Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-07-08
In the Pine Ridge war.

Fremont, takhorn Il Missouri Valley raj
road having extended it's line to the Black
Hills.
In the Pine Ridge war.
In 1897 the indians at Rosebud and Pine
Ridge agencies began to make trouble
for the government, and il was
necessary to send all except
few troops from fort Robinson TO
the Rosebud reservation. Eight com
panies OF the First infantry, under Colonel
shafter. stopped at the post for twelve
days on their way to Fairburn, 5. u. The
troops that went to Rosebud met with
misfortune. Their commanding otticer fell
sick and the expedition was halted on the
banks of the White river, where they re-
manned until General Henry relieved the
sick officer from command and ordered
the expedition forward This delay ON the
White river caused the expedition to miss
much of the fghting. The First infantry,
however, took an active part in the cam
paign.
In 1891 the Sixth cavalry, under Colonel
e. A. Carr, came to the fort to take the
place of the Eighth infantry and the
Ninth cavalry. The Sixth remained until
September, 1894, when they were relieved
by the Twelfth infantry, under Col
onel Il. f. Townsend. The Twelfth
remained until 1888 From that time
until 1902 the post was garrisOncd
with small detachments, first from the
Eighth cavalry, then the Tenth infantry,
the Thirteenth cavalry and the Twenty
second infantry. The detachment of the
Twenty-second infantry was relieved by
eight companies of the Twenty-lfth In
fantry. under Colonel A. IL. Bowman, in
August, 1902. One company Of the Twenty
aNNl. Q,.N.V
Washable, wyo., and will remain there
until September when 1t will join the
other seven companies who will leave Fort
Niobrara on July 16 for posts in Texas. A
small detachment will be left at Fort Mo-
brara until July 81 to ship away all serv-
iceable property, and the post will be
turned over to the Interior department.
Omcers of the Post.
OF the many commanding officers that
Fort Niobrara has seen the following are
the best remembered to the old-timers of
the vicinity: Major J. ]. Upham, Fifth
cavalry; Major e. v. Sumner. Fifth cav
airy; Lieutenant Colonel James g. Brisbin,
Ninth cavalry; Captain w. H. Bisbee,
Fourth infantry Colonel A v. Kautz,
Eighth infantry; Colonel Alfred Smith.
Eighth infantry; Colonel s. 8. Sumner.
Sixth cavalry; Colonel Z. A Carr and
Colonel Z. s. Gordon. Sixth cavalry; Major
Lacey. Eighth infantry; Colonel Townsend,
Twelfth infantry, and Colonel J. N. An
drews, Twelfth infantry.
OF the officers In command Of the small
detachments after 1898 probably Lieutenant
John s. Stephens is best remembered on &C
count Of his eccentricities. which took curl
Gus turns. He had an uncomfortable dis
like for the citizens of the surrounding
country and would allow no civilians to
enter the post and ordered all property be-
longing to civilians taken from the reserva-
ton. This took valuable and necessary
buildings from the post, one of which was
the residence Of the former post trader and
was used for many years as a club house
for the officers. Many other actions on his
part made the government suspicious and
he was finally placed in an insane asylum.
Regret at It's Fate.
1t seems a pity that such large reserva-
tion Of 6O,O00 square acres has to be given
up by the War department. It has been the
scene of many practice marches and
maneuvers in the past and is suitable for
them now. The argument advanced by the
department that Nebraska has more than
its share OF posts Is not a very satisfactory
| explanation for the abandonment of this
place, for our neighboring states have many
more troops stationed within their borders
and none of the posts can boast Of such
suitable ground for maneuvering purposes,
Fort Niobrara is in a rich section of the
country All sorts of supplies can be pur-
chased at very cheap rates. Railroad IA
cllties are not the best at present, but
could easily be improved. Nebraska loses
a source Of revenue and the army loses an
excellent training ground but, on the other
hand, many people will gain beautiful
homesteads when the reservation is thrown
| open for settlement