Fort Robinson (308/665-2919), 30 miles from the Wyoming border, was established in 1874 to control the 15,000 restless natives of the Red Cloud and Pine Ridge Sioux Indian agencies. Now a state park, and planted with groves of mature trees where 100 years ago all was grassland prairie, Fort Robinson has perhaps the most tragic and uncomfortable history of all the many old forts on the Wild West frontier: This is where the unarmed Sioux chief Crazy Horse was stabbed to death with bayonets while in the custody of the U.S. Army; it’s where the controversial Red Cloud Treaty, in which the Sioux gave up the Black Hills, was signed; and it’s where the last of the Cheyenne under Chief Dull Knife were killed in battle rather than transported south to a reservation in Oklahoma.
Knowing this history, it can be hard to take Fort Robinson as the enjoyable respite it is today. The hundreds of hardwood trees make it an oasis on the generally treeless plains, and the whitewashed wooden barracks, many now converted to cultural centers and museums, give it the air of a college campus—especially on summer weekends, when the park turns into a living history museum, complete with cookouts and evening melodramas.
The only part of the park open year-round is the Fort Robinson Museum in the old headquarters building, with full displays on the fort’s history, plus walking-tour maps of the entire post. Accommodations are offered in the officers’ quarters, and there are many good camping spots.
