Custer Lives!
Red Cloud Agency
In July 2009 I visited the site of the Red Cloud Agency at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. You have to leave the Fort Robinson site and drive a short distance to arrive here. You'll pass the site of the World War II Nazi POW Camp before arriving. No buildings remain. Blue signs mark the area where buildings stood, just the name of the building with no other information. Photos with building information would have been nice. There is a Nebraska Historical Marker at the south edge of the former agency. Take a short walk north of the Historical Marker and there is a stone monument to the Agency. The stone marker was erected in 1932 with funding from the Daughters Of The American Revolution. I would suggest wearing high top hiking shoes or boots if you visit the Red Cloud Agency. The grass was very high and I did see a snake while trekking through the site. I had no idea if it was poisonous or not but I suggest you err on the side of caution. The whole time I walked the Nazi POW Camp and Red Cloud Agency I didn't see another person.
The Agency was established here in 1873 for Chief Red Cloud and his Oglala followers. Other Northern Plains Indians were also placed here, totaling nearly 13,000. The Red Cloud Agency was always a powder keg ready to explode into violence at any time. Fort Robinson was established in March 1874 and the tensions did not cease. In October 1874 Indians chopped down the Fort's flagpole and threatened to destroy the Agency and Fort Robinson.
During the Plains Indian War of 1876 the Agency housed non-hostile Indians. After the US government took final control of the Black Hills, and Crazy Horse was bayoneted in the back, the Agency was relocated to the Pine Ridge Agency in the Dakota Territory.
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Me at the entrance to the former Red Cloud Agency. |
The Red Cloud Agency Monument. |
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The store room stood here. |
The Nazi POW Camp stood to the south of the Red Cloud Agency. |
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The Red Cloud Agency site. |
The Red Cloud Agency site with the Red Cloud Buttes in the background. |
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