Historical Monuments
category : Monuments
Fort Laramie to Fort Robinson Trail - After the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie guarnateed food and suplies to the Sioux and other tribes in exchange for lands ceded to the United States, the famed Red Cloud Agency was established in the White River Valley near Crawford. In 1874, nearly one thousand troops followed an old fur trade route to establish Camps Sheridan and robinson to overse the Red Clud and Spotted Tail Agencies. This trail, linking Fort Laramie with these outposts inthe area, supplied the U.S. Military camps and forts inthe Pine Ridge. 10 miles south of Harrison on Highway 29.
Ghost Town - Only the dance hall remains in the town of Andrews built along a stage route. Eight miles east and south of Harrison on the White River.
Cheyenne Outbreak - In 1878, 300 Cheyenne Indians began a trek back to their homeland. Dull Knife's band was captured, taken to Fort Robinson, and imprisioned. The following winter young warrious began what was called the Cheyenne Outbreak of 1879. This battle was considered one of the major conflicts of the Indian wars. 20 miles east of Harrison on Highway 20.
Warbonnet Battlefield - Across the road from the Montrose church is a monument that marks the spot where Buffalo Bill Cody scalped Chief Yellowhand, the Cheyenne leader, after hand to hand combat.
The other monument on the summit of a conical hill nearby, honors Col. Wesley Merritt and troops of the Fifth US Calvary who used this position to prevent a group of approximately 800 Cheyenne Indians from joining the victors of the Little Big Horn Battle. As the troops charged toward the southeast, the Cheyenne returned to the Red Cloud Indian Agency near Fort Robinson. The Indian leader, Yellowhand, was killed during the skirmish. An eyewitness account of this skirmish can be found in Campaigning With Crook by Capt. Charles King.
This same hilltop was the site of a civilian "fort" used in protecting area residents in case of Indian attack during the Ghost Dance troubles of 1890. The anticipated attack never came. Parts of this outpost are still visible.
Address: 3 miles east of Harrison on Highway 20 to Pants Butte Road, then 16 miles north to sharp right curve and 4 miles east.
Come visit us in Harrison, Nebraska