July 2021 • Nebraskaland 29
prominent military careers; two such men were Bennet Riley
and Henry Leavenworth, for whom the still operational Fort
Riley and Fort Leavenworth in Kansas were named. For these
men and others with notable careers, Juza includes details
about their lives after the fort, such as marriages, children,
accomplishments and place of death.
Nearly all of her information comes from primary sources,
including military records, personal diaries, personal
letters and other fi rsthand accounts. To track down these
documents, Juza contacted or visited historical societies
from eight states and traveled six times to the National
Archives in Washington, D.C., sifting through disconnected
and sometimes mislabeled fi les. "The fi rst time I went to
the National Archives, I thought I would go in and say, 'I'm
researching Fort Atkinson, these are the years,' and they
would come out with a big folder and there would be all the
documents. It's nothing like that," she said.
Despite that, the research trips went well, Juza said,
Susan Juza pictured at Fort Atkinson with her "book of names" and other materials she used for research. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
