return to Indian Territory, where they believed conditions were too adverse for them to survive, the army had been holding them without adequate food, water or heat during the severe winter to try to force them into submission. Soldiers hunted down the escapees, killing men, women, and children in the Fort Robinson massacre. The U.S. Supreme Court called the “shocking story, one of the most melancholy of Indian tragedies”. The event marked the end of the Sioux and Cheyenne Wars in Nebraska. The present facility includes many original buildings of the fort (though as many as twothirds were demolished after the fort was decommissioned), including Officers’ Quarters around two sides of the 1887 Parade Ground. Cabins in the 1874, 1887, and 1909 quarters can be rented for overnight accommodations. Other original buildings include stables still used for stabling horses. There are generous RV campgrounds, including the newest with 60-foot spaces. The Park Lodge is located in the historic Enlisted Men’s Barracks and includes rooms and a full-service restaurant. There are lots of activities for visitors, including horseback riding, a breakfast cookout four mornings each week, a buffalo stew cookout four evenings each week,
Red Cloud Buttes at Fort Robinson.
and a steak cookout at the base of the buttes three evenings. Also on the property is the Fort Robinson Museum in the 1905 Post Headquarters, operated by the Nebraska Historical Society. The Trailside Museum in a separate building interprets the geological and natural history of the Pine Ridge area. For more information on Fort Robinson State Park: http://www.stateparks.com/fort_robinson.html
The stables at Fort Robinson 43 • Byways