GOSHEN COUNTY – The September 23 meeting of the Goshen County Chapter of the National Historical Society was called to order in the meeting room of the Platte Valley Bank. Following the Pledge of Allegiance and an opening prayer, the guest speaker was introduced.
“I will start off with a little bit about myself and my connection to Fort Robinson. I grew up in Crawford, Nebraska, and I still have family in the area, including my dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Growing up at Fort Rob, or the ‘Fort’, which we commonly called it, was just a common everyday thing for us because it was right out our back door. They held rodeos twice a week as entertainment for the tourists during the summer. We would participate in those rodeos as young kids,” Tandy Dockery of Lusk explained to the club members. “By rodeo, I mean a couple team ropers, some bucking horses, which was just a string of horses that the younger kids practiced on and who aspired to hit the rodeo trail someday. And then they also had a rescue race, a pony express race, a boot race, and a buffalo hide race, which was a fan favorite.”
On rodeo nights, Dockery’s father would load his horse in a trailer and drive to Fort Robinson while she and her two brothers rode their horses across the Buttes from their grandfather’s home northwest of Crawford.
The three-mile highway drive became an hour-long journey on horseback through the rugged terrain. The children would stop to examine interesting rock formations and play hide-and-seek among the Ponderosa Pines while waiting for the youngest brother’s frequent bathroom breaks behind trees.
“We learned how to ride there,” Dockery said. “Our horses had the surest feet around.”
She also attended 4-H horse camp at Fort Robinson each summer, camping out and riding to the Wood Reserve for additional overnight camping while learning horsemanship skills.
The Wood Reserve, located six miles west of Fort Robinson, remains a favorite destination. Her husband has remarked multiple times he now understands why Native Americans were so upset about leaving the area.
“It is the prettiest place on earth,” Dockery said. “Full of green grass, deep canyons, live water – honestly just a piece of heaven out there.”
Dockery’s mother served as head of the information booth at Fort Robinson for many summers during their childhood. She conducted jeep rides, trolley train rides, buffalo stew cookouts and early morning van tours through Smiley Canyon to Coffee Park, which Dockery said was always her favorite because of the “monster cinnamon rolls.”
At 16, Dockery was hired as a wrangler at Fort Robinson during what she described as “possibly the hottest summer of my life.” The uniform consisted of blue jeans, navy blue long-sleeved shirts, yellow bandanas representing the cavalry, black felt hats, boots and spurs.
“The spurs were only for looks because those trail horses would not go beyond a fast walk,” Dockery said.
The wranglers provided horseback tours to hundreds of tourists. Morning shifts began at 5 a.m. with gathering horses, feeding and saddling the day’s string. They offered 45-minute short trail rides and three-hour long rides throughout the day.
The extended tours took tourists to the top of the buttes on the fort’s north side, providing what Dockery called “a view of a lifetime.” Many visitors didn’t realize what they were getting into when signing up for the long trail ride, but the experience proved adventurous for both tourists and staff.
Afternoon shifts involved unsaddling horses and cleaning stalls and corrals before repeating the process the next day.
“The best part of the job was gathering the horses,” Dockery said. “The sun was just coming up. The horses knew their spots in the barn, knew there would be grain in the stall waiting for them.”
She described the sound of hooves hitting the cobblestone floor as both beautiful and eerie, knowing thousands of horses and mules had made the same journey down the corridor more than 150 years ago during wartime preparations.
“Clip-clop. Clip-clop. Clip-clop,” she said. “It’s a distinct sound you’ll never forget. If those cobblestones could just talk.”
Dockery began by explaining she had planned to show a video her husband and she recorded for Red Stegall’s “West of Wall Street” series about Fort Robinson. However, while compiling her presentation, she discovered much of the same material and decided to create her own version called “Through the Portals Past the World’s Finest Horseman.”
Though asked to focus on the Remount Depot, Dockery said she wanted to begin with Fort Robinson’s history as background for the story.
She credited most of her information to the Nebraska Historical Site and the book “Images of America: Fort Robinson” by Ephraim D. Dixon III, calling it “a wonderful read” and recommending the companion volume about Fort Laramie. Family members also provided information for her presentation.
Fort Robinson stands as one of the great historic places of the American West. The post began in 1874 as a temporary encampment during the Indian Wars and eventually became one of the largest military installations of the Northern Plains.
Camp Robinson was established to protect Indian agencies, providing security for the nearby Red Cloud Agency for four years. Soldiers also guarded the Sydney Deadwood Trail to the Black Hills. When the agency moved in 1877, Camp Robinson remained and was redesignated as Fort Robinson in 1878 to reflect its permanent status.
The Red Cloud Agency served Ogallala Lakota as well as Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho from 1871 to 1878. Chief Red Cloud, the best-known Ogallala leader, often served as primary spokesman for his people at the agency bearing his name.
After several relocations, the agency was finally moved to southern South Dakota in 1878 and renamed the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
The Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad reached Fort Robinson in 1886, opening a new chapter of growth. Troops could now move quickly to reservations and elsewhere if needed, guaranteeing the fort’s importance and prolonging its military occupation.
From 1885 to 1907, the majority of troops stationed at Fort Robinson were African American soldiers from the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments. The U.S. Army was totally segregated at the time, with two cavalry regiments composed of black soldiers.
In 1919, Fort Robinson gained new life as a quartermaster remount depot. As part of the quartermaster corps responsible for supplies, equipment and animals, the post became an animal processing center for cavalry and artillery units.
Horses were received, examined, cared for and eventually issued to mounted units. Remount stallions were assigned to civilian agents for breeding. Ranchers used the stallions to breed their mares while the army bought back the resulting foals – a win-win arrangement.
Many larger ranchers today can trace their horse herds back to remount stallions. The finest breeding stock was exhibited at local fairs in Crawford, Harrison and Chadron.
Purchasing officers carefully inspected and measured horses before army purchase. Records were kept for each horse, often including official army photographs. After purchase from civilian breeders, horses were sent by train to Fort Robinson for conditioning and training.
New horses were quarantined for 48 hours under veterinary supervision, then run through a 60-foot dipping vat to control body lice and ringworm. The newly arrived horses were clipped and branded.
Horses were segregated into different pastures based on age. Soldiers on horseback helped move animals between pastures. The remount horses received mixed feed of ground oats, cracked corn and bran, supplemented with prairie hay and alfalfa hay during winter.
By World War II, horse manure from Fort Robinson was being shipped west as ground cover for new military installations in dry climates.
Approximately 30,000 horses passed through Fort Robinson during the war years, while over 21,000 soldiers were stationed there during its tenure.
Soldiers worked with horses until they were gentle enough to allow foot cleaning. After completing conditioning and training, each horse had to pass inspection by training officers and the Remount Depot commander before certification and shipment.
The veterinary hospital was significantly expanded in 1908 to accommodate remount depot needs. Officers and enlisted men of the Veterinary Corps monitored horse health, with some surgical procedures performed outdoors.
Bud Parker, recognized as one of the best civilian horse trainers, transferred to Fort Robinson in 1924 and regularly rode on polo and exhibition teams.
Dockery shared a personal connection to the remount depot through her grandfather, T4 Marvin Rising, who served as both a corporal and tech four specializing in horse training. Tech four was a rank unique to the Army allowing those with specialized skills to receive higher pay while working in their area of expertise.
“My grandfather and his squadron were called up to head to Normandy, France,” Dockery said. “They were just getting ready to leave American soil when the colonel from Fort Robinson sent word Marvin Rising was needed for his expertise with horses. He was crucial to the remount division and they sent him back to Nebraska.”
The rest of Rising’s squadron perished on the beaches of Normandy, making his specialized knowledge of horses both a professional asset and personal salvation.
In June 1935, the Army’s Olympic equestrian team arrived to train for the summer at Fort Robinson.
By the 1930’s, improved quarters, outdoor leisure activities and a relaxed military atmosphere earned Fort Robinson the reputation as “the country club of the Army.”
In 1942, the 4th Cavalry was ordered to turn in their horses at Fort Robinson in preparation for becoming fully mechanized – often a difficult transition for soldiers who had trained with their horses.
With fewer horses needed for war, remount activities shifted from purchasing animals to preparing them for auction, as shown in 1943 when horses were brought in by railway from other remount depots across the country for large public sales.
Dockery then presented a YouTube video which illustrated hundreds of horses running toward Fort Robinson.
The video shows why no grass remained at Fort Robinson after the horses departed. While horse numbers at the depot declined, mules became in great demand as pack animals for difficult terrain.
Artillery pieces were disassembled and packed on several mules for transport through rough terrain. Mules were purchased and shipped to Fort Robinson for conditioning and training. The animals were exposed to artillery fire to simulate combat conditions. By war’s end, as many as 500 mules were being conditioned and shipped out monthly.
A photograph shows a gun crew positioned around their Vickers Maximum Mountain Howitzer with mules standing in the background. While everyone appeared focused, one soldier seemed to be posing for the camera.
The busiest years at Fort Robinson occurred during World War II. With cavalry regiments being dismounted, large numbers of horses were shipped to the remount depot. By 1943, 12,000 horses were stationed at Fort Robinson. Though the herd was gradually reduced by war’s end, nearly 10,000 mules had been trained and issued.
Dockery believes one photograph was taken at the Wood Reserve because it resembled a location from her 4-H horse camp days where horses would stop to drink and bathe in the water before reaching the campsite.
After the war, the Nebraska State Historical Society established a branch museum at Fort Robinson in 1955, around the same time Fort Robinson State Park was created. When the beef research operation was phased out, the remaining post area and military reservation was transferred to the state of Nebraska for public use. In 1972, the James Ranch acquisition increased Fort Robinson State Park to over 22,000 acres.
Dockery noted her family decorates buildings at the fort each November, describing themselves as a “go big or go home family.” She encouraged visitors to drive through between December 1st and January 1st to see the winter wonderland display created by local families and businesses throughout the historic buildings.
During the question-and-answer session, audience members engaged with various aspects of fort history. One attendee observed the army maintained specific protocols for horse colors, noting the absence of horses with white markings or blazed faces in historical photographs. Dockery confirmed the army avoided white or gray horses because they developed cancer easily, though she noted Buffalo soldiers did have some white horses from unclear sources.
Questions arose about building authenticity; with clarification the small building associated with Crazy Horse’s death was not original but had been moved from the Red Cloud Agency site. Many buildings in the area were rebuilt approximately 30 years ago using historical photographs to ensure accuracy.
The fort’s restaurant remains operational, located behind the historic sign Dockery photographed. Open mainly from Memorial Day to Labor Day and during hunting season, the restaurant serves notably large pancakes and displays a projector screen-sized photograph of Dockery’s grandfather playing polo above the cash register.
Audience members shared personal experiences, including discoveries of unexploded howitzer shells grown into trees and observations about the massive cottonwood trees planted during the fort’s active years. One attendee had stayed in the officers’ quarters, confirming Dockery’s description of the four-level homes housing two officers’ families with maid quarters on the top floor.
Discussion turned to trail ride experiences, with audience members confirming Dockery’s observations about unprepared tourists arriving in shorts and tennis shoes for three-hour mountain rides. The conversation revealed ongoing evidence of the area’s historical significance, including visible wagon ruts from supply routes between Fort Laramie and Fort Robinson and the path to Deadwood.
Questions about military family policies and the definition of “remount” generated discussion. Audience members suggested “remount” meant refitting animals for military service, similar to refitting vehicles. The conversation touched on cattle operations and beef distribution to reservations, with descriptions of issue days where families received freshly butchered beef.
The presentation concluded with enthusiastic praise for Dockery’s comprehensive research and engaging delivery. The museum director thanked her for the extensive work assembling the historical information and noted the presentation had generated interest from Dockery’s local historical society, which was arranging for her to present the program at their library. Dockery expressed her enjoyment of the research process and initial surprise at the project’s scope.
The meeting was then adjourned to reconvene on Tuesday, October 28 at 7 p.m. in the Platte Valley Bank Community Room.
