Fort Robinson: Outpost on the Plains

by Roger T. Grange

BUILDING FORT ROBINSON

Several building periods can be identified in the development of Fort Robinson. The following description of the old post was written when it was under construction in 1874.

The camp is 160 yards square. Officers’ quarters are on the north, infantry barracks on the east and west and cavalry barracks, guard house and storehouse on the south sides. The barracks are built of logs, in panels of 15 feet each. For the infantry they are two in number, each 150 by 24 feet by 9 feet high to the eaves, divided in the center to accommodate two companies. They have a shed extension at the rear, 12 feet wide, the length of the building, partitioned off for mess-rooms, kitchens and wash rooms. The cavalry barrack is built in the same way, but only 90 feet long, for the accommodation of one company with mess-room and kitchen like the others. These buildings are unceiled, have shingle roofs, log walls, window sashes and are floored. One building 142 by 24 feet, 8¼ feet to eaves, and from eaves to ridge 7½ feet, is built of logs, with shingle roof, and divided into twelve sets of two rooms each, and occupied as quarters for married soldiers and laundresses.

The officer’s quarters are to be all alike, six sets being authorized each 38 feet long by 32 feet wide and 10 feet high, one for the commanding officer and five for company officers. They have stone foundations,[41] walls of adobe [bricks] and are to be ceiled by boards and plastered. In each building there are to be four rooms, 15 feet square, with a central hall, four feet wide. The dining rooms and kitchens in the rear are to be made of lumber.[42]

The warehouses, stables, and other buildings of the early post were constructed of logs, log slabs, or boards. The first post hospital, a log building, was not completed until November 1875, tents and dugouts being used to house the sick and the post surgeon until that time. In addition to the military buildings there was a post trader’s residence and store-saloon, and next to it a small log building housing a photographer’s studio.

The beginning of the new decade in the 1880’s saw some expansion of the post with the construction of another log barracks, an adobe barracks for the band, and a residence for the band leader. The replacement of the log hospital by a concrete structure and other additions were all made before 1886. In 1887 expansion of Fort Robinson, connected with projected reduction of Fort Laramie, took place on a newly established parade ground, northwest of the original one, along the north side of which was constructed a series of duplex adobe brick officers’ quarters, six in number. On the opposite side, adobe brick barracks were built, and beyond them new frame cavalry stables. The post commander, Col. Edward Hatch, wanted to use fired brick for the new quarters but was overruled despite the equality of cost and the superior quality of fired brick. Only a year later a forty hour storm caused the unprotected walls of some of the adobe houses to collapse. However, once repaired, they proved durable and are still in use today.

In the early 1890’s Fort Robinson was further expanded with the construction of additional officers’ quarters in 1891, and the following year more storehouses and a much needed replacement for the old guardhouse were added. New gun sheds, quartermaster stables, wheelwright and blacksmith shops also were built in the 1890’s.

During this period there were so many families of Ninth Cavalrymen at the post that the old log barracks buildings as well as the original laundresses’ quarters were being used as dwellings for enlisted men’s families. Some new quarters for noncommissioned officers’ families were also in use by this time, and the original 1874 officers’ adobes eventually became noncom headquarters.

Construction and improvement continued in the early 1900’s with the 1904 addition of a post gymnasium, and in 1905 a frame headquarters building was built. Today the headquarters structure is the Fort Robinson Museum, a branch of the Nebraska State Historical Society.

In 1901 a brick hospital building was erected, and the old concrete structure became the Post Exchange. Before the hospital was even completed the surgeon asked for an additional wing, which was immediately added, as well as a large annex at the rear to accommodate the increasing garrison. Brick buildings built in 1906-1912 included stables, stable guard quarters, blacksmith shops, fire station, bakery, company barracks buildings, bachelor officers’ quarters and officers’ residences. At one time an elaborate plan to convert the entire post to the new brick style was drawn up but was never carried out. Needless to say, along with construction came the destruction of old and outmoded buildings which were replaced. The only remnants of the original post of the 1870’s standing today are the six adobe officers’ quarters.

In 1927 the Remount Service began new major construction, building several elaborate horse stables. All buildings were repaired and several recreational facilities were built by the CCC during the 1930’s. Expansion during World War II included a large number of temporary buildings for use by the War Dog Training Center and the Prisoner of War Camp.

The temporary buildings were sold as surplus and removed after the war, and more unused residences and other buildings were torn down in 1956. There remains today an example of each major building period at the post, although some types of structures and materials used are no longer to be seen.