July 2024 • Nebraskaland 35
Great Sioux War of 1876. The famous Lakota
war leader Crazy Horse surrendered his band
of followers at Camp Robinson in May 1877.
In September, Crazy Horse was killed while
trying to avoid being imprisoned in the
camp's guardhouse.
The following year saw another tragedy
at the post, this time involving a group
of Northern Cheyenne who had escaped
from their reservation in Indian Territory
(Oklahoma) and were trying to return to
their homeland in present-day Montana. The
army captured Chief Dull Knife and 149 of
his followers and locked them in a barracks
without food or fuel, hoping to pressure them
to agree to go back to the reservation.
On the night of January 9, 1879, the
This 1875 view is the earliest known photo of Camp Robinson, renamed Fort Robinson in 1878. Though it lacked a permanent
outer wall, in the early days it had a temporary stockade made of stacked cordwood — which gradually
disappeared into the camp's stoves. HISTORY NEBRASKA, RG5895-0-7
An 1877 view of Camp Robinson, showing buildings that framed the
southwest corner of the old parade ground. The long building on the left is
barracks; to its right is the guard house where Crazy Horse was killed.
HISTORY NEBRASKA, RG5899-3-3
