas, 1896.]

    [Illustration: Escort wagon train, Fort Robinson.]

    [Illustration: Guardhouse prisoners work detail, March 1898.]

    [Illustration: Social calls were important. On porch of officers’
    quarters are: Commanding Officer, Colonel James Biddle, far left.
    Captain Philip Pendleton Powell, right, standing.]

    [Illustration: A mock battle formation, 10th U. S. Cavalry (Negro).]

    [Illustration: Yearlings at the Fort Robinson Remount Depot,
    September 20, 1932.]

    [Illustration: Master Sergeant Wm. C. Meyers taking a jump at the
    Fort Robinson Remount Depot.]

    [Illustration: Mixed team of officers and enlisted men fighting it
    out on the polo field after hours.]

    [Illustration: Field Artillery with model 1897 French 75 mm. field
    piece.]

    [Illustration: Review parade at Fort Robinson German Prisoner of War
    Camp, World War II.]

    [Illustration: Troops crawling under machine gun fire during
    training, World War II.]

    [Illustration: Training the K-9 (Dog) Corps, World War II. Courtesy
    of U.S. Army.]

    [Illustration: Glen Field. Troops prepare to leave Fort Robinson,
    World War II.]

    [Illustration: More than 2,000 students and adults attended the
    first annual Fort Robinson School Field Day, April 26, 1974.]

In August 1889 a Camp of Instruction was held at Fort Robinson. This
event attracted a great deal of attention because it involved the
assembly at the post of all troops in the Department of the Platte. The
vast encampment was organized by General Brooke under the direction of
General Crook, then commanding the Military Division of the Missouri.
Training for the 102 officers and 2,155 enlisted men began on August 20
and lasted for one month. The fifty-eight participating companies came
from eleven different posts in the Department and consisted of the Ninth
Cavalry, the Fifth Artillery and the Second, Seventh, Eighth, Sixteenth,
Seventeenth, and Twenty-first Infantry regiments. The soldiers lived in
a tent camp about a mile from the main post at Fort Robinson, their
temporary quarters being named Camp George Crook.

The expansion of Fort Robinson proved to be timely, for 1890-91 brought
new Indian troubles and field service for the garrison. Discouraged by
reservation life and hoping to bring back their old nomadic ways by
supernatural methods, the Sioux took up the Ghost Dance. Ghost Dancers
wore cloth shirts which they believed gave them supernatural protection
against bullets, and during the course of their dancing they fell in
trances and had visions of the spirit world in which they often talked
to long dead relatives. Indian agents and civilians nearby became
concerned lest the Indian wars begin again.

In October 1890 the post commander Colonel Tilford informed the Indian
agent at Pine Ridge, Dr. D. F. Royer, that if troops were needed they
would be sent from Fort Robinson, but the Colonel suggested that the
Indians should be allowed to dance as long as they harmed no one. A
similar opinion was held by the post scout, Little Bat, who believed
that the Ghost Dance would eventually die out if left alone.

By November Agent Royer was even more apprehensive about the Ghost Dance
and came to Fort Robinson for a conference. In view of the mounting
concern, the Ninth Cavalry was given orders to leave, by railroad, for
Pine Ridge on November 19. While in the field in connection with the
Ghost Dance troubles the Ninth Cavalry was under the command of Major
Guy V. Henry, the same officer who, as a company commander in the Third
Cavalry, had figured prominently in the history of Camp Robinson during
the Indian War days.

Fort Robinson served as a stop en route for recruits sent to join their
various regiments in the field at Pine Ridge. Carbines and other
supplies were also forwarded from the post when needed.

The Ghost Dance troubles culminated in the Battle of Wounded Knee on
December 29, 1890. Casualties in this battle were quite heavy, both
among the troopers of the Seventh Cavalry and the Indian men, women and
children of Big Foot’s band. Fort Robinson’s post scout, Little Bat,
acted as an interpreter and helped to disarm the Indians when the well
known battle began.

Under Major Henry’s leadership the Ninth Cavalry made several long
forced marches at the height of the troubles and although they did not
see action in the battle of Wounded Knee they did fight a skirmish a few
days later when, in classic movie style, they arrived on the scene in
time to save elements of another regiment which were surrounded and
under attack. The Ghost Dance trouble was the last bloody chapter in the
wars with the Sioux.


                        FORT ROBINSON SINCE 1890

After the Battle of Wounded Knee the Ghost Dance trouble ended, and
garrison life at Fort Robinson settled back to training, garden tending,
and policing the post, with few breaks in the routine.

In 1892 the Ninth Cavalry, accompanied by post scouts Little Bat
Garnier, Woman’s Dress, Yankton Charlie, White Antelope, and Joe
Mosseau, spent the months from June until October in the field at Camp
Bettens, Wyoming.

In 1897 an interesting report on recent minor tactical maneuvers at Fort
Robinson was submitted. It described the mounting of Lt. M. A. Batson
and two enlisted men on high wheel Columbia bicycles and the results of
a rugged test of their ability to keep pace with mounted troops in the
field. The bicycle-mounted men had “great difficulty” in keeping up with
cavalry in rough terrain but over rolling ground were able to
outdistance the horsemen. However, the report concluded that day in and
day out the bicycle men would not be able to perform as required. One of
the Columbia wheels was wrecked during the test. Lt. Batson later used
another of the bicycles to good effect while mapping parts of the
military reservation. Despite its humorous aspect, this test
foreshadowed the eventual replacement of cavalry by mechanized
troops.[39]

The war with Spain brought orders on April 16, 1898 for the Ninth
Cavalry to move to Chicamauga Park, Georgia; it later went to Cuba and
then on to the Philippine Islands. In a flurry of activity Fort Robinson
was stripped, not only of troops, but of artillery and other needed war
material, and the garrison was reduced to a minimum.

After the war the Tenth, Eighth, and Twelfth Cavalry regiments, in that
order, followed the Ninth as the Fort Robinson garrison. On December 16,
1900, Little Bat Garnier, the post scout who had served the Army so well
since 1876, was shot and killed by a barkeeper in Crawford. He was
buried in the post cemetery at Fort Robinson.[40]

In 1906 Fort Robinson was once again involved in Indian trouble. Col. J.
A. Augur, regimental commander of the Tenth Cavalry, had to order troops
from the garrison to take the field when three hundred Ute Indians fled
their reservation in an effort to relocate themselves in the Big Horn
country of Montana. The Fort Robinson troops intercepted the Ute and
escorted them to Fort Meade, South Dakota.

During World War I activity at Fort Robinson was reduced. A Signal Corps
Training Center was planned for the Fort, but the war ended before it
could be established.

After the war, in 1919, the post became a Quartermaster Remount Depot.
It eventually developed into the world’s largest remount station, with
thousands of horses and mules. At the Remount Depot horses were
received, conditioned, and issued to Army units and civilian breeders.
Some breeding of horses was also carried on at the post as a breeder’s
demonstration as well as to prove certain stallions. Many famous race
horses were at the depot after their racing careers ended and the 1936
U. S. Olympic Equestrian team trained at the Fort Robinson Remount
Depot.

Officers of the Remount service belonged to the Soldier Creek Hunt Club
and hunted coyotes with their pack of Welch, English and French stag
hounds. The men of the post during this period were proud of their
extensive swine and dairy herds and flocks of poultry maintained to add
variety to their regular rations, just as the troops of the garrison
during the Indian wars raised much of their own food.

The Fourth Field Artillery battalion joined the Remount Service at Fort
Robinson from 1928 until 1932. The artillery men made extensive tests of
pack artillery organization and equipment such as the Phillips pack
saddle. One such test was a five hundred mile march to the Black Hills
and return, during which they hauled a mountain howitzer to the top of
Harney Peak.

In World War II Fort Robinson’s remount activities were continued and
expanded, and thousands of horses and mules were conditioned for
military service. The post made other contributions to the war effort as
well. The Fort Robinson War Dog Reception and Training Center was
activated on October 3, 1942, and on March 15, 1943 a Prisoner of War
Camp was added.

There were kennels for 2,000 dogs and over 6,000 canine patients were
treated in the special dog hospital before the installation was closed
in September 1946. War dogs were trained for several types of duty,
including sentry, trail, tactical, sledge, pack and hospital service.
The internment camp had space for 3,000 German prisoners of war. Only
one prisoner escaped from the camp, and he was recaptured in York,
Nebraska.


                         BUILDING FORT ROBINSON

Several building periods can be identified in the development of Fort
Robinson. The following description of the old post was written when it
was under construction in 1874.

  The camp is 160 yards square. Officers’ quarters are on the north,
  infantry barracks on the east and west and cavalry barracks, guard
  house and storehouse on the south sides. The barracks are built of
  logs, in panels of 15 feet each. For the infantry they are two in
  number, each 150 by 24 feet by 9 feet high to the eaves, divided in
  the center to accommodate two companies. They have a shed extension at
  the rear, 12 feet wide, the length of the building, partitioned off
  for mess-rooms, kitchens and wash rooms. The cavalry barrack is built
  in the same way, but only 90 feet long, for the accommodation of one
  company with mess-room and kitchen like the others. These buildings
  are unceiled, have shingle roofs, log walls, window sashes and are
  floored. One building 142 by 24 feet, 8¼ feet to eaves, and from eaves
  to ridge 7½ feet, is built of logs, with shingle roof, and divided
  into twelve sets of two rooms each, and occupied as quarters for
  married soldiers and laundresses.

  The officer’s quarters are to be all alike, six sets being authorized
  each 38 feet long by 32 feet wide and 10 feet high, one for the
  commanding officer and five for company officers. They have stone
  foundations,[41] walls of adobe [bricks] and are to be ceiled by
  boards and plastered. In each building there are to be four rooms, 15
  feet square, with a central hall, four feet wide. The dining rooms and
  kitchens in the rear are to be made of lumber.[42]

The warehouses, stables, and other buildings of the early post were
constructed of logs, log slabs, or boards. The first post hospital, a
log building, was not completed until November 1875, tents and dugouts
being used to house the sick and the post surgeon until that time. In
addition to the military buildings there was a post trader’s residence
and store-saloon, and next to it a small log building housing a
photographer’s studio.

The beginning of the new decade in the 1880’s saw some expansion of the
post with the construction of another log barracks, an adobe barracks
for the band, and a residence for the band leader. The replacement of
the log hospital by a concrete structure and other additions were all
made before 1886. In 1887 expansion of Fort Robinson, connected with
projected reduction of Fort Laramie, took place on a newly established
parade ground, northwest of the original one, along the north side of
which was constructed a series of duplex adobe brick officers’ quarters,
six in number. On the opposite side, adobe brick barracks were built,
and beyond them new frame cavalry stables. The post commander, Col.
Edward Hatch, wanted to use fired brick for the new quarters but was
overruled despite the equality of cost and the superior quality of fired
brick. Only a year later a forty hour storm caused the unprotected walls
of some of the adobe houses to collapse. However, once repaired, they
proved durable and are still in use today.

In the early 1890’s Fort Robinson was further expanded with the
construction of additional officers’ quarters in 1891, and the following
year more storehouses and a much needed replacement for the old
guardhouse were added. New gun sheds, quartermaster stables, wheelwright
and blacksmith shops also were built in the 1890’s.

During this period there were so many families of Ninth Cavalrymen at
the post that the old log barracks buildings as well as the original
laundresses’ quarters were being used as dwellings for enlisted men’s
families. Some new quarters for noncommissioned officers’ families were
also in use by this time, and the original 1874 officers’ adobes
eventually became noncom headquarters.

Construction and improvement continued in the early 1900’s with the 1904
addition of a post gymnasium, and in 1905 a frame headquarters building
was built. Today the headquarters structure is the Fort Robinson Museum,
a branch of the Nebraska State Historical Society.

In 1901 a brick hospital building was erected, and the old concrete
structure became the Post Exchange. Before the hospital was even
completed the surgeon asked for an additional wing, which was
immediately added, as well as a large annex at the rear to accommodate
the increasing garrison. Brick buildings built in 1906-1912 included
stables, stable guard quarters, blacksmith shops, fire station, bakery,
company barracks buildings, bachelor officers’ quarters and officers’
residences. At one time an elaborate plan to convert the entire post to
the new brick style was drawn up but was never carried out. Needless to
say, along with construction came the destruction of old and outmoded
buildings which were replaced. The only remnants of the original post of
the 1870’s standing today are the six adobe officers’ quarters.

In 1927 the Remount Service began new major construction, building
several elaborate horse stables. All buildings were repaired and several
recreational facilities were built by the CCC during the 1930’s.
Expansion during World War II included a large number of temporary
buildings for use by the War Dog Training Center and the Prisoner of War
Camp.

The temporary buildings were sold as surplus and removed after the war,
and more unused residences and other buildings were torn down in 1956.
There remains today an example of each major building period at the
post, although some types of structures and materials used are no longer
to be seen.


                          FORT ROBINSON TODAY

World War II marked the end of extensive use of horses in military
service. Fort Robinson was declared surplus by the War Department and
turned over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. On April 29, 1949,
the Bureau of Animal Industry, U.S.D.A., in co-operation with the
University of Nebraska, established the Fort Robinson Beef Cattle
Research Station. Major research emphasis was on beef breeding
investigations before this service was phased out and moved to Clay
Center, Nebraska, toward the end of 1971.

The US. Department of Agriculture operated a Soil Conservation Service
Training Center at Fort Robinson from October, 1954, until January 6,
1964. Men from the great plains states and foreign countries were
trained at the center located in Comanche Hall, the former Bachelor
Officers’ Quarters.

Today Fort Robinson is operated under a cooperative agreement between
state agencies. The University of Nebraska Department of Geology and
State Museum have used the post as a base for paleontological field
parties, and the Museum operates a branch, the Trailside Museum, at Fort
Robinson.

The Nebraska State Game and Parks Commission has operated the Fort
Robinson State Park facilities since 1956 with emphasis on recreation.
The majority of the buildings and most of the land is devoted to this
purpose. Some of the special buildings or areas are the lodge,
restaurant, campgrounds, and tourist cabins. Under construction by the
commission in 1978 is a swimming pool. A conference center and golf
course are projected by the commission for the future.

Beginning in 1967, Chadron State College converted the 1892
Quartermaster Stores Building into the Post Playhouse. The college also
produced pageants based on Fort Robinson historical events.

Since the opening of the Fort Robinson Branch Museum of the Nebraska
State Historical Society on June 3, 1956, the Society has carried out a
number of projects to preserve and interpret the history of the historic
post. Starting in 1958 the Society restored the Blacksmith and Harness
Repair shops. In 1966 archeological excavations began at the site of the
Guardhouse, Adjutant’s Office and Cavalry Barracks, all dating from
1874. The remains of the 1884 Guardhouse were also uncovered.

These excavations provided information for the reconstruction of the
1874 Guardhouse and Adjutant’s Office. The 1884 Wheelwright Shop, the
oldest wooden structure on the post, has also been restored. Restoration
work has also been carried out on the 1909 Veterinarian Hospital
Building and an 1887 Adobe Officers’ Quarters and the 1905 Post
Headquarters, which is utilized as a museum. The Post Cemetery, the 1895
Granary, and the 1886 Bandleader’s Quarters are also in the process of
restoration. Earlier the Society had carried out limited archeological
investigation at the site of the Red Cloud Agency.

Today the staff of the Fort Robinson Museum provides guided tours to
historically significant areas of the post and, as part of the
interpretive program, presents evening programs during the tourist
season. The Society has also undertaken a program of historic markers at
Fort Robinson and Red Cloud Agency, which have been designated a
Registered National Historic Landmark. Much of the restoration work has
been funded in part by grants from the National Park Service.



                              BIBLIOGRAPHY


Listed below are the sources found most useful in preparing this
account.


                                 Books

Bourke, John G. _On the Border with Crook._ London: Sampson, Low,
      Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1892.

Brady, Cyrus T. _Indian Fights and Fighters._ Garden City: Doubleday,
      Page and Co., 1913.

Bronson, Edgar B. _Reminiscences of a Ranchman._ New York: McClure Co.,
      1908.

Bruce, Robert. _The Fighting Norths and Pawnee Scouts._ Privately
      printed, c. 1932.

Carter, William H. _The History of Fort Robinson._ Crawford, Nebr.:
      Northwest Nebraska News, 1942.

Clark, William P. _The Indian Sign Language._ Philadelphia: L. R.
      Hamersly, 1885.

DeBarthe, Joseph. _The Life and Adventures of Frank Grouard._ St.
      Joseph, Mo.: Combe Printing Co., c. 1894.

Flannery, L. G. (ed.) _Volume I, John Hunton’s Diary, 1873-75._ Lingle,
      Wyo.: Guide-Review, c. 1956.

Forrest, Earle R. and Milner, Joe E. _California Joe._ Caldwell, I.:
      Caxton Printers, 1935.

Grinnell, George Bird. _The Fighting Cheyennes._ New York: Charles
      Scribner’s Sons, 1915.

——. _Two Great Scouts and Their Pawnee Battalion._ Cleveland: Arthur H.
      Clark Co., 1928.

Hafen, Leroy R. and Young, Francis M. _Fort Laramie and the Pageant of
      the West, 1834-1890._ Glendale, Calif.: Arthur H. Clark Co., 1938.

Hyde, George E. _Red Cloud’s Folk, A History of the Oglala Sioux
      Indians._ Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1937.

Lawson, Laurin L. _Souvenir History of Fort Robinson._ Crawford, Nebr.:
      Northwest Nebraska News, 1930.

McGillycuddy, Julia Blanchard. _McGillicuddy Agent, A Biography of Dr.
      Valentine T. McGillicuddy._ Stanford University, Calif: Stanford
      University Press, c. 1941.

Mills, Anson. _My Story._ Washington, D. C.: Published by the author,
      1918.

Sandoz, Mari. _Cheyenne Autumn._ New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.,
      c. 1953.

——. _Crazy Horse, the Strange Man of the Oglalas._ New York: Alfred A.
      Knopf, 1942.

——. _Old Jules._ Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1935.

Schmitt, Martin F. (ed.) _General George Crook, His Autobiography._
      Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 1946.


                       Periodicals and Newspapers

_Nebraska History, a Quarterly Magazine._ Lincoln: Nebraska State
      Historical Society, 1918——.

Allen, Charles W., “Red Cloud and the U. S. Flag,” XXII, No. 1
      (January-March, 1941), 77-88.

Brininstool, E . A., _et al._ “Chief Crazy Horse, His Career and Death,”
      XII, No. 1 (January-March, 1929), 4-78.

Burns, Robert H. “The Newman Ranches, Pioneer Cattle Ranches of the
      West,” XXXIV, No. 1 (March, 1953), 21-32.

Cook, James H. “Early Days in Ogallala,” XIV, No. 2 (April-June, 1933),
      86-99.

Mahnken, Norbert R. “The Sidney-Black Hills Trail,” XXX, No. 3
      (September, 1948), 203-225.

Mattison, Ray H. “The Army Post on the Northern Plains, 1865-1885,”
      XXXV, No. 1 (March, 1954), 17-43.

——. “The Indian Reservation System on the Upper Missouri, 1865-1890,”
      XXXVI, No. 3 (September, 1955), 141-172.

Unthank, O. B. “Red Cloud Agency and Fort Laramie, 1867-1874,” VII, No.
      1 (January-March, 1924), 27-29.

Wight, Willard E. (ed.) “A Young Medical Officer’s Letters From Fort
      Robinson and Fort Leavenworth, 1906-1907,” XXXVII, No. 2 (June,
      1956), 135-147.

Wilson, Everett P. “The Story of the Oglala and Brule Sioux in the Pine
      Ridge Country of Northwest Nebraska in the Middle Seventies,”
      XXII, No. 1 (January-March, 1941), 15-32.

Bourke, John G. “Mackenzie’s Last Fight with the Cheyennes,” _Journal of
      the Military Service Institution_, XI, No. 42 (January, 1890),
      29-49; No. 43 (March, 1890), 198-221.

_Northwest Nebraska News_ (Crawford, Nebr.), June 18, 1936.

_Omaha Weekly Bee_ (Omaha, Nebr.), 1874-1878.


                               Documents

Baker, Marvel L., Johnson, Leslie E., and Davis, Russell L., “Beef
      Cattle Research at Fort Robinson,” University of Nebraska College
      of Agriculture, Agricultural Experiment Station, _Miscellaneous
      Publication_ No. 1, April, 1952.

Brackett, Albert G., “The Sioux or Dakota Indians,” Report of the
      Smithsonian Institution, 1877, _Senate Miscellaneous Documents_,
      No. 46, 44th Congress, 2d. Session.

Report of the Secretary of War (1875), _House Executive Documents_, No.
      1, Part 2, 44th Congress, 1st Session.

Report of the Secretary of War for 1879, _House Executive Documents_,
      No. 1, Part 2, 46th Congress, 2d. Session.

Reports on Indian Arms, _Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance for
      1879_, Appendix V. Washington, D. C.: Government Printing Office,
      1879.

U. S. National Archives, Microfilm, Nebraska State Historical Society

  U. S. War Department

  Camp Sheridan, Nebraska:

  Orders, 1874-1881

  Letters Sent, 1874-1875

  Letters Received, 1874

  Medical History of Camp Sheridan, Nebraska, 1874-1881

  Post Returns, Camp Sheridan, Nebraska, January 1876-April 1881

  Fort Robinson:

  Selected Letters Sent, 1884-1900, Record Group 98

  Selected Post Orders, 1874-1897, Record Group 98

  Selected Documents from Medical History of Post, Record Group 98

  Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, Document File 563-AGO-1874,
  Record Group 94

  Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, Document File 4163 (Sioux
  War)—1876, Record Group 94

  Records of U. S. Army Commands, Selected Documents, Sioux Expedition,
  1874, Record Group 98

  Bureau of Indian Affairs:

Letters Received, Red Cloud Agency, 1871-1880, Record Group 75

Selected Documents, Letters Received, Spotted Tail Agency 1875-1880.
      Letters Sent, Spotted Tail Agency, 1865-1881, Record Group 75


                              Manuscripts

Eli S. Ricker Collection: Interviews, Statements, Letters, Notes, Mss.,
      Nebraska State Historical Society

Notebook kept by Dr. V. T. McGillycuddy, M.D., while a member of the
      Yellowstone and Big Horn Expedition May 26 to December 13, 1876
      and notes kept by his wife Fanny at Camp Robinson December 13,
      1876-February 22, 1877 and with the army on an expedition to the
      Black Hills, February 23-April 11, 1877, typed copy, Nebraska
      State Historical Society.



                               FOOTNOTES


[1]Lt. Gen. P. H. Sheridan to Gen. W. T. Sherman, March 3, 1874, Office
    of the Adjutant General, Records of the War Department, Document
    File 563-AGO-1874 (National Archives and Record Service, Record
    Group 94, Ms., microfilm). Hereafter these documents will be cited
    as NARS, RG 94.

[2]Located in Wyoming on the Platte River just west of the Nebraska line
    near the present town of Henry, Nebraska.

[3]During the buffalo hunt the Sioux discovered and defeated a hunting
    party of their traditional Pawnee enemies on August 5, 1873. The
    site of the Battle of Massacre Canyon is near the present town of
    Trenton, Nebraska.

[4]Sitting Bull of the South (or Sitting Bull the Oglala), head soldier
    of the Kiyuksa Oglala band, is not to be confused with the Sitting
    Bull (the Hunkpapa) of Custer Battle fame.

[5]Man Afraid of His Horses (the elder) led the Hunkpatila band. Both he
    and his son were prominent in affairs at Red Cloud Agency. For a
    detailed discussion of the position of these and other Indian
    leaders, see George E. Hyde, _Red Cloud’s Folk_ (Norman, Okla.,
    1937).

[6]J. J. Saville to Gen. J. E. Smith, February 9, 1874, NARS, RG 94.

[7]_Omaha Weekly Bee_, February 18, 1874.

[8]S. V. Benet, Acting Chief of Ordnance, to Adjutant General, U. S.
    Army, February 16, 1874, NARS, RG 94.

[9]Companies B and G, Third Cavalry and Companies A, C, E, I, M and K,
    Second Cavalry, made up the cavalry battalion. Companies B, C, F, H,
    and K, Eighth Infantry, Companies B and K, Thirteenth Infantry, and
    Company F, Fourteenth Infantry, composed the infantry battalion.

[10]As a result the expedition returned via a different route. Later the
    road between Fort Laramie and Red Cloud Agency was partially
    relocated and necessary bridges built.

[11]Camp Robinson: Company G, Third Cavalry; Company H, Eighth Infantry;
    Company F, Fourteenth Infantry; Companies B and K, Thirteenth
    Infantry.

[12]Band chiefs and “soldiers” (camp police) had authority only in their
    own camp. The four men selected to have supreme authority during the
    annual tribal encampment were not chiefs but prominent warriors. For
    a discussion of some of the differences in authority between chiefs
    and prominent warriors, see Hyde, _op. cit._, pp. 308-315.

[13]Lt. Gen. P. H. Sheridan to Gen. W. T. Sherman, March 3, 1874, NARS,
    RG 94.

[14]“Record of the Medical History of Post [Fort Robinson], Medical
    Department, U. S. Army” (Ms. copy), Tablet No. 31, Ricker
    Collection, Nebraska State Historical Society.

[15]Hyde, _op. cit._, pp. 221, 222; J. J. Saville to Hon. E. P. Smith,
    Commissioner of Indian Affairs, October 24, 1874 and Capt. W. H.
    Jordan to Gen. George D. Ruggles, October 29, 1874, NARS, RG 94.

[16]General Orders No. 13, February 21, 1876, Fort Robinson, Nebraska
    Selected Post Orders, 1874-97, U. S. Army Commands, Records of the
    War Department, NARS, RG 98.

[17]About eight hundred more Sioux were hunting south of the Platte
    River.

[18]Capt. H. M. Lazelle to Gen. John E. Smith, April 6, 1874, NARS, RG
    94.

[19]A. G. Brackett, “The Sioux or Dakota Indians,” Smithsonian
    Institution, _Annual Report_, 1876, pp. 466-474.

[20]Interview by Judge E. S. Ricker with George Colhoff, Tablet No. 17,
    Ms, Ricker Collection, Nebraska State Historical Society.

[21]The names of Camp Robinson and Red Cloud Agency, and Camp Sheridan
    and Spotted Tail Agency were frequently employed as synonyms because
    of the proximity of the military posts to the respective agencies;
    hence a group surrendering at Red Cloud Agency could also be spoken
    of as surrendering at Camp Robinson.

[22]W. P. Clark, _The Indian Sign Language_ (Philadelphia, 1885), p.
    296.

[23]Before becoming a scout for the army Grouard had lived for several
    years in the camps of the hostiles Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. His
    later action in leading soldiers in the campaigns was unfavorable to
    his former friends. It has been suggested that he therefore had
    reason to fear Crazy Horse.

[24]General Crook to Gen. E. D. Townsend, Adjutant General, September 5,
    1877, NARS, RG 94.

[25]The death of Crazy Horse is a complex event and both eyewitness
    descriptions and reconstructions of it vary in detail. This account
    is a brief summary rather than an analysis.

[26]In the fall of 1877 New Red Cloud Agency was located on the Missouri
    River in Dakota Territory at the mouth of Yellow Medicine Creek.

[27]Notebook kept by Dr. V. T. McGillycuddy, M.D., while a member of the
    Yellowstone and Big Horn Expedition May 26 to December 13, 1876 and
    notes kept by his wife Fanny at Camp Robinson December 13,
    1876-February 22, 1877 and with the army on an expedition to the
    Black Hills, February 23-April 11, 1877, typed copy, Nebraska State
    Historical Society. See entry for December 13, 1876.

[28]“Record of the Medical History of Post,” _op. cit._

[29]McGillicuddy, _op. cit._, entry for December 28-31, 1876.

[30]General Orders No. 23, March 24, 1877, Fort Robinson, Nebraska
    Selected Post Orders, 1874-97, NARS, RG 98. General Orders No. 43,
    December 29, 1874, Camp Sheridan, Nebraska Orders, 1874-1881, NARS.

[31]General Orders No. 16, Fort Robinson, Nebraska, January 24, 1888
    give this routine:

    I. Hereafter the calls of this post will be sounded as follows:

  First Call                        15 minutes before sunrise
  March                             10 minutes before sunrise
  Reveille and Assembly                               Sunrise
  Breakfast Call                   Immediately after reveille
  Sick Call                                                    7:30 A.M.
  Fatigue Call                                                 7:45 A.M.
  Guard Mounting Assembly of Trumpeters                        9:00 A.M.
  Guard Mounting Assembly of Details                           9:05 A.M.
  Guard Mounting Adjutants Calls                               9:10 A.M.
  School Call (for children)                                   9:00 A.M.
  Drill Call Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays                   9:30 A.M.
  Water Call                                                   9:45 A.M.
  Recall from Drill                                           10:30 A.M.
  Recall from Fatigue                                         11:45 A.M.
  1st Sergeants Call                                          11:45 A.M.
  Dinner Call                                                 12:00 M
  Fatigue and School Call (School call for children)           1:00 P.M.
  Drill Call                                                   1:30 P.M.
  Recall from Drill                                            3:00 P.M.
  Water Call (which shall be recall for cavalry from fatigue)  3:30 P.M.
  Stable Call                                                  3:45 P.M.
  Recall from Fatigue                                          5:00 P.M.
  Retreat First Call                  5 minutes before sunset
  Retreat Assembly                                     Sunset
  Tatoo First Call                                             8:45 P.M.
  Tatoo March                                                  8:55 P.M.
  Tatoo and Assembly                                           9:00 P.M.
  Taps                                                         9:30 P.M.
  Dress Parade                       15 minutes before sunset
  Dress Parade, Assembly               5 minutes after sunset
  School Call for Soldiers (Saturday and Sunday excepted)      7:00 P.M.
  School Call for Officers Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday     1:00 P.M.
  School Call for non-com Officers Tuesday, Wednesday and     10:45 A.M.
    Thursday
  Sunday Morning Inspection                                    9:00 A.M.
  Sunday Morning Assembly                                      9:00 A.M.
  Signal Instruction Wednesday from 2:30 to                    3:30 P.M.

[32]Telegram, Lt. Biddle to Assistant Adjutant General, Department of
    the Platte, October 16, 1891, NARS, RG 98. Artificer Cornelius
    Donovan died of a fractured skull inflicted by Sergeant of the Guard
    Jackson.

[33]“Record of the Medical History of Post,” _op. cit._

[34]This brief summary of the Cheyenne Outbreak is not detailed; there
    are numerous longer descriptions and eyewitness accounts.

[35]Martin F. Schmitt, ed., _General George Crook, His Autobiography_
    (Norman, Okla., 1946), p. 226.

[36]Crawford was named for Capt. Emmet Crawford, Third Cavalry, who
    played a prominent role in the history of Fort Robinson. He was
    killed in Mexico in January 1886 while pursuing hostile Apache
    Indians.

[37]Col. Edward Hatch to Adjutant General, U. S. Army, April 20, 1888;
    Lt. A. R. Egbert to the Coroner of Dawes County, Chadron, Nebr.,
    August 31, 1886; Endorsement, Proceedings of a Board of Survey,
    September 23, 1886; Major A. S. Burt to the Hon. Judge Dundy, U. S.
    Circuit Court, Omaha, Nebr., January 4, 1888; Fort Robinson,
    Nebraska, Selected Letters Sent, 1884-1900, NARS, RG 98.

[38]Veteran white officers commanded the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry
    regiments. Both regiments served at Fort Robinson, the Ninth during
    the 1880’s and 1890’s and the Tenth in the early 1900’s. Both
    regiments won renown during the Indian Wars.

[39]Col. D. Perry to Adjutant General, Department of the Platte, Omaha,
    Nebraska, April 2, 1897, NARS, RG 98.

[40]All graves in the post cemetery were removed to Fort McPherson
    National Cemetery, Nebraska, when the Army turned the post over to
    the United States Department of Agriculture.

[41]When Capt. Anson Mills directed construction of new buildings at
    Camp Sheridan in 1875 Spotted Tail told him he knew troops were to
    be permanently stationed at his agency because “when they put rocks
    under their houses they are going to stay.” (Anson Mills, _My Story_
    [Washington, 1918], p. 163.)

[42]“Camp Robinson, Nebraska,” _Report on the Hygiene of the United
    States Army_ (Washington, 1875), Surgeon-General’s Office, Circular
    No. 8, pp. 366-367.


    [Illustration: FORT ROBINSON
    1874-1954]

This plan shows major buildings constructed. Buildings shown in black
are still standing; those in outline are no longer in existence.

   1 Bachelor Off. Qtrs.               1909
   2, 3, 10, 12, 14 Office Qtrs.       1891
   4 Off. Qtrs., Museum                1887
   4-9 Office Qtrs.                    1887
   4C & 7C Garages                     1936
   11-13 Relocated NCO Qtrs.           1902
   15, 16, 19 Office Qtrs              1909
   17 Cmdg. Off. Qtrs.                 1909
   18 Cmdg. Off. Qtrs.                 1891
   20 Post Hosp.                       1910
   21 Barracks                         1909
   22 Cav. Barracks                    1891
   24-26, 28-30 Cav. Barracks          1887
   27 Fire Station                     1910
   31 Flag Pole Relocation             1930
   32 Post Hq., Museum                 1905
   33 Crazy Horse Monument             1934
   34 Flag Staff                       1890
   35 Levi Robinson Monument           1934
   36 Cav. Barracks                    1889
   37 Post Trader                      1874
   38 Barracks                         1909
   39 Admin. Bldg.                     1883
   40 Comdg. Off. Qtrs.                1884
   40A Post Chapel, WWII
   41 Comdg. Off. Qtrs.                1875
   42, 43 Off. Qtrs.                   1874
   44-47 Off. Qtrs.                    1875
   48 CCC Swimming Pool                1935
   49 Bandleader’s Qtrs                1886
  101 Post Gym., Museum                1904
  102 Post Hosp.                       1885
  103-106 Cav. Stables                 1908
  108-109 Cav. Stables                 1891
  109 Animal Handling Chute            1942
  110, 111, 113, 118 Cav. Stables      1887
  112, 117 Cav. Stables                1895
  114 Blacksmith Shop, Museum          1904
  115 Blacksmith Shop, Museum          1906
  119, 121 Stable Guard                1908
  122 Hosp. Stwd. Qtrs                 1885
  123 Vet. Hosp. Annex                 1941
  124 Vet. Hosp. Annex                 1909
  125 Hospital                         1875
  126 Infantry Barracks                1876
  128 Infantry Barracks                1874
  129 Infantry Barracks                1882
  130 Non-Com Qtrs.                    1888
  131 Non-Com Qtrs                     1890
  132, 133 Non-Com Qtrs.               1886
  134 Non-Com Qtrs                     1902
  135 Non-Com Qtrs
  136 Tailor-Saddler Shops             1874
  137 Cavalry Barracks                 1874
  138 Adjutant’s Office                1874
  139 Guard House                      1884
  140 Guard House                      1874
  141 Commissary Stores                1874
  142 Laundresses’ Qtrs.               1874
  143 Quartermaster Shops              1874
  144 Storehouse                       1884
  145 Bakery                           1874
  146 Carpt. & Paint Shops             1874
  147 Shops                            1884
  148 RR Station                       1886
  149, 150 Non-Com. Qtrs.              1897
  151, 153, 155 Cavalry Stables        1874
  152 Magazine                         1874
  154 Ordnance Stores                  1874
  157, 158 Quartermaster Stores        1874
  159 Butcher Shop                     1874
  160 Veterinary Hosp.                 1905
  161 Ice House
  162 QM Lumber Stores                 1891
  163 QM Corral & Stables
  164 Laundry                          1907
  170, 171 Vet. Wards                  1942
  172 Tennis Courts                    1935
  173 Post Office                      1943
  174 Post Exchange                    1942
  175 Recreation Hall—WAC
  176 Mess Hall—WAC
  177 Barracks—WAC
  178 Hay & Grain Shed                 1933
  179 Stallion Stable                  1930
  201 Magazine                         1894
  202 QM Wagon Shed                    1892
  203 QM Stable                        1892
  204 Water Tanks                      1884
  205 Post Chapel                      1893
  206 Gun Shed                         1894
  207 QM Pack Train Stable             1892
  209 QM Wagon Shed                    1896
  210 QM Shed
  211 Packers’ Qtrs.                   1895
  212 Saddler’s Qtrs.                  1887
  213 Teamsters’ Qtrs.                 1892
  214 Wheelwright’s Qtrs.              1895
  215 Carpenters’ Qtrs                 1909
  218 Hay Shed                         1906
  219 Hay Shed                         1897
  220 Granary                          1895
  221 Granary Addition                 1941
  222 QM Stores                        1900
  223 QM Stores                        1892
  224 Guard House                      1892
  225 Concession (Post-Fort)
  226 Comm. Stores                     1892
  227 Eng. Equip. Shed                 194?
  227 Site of Coal Shed                1896
  228 Blacksmith Shop                  1884
  229 Wheelwright’s Shop               1884
  230 Ord. Stores                      1899
  231 Lumber Shed                      1942
  232 Oil House                        1900
  233 Concession (Post-Fort)
  234 Bakery                           1906
  235 Meat Market                      1900
  236 Carpenter Shop                   1882
  237 Electric Shop
  238 Saddler & Paint Stables
  239 QM Shop                          1906 & 1931
  240 Paint Storage                    1945
  241 Wagon Shed                       1929
  242 Shop                             1944
  243 Band Barracks                    1886
  244 Implement Shed                   1930
  245 Oil Storage                      1945
  246 Post Garage                      1930
  247 Transportation Stable            1928
  248 Eng. Off. & Warehouse            1942-1943
  249 Lumber Sheds                     1942-1943
  250 Coal Apron                       1942
  251 10 Unit Kennels                  1942
  252 80 Unit Kennels                  1942
  253 Office-Canine
  254 School-Canine
  255 Hay Shed 1929
  256 Saw Mill (Old Pumphouse)
  257 Saw Mill
  258 Vet. Isolation Hosp.             1928
  259 School & Drilling Shed           1942
  260 Transformer Sub-Station          1909
  261 Mess Hall—Canine
  262-264 Barracks-Canine
  302 Water Towers                     1889, 1903
  304 Broodmare & Shipping Stable      1928
  305 Sale Barn                        1936
  307 Sleeping Qtrs.
  308 Assembly & Mess Hall             1931
  309 NCO Qtrs                         1902
  310 Pest House                       1901
  311 Hosp. Stwd. Qtrs.                1910



                 THE NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY


                            VANCE E. NELSON
                     Curator, Fort Robinson Museum
                   Nebraska State Historical Society
                           Crawford, Nebraska

The Nebraska State Historical Society was founded as the State
Historical Society and Library Association in 1867, the year Nebraska
was admitted to the Union. It was reorganized as the Nebraska State
Historical Society in 1878. It was constituted as a state organization
by act of the Nebraska Legislature in 1883, and designated custodian of
all public records, documents, and other materials of historical value
by legislative act of 1905. It moved into its present air-conditioned,
fireproof building in 1953.

The Society was created to collect and preserve the record of Nebraska
and its people. It maintains archives, a library, and a museum for use
of the public. It is particularly anxious to secure valuable records and
materials now in private hands where they cannot be preserved.

In performing its important function, it solicits the support of all
public-spirited citizens—support which can best be expressed through
membership in the Society. Membership carries with it a voice in the
government of the Society, including election of the members of the
Executive Board. Members receive, without further payment, NEBRASKA
HISTORY, published quarterly; and the HISTORICAL NEWS LETTER, issued
monthly. Applicants for membership should address Marvin F. Kivett,
Director, Nebraska State Historical Society, 1500 R Street, Lincoln,
Nebraska, 68508.


                               MEMBERSHIP

                         Annual         $  3.00
                         Contributing   $  5.00
                         Supporting     $ 25.00
                         Life           $100.00



                          Transcriber’s Notes


—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
  is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
  _underscores_.





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