Fort Robinson, Nebraska

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, May 7-9, 2012

Pam and Doug suggested taking route 20 across Nebraska.  A two lane road all the way, but we only had to pass three times and cars passed us only twice...across the whole state!  There was no traffic and we had nice views of the sand hills and buttes on the Western end.  We stopped at Fishberry Campground, Valentine, NE, on the top of a windy hill about mid-way across the state for the night. The wide open skies, sandhills, and buttes on the Western side of the state were inspiring.
Also at the suggestion of Pam and Doug, we visited Fort Robinson which was established March 29, 1874. Over the years the Fort has served as a military camp at the Red Cloud Agency; home to the "Buffalo Soldiers," an African-American garrison in the segregated army of the times; a mounted soldier depot during World War I; a K-9 corps training center during World War II; and a German POW camp.  Quite a history. The Fort was also where the great Lakota warrior Crazy Horse surrendered in 1877 and was mortally wounded and died. One side of the story states he was wounded resisting imprisonment, while another version indicates he was accidentially wounded by a young soldier.

We were fortunate to visit the park on the same weekend as the Thirteenth Annual Intertribal Gathering sponsored by the Lakota indians. This wasn't a powwow for tourists, but a gathering for the indians to which the public was invited. There was drumming, singing, storytelling, and dancing. We attended the Grand Entry the first evening which included a dance competition. The costumes were incredible. They had a ceremony honoring one of the members where they randomly handed out gifts to the audience. Mel received a little leather pouch, two pot holders and a kitchen towel. The fellow next to us received a sweatshirt, others blankets. We enjoyed the Grass Dance, Men's Fancy Dance, Women's Jingle Dance, Women's Fancy Shawl among others.We were happy to have our bikes along as they were handy in getting around the large Fort to visit the various museums. Of course there were lots of vendors selling indian made items and food booths where we enjoyed buffalo burgers and cowboy beans.
One of the museums, Trailside Museum of Natural History, displayed a pair of bull mammoths  who died while locked together in battle which were discovered nearby.  Amazing. We could have spent several more days at the Fort as there were many activities available...horseback riding, a summer repertory theater, tubing, kyaking, hiking. We finished our visit with an evening Jeep ride to the top of one of the buttes to view the wildlife. Up a dirt fire road, we passed through a herd of bison to the top where we saw mountain goats. Unfortunately I accidentially deleted the best of the photos. I'm slowly learning how NOT to delete photos...

It was a very interesting stop. A few additional photos follow. Can't seem to get them to show up across the page, so you will have to scroll down.

Army Convoy training at Fort Robinson...guess it is still a Fort!