Fort Robinson breakout

The Fort Robinson breakout or Fort Robinson massacre was the attempted escape of Cheyenne captives from the U.S. army during the winter of 1878-1879 at Fort Robinson in northwestern Nebraska. In 1877, the Cheyenne had been forced to relocate from their homelands on the northern Great Plains south to the Darlington Agency on the Southern Cheyenne Reservation in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). In September 1878, in what is called the Northern Cheyenne Exodus, 353 Northern Cheyenne fled north because of poor conditions on the reservation. In Nebraska, the U.S. Army captured 149 of the Cheyenne, including 46 warriors, and escorted them to Fort Robinson.

In January 1879, after the Cheyenne had refused an earlier order to return to the south, the soldiers began to treat them harshly to try to force them south. They were confined to a barracks without food, water, or wood for heat. Most of the band escaped the barracks on January 9, but the US Army hunted them down. The Cheyenne were poorly armed and outnumbered by 175 soldiers pursuing them. On January 22, the army surrounded and killed most of the last 37 escapees. In total, the army recaptured about 70 of the Cheyenne and killed about 60. A few escaped, including Dull Knife, the Cheyenne leader. Eleven soldiers and one Indian scout were killed by the Cheyenne.