
The Nebraska State Historical Society and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission have co-sponsored eight Fort Robinson History Conferences featuring nationally and internationally known speakers, great tours of western military sites, and lots of fun for all participants.
- "After the Indian Wars": The Ninth Fort Robinson History Conference will be held April 25-27, 2013, at Fort Robinson State Park, Crawford, Nebraska. The conference will feature scholarly papers and historical tours primarily addressing people, places, and events connected to the ongoing story of the army and the Indians from 1877 through 1890. Some of the topics include the role of the African American "Buffalo Soldiers," the Wounded Knee massacre, and the changing image of George Armstrong Custer. A panel will consider topics still to be studied in order to provide a fuller understanding of conflict, transformation, and loss that marked this era for both white Americans and the Native peoples.
- Registration Form, with Program and Speakers' List
- For more information, or to be placed on the mailing list, contact Lana Hatcher at lana.hatcher@nebraska.gov or 402-471-3272.
Program and Speakers List
- The 2011 conference on the theme "The Civil War in The American West," was held April 28-30, 2011.
- The 2009 conference was on the theme "U.S. Army posts on the Central and Northern Plains, 1820-1890." It was held April 23-25, 2009.
- In 2007 the theme was "Four-Legged Soldiers: The Horse and the Mule in the Plains Wars and Beyond." This Sixth Fort Robinson History Conference, a cooperative project of the Nebraska State Historical Society and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission,was held April 26-28, at Fort Robinson State Park, Crawford, Nebraska. The conference included scholarly papers, tours of Fort Robinson and area sites, and social events. One evening's reception featured books from the museum store relating to Fort Robinson and the conference theme, and many of the authors were available to sign their works.
- The 2004 history conference theme was "A New Army for a New Century: Military Culture in Transition, 1890 - 1917."
- "Indian War Leaders and Leadership" was the focus in 2002, including presentations by John Monnett, Paul Hutton, Eli Paul, Kingsley Bray, and others.
- The 2000 conference theme, "Indians, Soldiers, and Bureaucrats: A New Look at Old Foes," was the subject of speakers Tom Buecker, Paul Fees, Doug Scott, and others.
- The theme of the second conference, in April 1997, was the everyday life of the frontier army soldier. Highlights of the second conference included papers from Brian W. Dippie, Mary L. Williams, Frank Schubert, and others.
- The first, held in April 1995, focused on the material culture of the frontier army.
This historical marker, telling the story of buffalo soldiers stationed at Fort Robinson, was dedicated during the second Fort Robinson History conference in 1997.
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