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. 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 m

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 1

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 Indian

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

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 war

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,

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 in

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

Kate C. Hamilton, daughter of Col. A. R. Chaffee. Lady and escort out for a ride on Christmas, 1896. Escort wagon train, Fort Robinson. Guardhouse prisoners work detail, March 1898. Social calls were important. On porch of officers’ quarters are: Commanding Officer, Colonel James Biddle, far left. Captain Philip Pendleton Powell, right, standing. A mock battle formation, 10th U. S. Cavalry (Negro). Yearlings at the Fort Robinson Remount Depot, September 20, 1932. Master Sergeant Wm. C. Meyers ta

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

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, di

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 e

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. Philadelphi

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, Norber

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 Sessi

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....