FORT ROBINSON
OUTPOST ON THE PLAINS
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 FortLaramie in the cold March weather of 1874 they probablyhad more than a few misgivings about the outcomeof their adventure. They were headed for one of thehottest spots on the Plains—Red Cloud Indian Agency.General Sheridan hoped that the 949 man expedition waslarge enough to intimidate the Indians and permit a peacefuloccupation of the agency, but it was his belief that“were it any other than this inclement season ... hostilitieswould have commenced at the crossing of the North PlatteRiver.”[1] Even with the large force and bad weather, openwar with the hostile Sioux Indians was a distinct possibilityand officers warned their men that straggling in camp or192on the march might well be fatal. They kept all Indiansaway from their camps and marching column and warnedtheir men not to fire at either game or Indians, unless inan unmistakable attack, lest injudicious gunfire needlesslystart a battle.
RED CLOUD AGENCY
The treaty of 1868 had guaranteed the Sioux and othertribes food and supplies in exchange for lands ceded to theUnited States. The annuity goods granted the Oglala Siouxby this treaty were issued at the Red Cloud Agency whichwas located on the Platte River until 1873.[2]
In June 1873 approximately 13,000 Indians were presentat Red Cloud Agency to receive issue goods. Therewere 1,858 lodges, mostly of the Oglala, Wajaja and otherSioux bands regularly supplied at Red Cloud, but including168 lodges of Cheyenne, 237 lodges of Arapaho, and another262 lodges of Miniconjou and other northern Sioux.
Among the Indians living at the agency a small factionwas friendly to white men while the majority, dependingupon the circumstances, wavered between friendliness andhostility. There was also an openly hostile faction consistingprimarily of the northern Sioux, but Oglala warriors,including the already famed Crazy Horse, were among thehostile war parties pursued by cavalry patrols from nearbyFort Laramie.
The Platte River location of Red Cloud Agency was inthe unceded hunting territory defined by the treaty of 1868.Although the government desired to relocate the agency onthe permanent Dakota reservation, the Oglala stubbornlyrefused to leave the Platte Valley.
During the summer of 1873, while the more recalcitrant193Indians were off on a buffalo hunt,[3] Indian AgentDaniels induced