Today is out last day in Fort Robinson State Park and there were a few sights that we wanted to see before we left tomorrow for South Dakota, our "home" state.
Red Cloud Agency was established here in 1873 for Chief Red Cloud and his Oglala band, as well as for other northern plains Indians, totaling nearly 13,000. The agency served as an issuing point for supplies to the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho, authorized in exchange for land ceded to the U.S. in 1868. One of the reasons why Fort Robinson was established was to keep the peace during the Indian war of 1876. The monument pictured above is all that marks the spot.
A quarter mile from the Red Cloud Agency monument is another plaque commemorating the German P.O.W. Camp that was constructed to house three thousand men who came in June 1943. Most of the soldiers were members of the Africa Korps. The prisoners were allowed to work on farms and ranches in the area and received a wage. Their labor was a big help to Nebraska's war-depleted agricultural work force. This camp was closed in September 1945, but some former prisoners found sponsors among their employers and returned to become U.S. citizens.
While we were at Fort Robinson we had did some hiking at near-by attractions but we had not hiked up into the buttes that serve as the backdrop for the park. The trails in the park are not well maintained but we did received directions to a trail that would take us up to the buttes. We found the trailhead but the gate was locked and we had to improvise. Normally we would not have crossed a locked gate but we had been told to expect this first hurdle.
Red Cloud Buttes
We are on the ridge of Saddle Rock Butte. It was very windy near the top.
View from Saddle Rock. You might just be able to see the car located a little to the left of the center of this picture.
We made a loop trail by coming down the other side and finding our way back to the road. Out here such a trail as you see on the right is called a "two-track" trail.
Another stop on the Fossil Freeway is right here in Fort Robinson State Park, the Trailside Museum of Natural History operated by the University of Nebraska. Their star attraction is the skeletal remains of two giant mammoths lying as they have since the Ice Age - tragically locked together in combat.
These fossils were discovered in 1962 just north of the park and are unique because they show two enormous bull mammoths that died locked together by their tusks. Neither animal could have raised his head without lifting the weight of the other mammoth.
Artist's depiction of the battle.
Both mammoth skeletons were almost fully intact and are on display in the museum.
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