Smiley Canyon Road Trip
Discover Northwest Nebraska’s Smiley Canyon is one of our shortest trips, but takes adventurers on a scenic drive through the historic area just west of Fort Robinson. The trip starts outside of Crawford, Nebraska, near Fort Robinson State Park.
In Smiley Canyon you’ll find opportunities for hiking as well as excellent areas for photography and wildlife viewing (you’ll find a herd of bison while traveling through Smiley Canyon.) This trip is 16 miles long.
You’ll begin the trip south of Crawford and just east of Fort Robinson State Park on Highway 20. Head west, driving through Fort Robinson, one of Nebraska’s most significant places with regard to the history of the American West. Originally a temporary camp guarding the Red Cloud Agency from 1874-1877, the fort served the U.S. Military in multiple roles until it ceased to be a military post in 1947. Just some of the fort’s prominent history includes its role during the Indian Wars, its stationing of African American “Buffalo Soldiers” in the early 1900s and its serving as a German POW camp during World War II.
Travelers can easily make a day, or even a weekend of exploring the Fort and the nearby site of the Red Cloud Agency, but one essential stop along this road trip is the site of Crazy Horse’s death. To visit the site, navigate using the google map attached to the tour or stop at the fort’s large, brick, administration building west of the highway and ask for directions to the nearby site.
Just as you leave the fort to the west via Highway 20, you’ll immediately take a right turn onto the Smiley Canyon Scenic Drive. This one-way road will take you on a quick trip amid the Cheyenne Buttes, but before you reach the ridges, keep an eye out for a herd of bison that call the area home. Once into the buttes you’ll have the opportunity to stop and read a state historical marker honoring the 1879 Cheyenne Outbreak.
In 1878, a year after being taken from their traditional home to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma, the Northern Cheyenne tribe decided to leave the poor conditions of their reservation and, without permission, return to their native lands in the north. Over 350 Cheyennes took part in the breakout under the leadership of Dull Knife and Little Wolf. When they reached Nebraska the group split into two along the lines of its leaders. Little Wolf’s group sought to join Sitting Bull across the border in Canada, Dull Knife wanted to seek out Red Cloud at the Red Cloud Agency near Fort Robinson. What Dull Knife didn’t know was that Red Cloud and his people had been moved into Dakota Territory.
His party of 149 men, women and children were intercepted south of what is now Chadron and were taken to Fort Robinson on October 24, 1878. The group stayed at the fort through the end of the year as their requests to join Red Cloud were denied and they were eventually, in December, held prisoner in the fort’s barracks.
Under orders to pressure the Cheyenne to return to their reservation in modern-day Oklahoma, the commanding officer of the fort, who had previously asked his superiors for permission to let the Cheyenne stay, ceased giving the group firewood and food. On January 9, 1879, the Cheyenne executed their plan to break out from their confines, using weapons they had stored earlier to attack the guards. The group exited the fort under fire, some barefoot and ill-equipped for the trek through the snow.
They followed the White River southwest before cutting to the north and climbing over the buttes to the south of the marker’s location in order to evade their pursuers. As they continued to flee, the Cheyenne had sporadic engagements with the army in the area.
According to History Nebraska, 26 Cheyenne warriors were killed the night of the breakout and about 80 women and children were recaptured. The remaining group was able to move northwest and evaded capture until January 22. Some managed to escape, including Dull Knife and some of his family, and make their way to Red Cloud. 64 Cheyenne and 11 soldiers were killed during the breakout.
To continue on, follow the road west through the remainder of the scenic drive. For those wanting to explore the Smiley Canyon area, two trailheads offer hiking. The Cheyenne Butte trail is a 2.4-mile hike with its trailhead in the area of the state historical marker. The Smiley Canyon Loop Trail is a difficult hike at 8.75-miles. Its trailhead is further west along the Smiley Canyon Scenic Drive.
Heading west, you’ll eventually come to an intersection with Highway 20. Head east back toward Crawford. In about 3.5 miles on your return trip to Fort Robinson, you’ll notice a monument to the outbreak on land owned by Dull Knife College. Though the entrance is gated, visitors are free to pass through the gate to visit the monument. Please remember to close the gate after you’ve passed through both entering and leaving. A Nebraska State Historical Marker a bit farther east also commemorates the outbreak.