Near here are ruts left by the famed 1874 Sioux Expedition, a U.S. military force sent to establish Camps Sheridan and Robinson. The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie had guaranteed food and supplies to the Sioux and other tribes in exchange for lands ceded to the United States. To distribute annuity goods, Red Cloud Agency was established on the North Platte River below Fort Laramie. In 1873 the agency was relocated to the White River Valley near present-day Crawford.
Misunderstandings between Indian leaders and agents hampered the distribution of supplies during the winter of 1873-74. In three separate incidents in February, hostile bands of Sioux killed freighter Edward Gray, Red Cloud agent Frank Appleton, and two soldiers from Fort Laramie, including Lieutenant Levi Robinson. General Philip Sheridan responded by organizing the Sioux Expedition.
In early March nearly one thousand troops followed an old fur-trade route from Fort Laramie to the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies. The establishment of Camps Robinson and Sheridan maintained an uneasy peace until the outbreak of the Sioux War two years later. Camp Robinson was renamed Fort Robinson in 1878 and the improved Fort Laramie--Fort Robinson Trail helped supply this outpost on the plains.
