Fort Robinson and the American West, 1874-1899

Fort Robinson and the American West, 1874-1899

Few places provided a more storied backdrop for key events related to the high plains Indian wars than had Fort Robinson, Nebraska. Established in 1874 just south of the Black Hills, Fort Robinson witnessed many of the most dramatic, most tragic encounters between whites and American Indians, including the Cheyenne Outbreak, the death of Crazy Horse, the Ghost Dance, the desperation and diplomacy of such famed Plains Indian leaders as Dull Knife and Red Cloud, and the tragic sequence of events surrounding Wounded Knee. In Fort Robinson and the American West, 1874-1899, Thomas R. Buecker explores both the larger story of the Nebraska fort and the particulars of daily life and work at the fort. Buecker draws on historic reminiscences, government records, reports, correspondence, and other official accounts to render a thorough yet lively depiction. Thomas R. Buecker is curator of the Nebraska State Historical Society's Fort Robinson Museum, Crawford, Nebraska, and the author of Fort Robinson and the American Century 1900-1948, based on more than twenty years of archival research as well as the personal recollections of the men and women who served at the fort. "The academic integrity and fine writing style make this book more than a mere history of a lone military post. Buecker ties Fort Robinson's historical development to events well beyond the narrow geographical confines of the Nebraska Panhandle, connecting the bigger stories with the larger military and political decisions that shaped the development of the northern and central plains. This book offers a sophisticated, reliable, and eminently readable interpretation of crucial military and Indian relations during the height of the fabled Indian wars."---Michael Tate, author of The Frontier Army in the Settlement of the West