G.A.S.P.

(Great Adventures to Scenic Places)

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July 1, 1999

I rode from Chadron to Harrison, Nebraska on Rt. 20. The only real point of interest along the way, but it was a good one, is Fort Robinson State Park. While this now is a Nebraska State Park, it was a U.S. Army fort from 1874 to 1948. The fort was originally established to protect The Red Cloud Indian Agency from hostile Indians, and later served as an outpost during the Indian "wars" that lasted until the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890. Later the fort served as a cavalry headquarters (up through WWI) and then as a dog training center and a POW camp (for German Afrika Corp prisoners) during

WWII. The Army closed the fort in 1948, and the State took it over as a State Park in 1955. Many historic buildings remain, including a row of Officers’ quarters dating from 1874/1875 that are used today as rental housing for park visitors. (Photo 90) The fort is probably best known as the site where Crazy Horse, famed Sioux warrior, was killed in 1877. Some eyewitnesses claim he was killed by an Army private as he tried to escape imprisonment; others say he was inadvertently stabbed with his own knife as he struggled with another Sioux Chief, Little Big Man, who was trying to disarm him and prevent the escape.

I noticed that Rt. 20 has signs along it proclaiming it to be a "Controlled Access Highway." I’m not sure what this means because it’s just an ordinary two-lane road, but I suspect it has something to do with not allowing access to farm fields from the main road. The designation became real funny, however, as I approached Harrison, a town of 261 people, and found a sign that read "Harrison, next 4 exits". The exits, of course, were the four streets in the town that intersected the highway.