Ft. Robinson-Crazy Horse death

[bubbabod]

Okay, I'm experimenting posting several thumbs on one thread. These pictures are taken at Ft. Robinson. You'll see the placque directly outside the reconstructed guardhouse where CH was killed. There's a shot of three buildings. The one in the center is the guardhouse. The one on the far right, depending on which shot, is the Quartermaster's office where CH was carried and died. The largest of the three is the barracks where Dull Knife's people escaped, and many were killed, and as was depicted in the movie Cheyenne Autumn.
Well, after all that, I hope it works.

[Lawtonka]

Great Job, this it the first time I have seen pictures of this place, thanks for posting. Gotta get up there to see it next time around.

[ephriam]

And the small building in the center is the Adjutant's Office, where Crazy Horse died later that night. All three of these log buildings are reconstructions.

I was fortunate to serve for two summers as one of the field supervisors for the excavation of the Cheyenne Barracks prior to the reconstrcution, accomplished by the Nebraska State Historical Society. The original building had burned in 1898 while being used as living quarters for married enlisted families of buffalo soldiers. A large number of artifacts from this last occupation were recovered, but very little was found from the earlier periods.

One other piece of trivia: the Crazy Horse marker that you see was placed at Fort Robinson I think in the 1930's; it was originally mistaken placed over the Cheyenne Outbreak barracks. Not until the excavations were done was it realized that the monument was in the wrong place. The curator of the museum at Fort Robinson, Tom Buecker, moved the monument a few years ago, along with making minor alterations to the guardhouse to correct mistakes made, discovered later when a photograph of the building was found.

Great photos! Thanks for putting them up.


ephriam

[bubbabod]

Ephriam, thanks for the correction. I thought the center building was the guardhouse.
Lawtonka, I was really surprised at how beautiful the country is around Ft. Robinson. Yeah, it's very isolated, and I pictured it being like high plains desert, but it's really very pretty with interesting hills or mountain formations.
I think visiting Ft. Robinson is a must for anyone interested in the Indian Wars.
One thing I didn't realize until I visited is the extent of the fort and how much it has been used over the years. Its usefulness lasted far after the Indian Wars. The three building pictured make up only about a tenth of what exists today that has been used over the years. Nice museum, little cafe, and a nice campground for any RVers who want to spend a night or two in the area.

[Diane Merkel]

Chuck and I visited the Fort Robinson Museum last summer and ended up in the bookstore, of course. I kept looking at Tom Buecker's name tag, thinking the name looked familiar. Then I saw The Crazy Horse Surrender Ledger, which I had purchased at the LBH bookstore, edited by Tom Buecker and Eli Paul. Chuck brought my book in from the car, and Tom graciously inscribed it to us.

Tom is a super guy. He invited us to his home to see his collection, and we took Tom and his wife to dinner at the restaurant there. We had looked forward to seeing the museum but never dreamt it would turn into such a great experience.

Thanks for the photos, bubbabod, and for mentioning Tom, Ephriam (yes, your name came up in our conversation ).