Tues., July 14
7 p.m.
Lincoln County Historical Museum
North Platte, NE
Sat, July 18 & Sun, July 19
Lewis & Clark Visitor Center
Nebraska City, NE
Tues., July 21
7 p.m.
Scotts Bluff National Monument
Gering, NE
Wed., July 22
3 p.m.
Museum of Nebraska Art
Kearney, NE
Thur., July 23
12 noon
North Platte Public Library
North Platte, NE
BOOK AN APPEARANCE FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION TODAY!
Contact
Jeff Barnes at
(402) 516-6465 or jeff@northernforts.com
(click above)
Forts of the 51 fort sites in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming
Northern Plains
125 photographs and historic images
Directions, visitor information and nearby points of interest
$19.95, 220 pgs.,
ISBN
978-0-8117-3496-7
from Stackpole Books
National Park
Sites
Fort Laramie (WY)
Fort Union (ND/MT)
State & Local Sites
Iowa
Fort Dodge
Minnesota
Fort Ridgely
Fort Ripley
Fort Snelling
Nebraska
Fort Atkinson
Fort Hartsuff
Fort Kearny
Fort Omaha
Fort Robinson
North Dakota
Fort Abercrombie
Fort Abraham Lincoln
Fort Buford
Fort Ransom
Fort Stevenson
Fort Totten
South Dakota
Fort Meade
Fort Sisseton
Wyoming
Fort Caspar
Fort D. A. Russell
Fort Fetterman
Fort Fred Steele
Fort Phil Kearny
A freelance writer and fifth-generation Nebraskan, Jeff Barnes is a former newspaper reporter and editor, past chairman of the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission, and former marketing director for the Durham Western Heritage Museum. He traveled more than 13,000 miles in researching and photographing Forts of the Northern Plains, his first book.
Barnes sought and gained access to restricted military and private sites to compile the most complete guide to the forts published in years. He researched and added histories of each of the sites, along with information helpful to anyone wanting to visit them.
He is currently writing and researching for his second book - Forts of the Southern Plains - covering the historic military posts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas during the Plains Indian Wars of that region.
Book a guide to frontier forts on the plains
(Lincoln Journal-Star)
Books: Author laid siege to project
(Omaha World-Herald)
On KFAB in Omaha
Barnes pens historical travel guide
(Ashland Gazette)
On KCCR in Pierre
On KGFX in Pierre
Author's love of history benefits all readers
(Council Bluffs Nonpareil)
Book features Fort Seward
(Jamestown Sun)
Ft. Abercrombie featured in new book about Great Plains forts
(Wahpeton Daily News)
"A much-needed, up-to-date guide to these forts that were critical to the army presence during the Indian campaigns of the late nineteenth century. This book should be on the shelves of everyone with an interest in the West during this traumatic period of American history."
Jerome A. Greene, historian, National Park Service (retired) and author of Indian War Veterans: Memories of Army Life and Campaigns in the West, 1864-1898
-----------------------
"It has been nearly twenty-five years since a guidebook has been published on the old forts of the Northern Plains. This book fills that void with detailed historic summaries, current status, and a call for their preservation. I heartily recommend it."
Col. Herbert M. Hart, USMC (Ret.), Council on America's Military Past
Forts of the Northern Plains is a guide to 51 historic military posts of the Plains Indian Wars, primarily those involved in the wars with the Sioux (Dakota) Indians. The book was written by Jeff Barnes, with a foreword by U.S. Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska.
Released in June 2008 by Stackpole Books,
the book includes the seven northern states of the Great Plains. It gives a brief history of each of the posts, why they were built and what became of them, illustrated by historical images and present-day photographs. The guide covers the frontier forts from the late 1810s through the 1890s, reflecting the period of the first and last military conflicts with the Plains Indians. This is the most complete reference guide to the forts in nearly 40 years and adds several sites not included in earlier works.More than a reference book, however, Forts of the Northern Plains is also an historical travel guide to
the military posts. The book includes information on visiting each of the sites, with directions, admissions and hours, ammenities, special events, nearby attractions, and other tips. In planning a trip, you'll know which sites will provide vacation entertainment for the whole family... and which ones are for the most die-hard "road warrior" historian. You'll know where you can walk in the footsteps of Custer and the Seventh Cavalry, and of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.For the armchair traveler, present-day photos for each of the sites are included, as are historical depictions of the posts. Effort was made to include images not previously published in histories of the forts.
"Jeff Barnes has produced a valuable combination of history and travel guide for all students of the northern Plains Indian wars. A very timely, very impressive work."
Robert M. Utley, former chief historian of the National Park Service and author of Frontier Regulars: The United States Army and the Indian, 1866-1891
Forts of the Northern Plains is available direct from the author . You may also purchase the book at independent and major book retailers throughout the midwest, from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Target.com, and many other bookselling websites.
(NOTE: Book photography is black & white.)
As the first official symbols of the U.S. government on the Western frontier, the forts of the Northern Plains were both centers of commerce and sources of conflict.
The earliest forts were constructed to promote trade with the native tribes and to keep the British out of newly acquired territories. These forts were built along the river routes, primarily the Missouri.
The forts that followed were used to keep peace between enemy tribes, and as settlement of the plains increased, to keep peace between the whites and Indians. Forts were built in advance of the railroads that crossed the plains, not only to protect the work crews but to help enforce the law when the crews themselves became unruly.In their latter days, the forts became distribution points for annuity payments to the tribes on their reservations, and in some instances, the forts were built purely for political favoritism for local business
interests.Most of the forts were abandoned as their original purposes expired, and time, man and the elements all took their toll. A few continued as military posts, although serving a much more modern military. Some returned as forts in the form of state and national parks; others with buildings remaining became museums, a veterans' home and a community college. The land of still others now serve as a national cemetery and as a wildlife refuge. Many are remembered today only by their ruins or an historical marker.
With great thanks to my friends who helped make this happen!
Michele Bruntz, Trish Newell, Lee Conner,
Barry Trevarrow, Kristine Gerber,
Paul Nyholm, Dee Schlautman
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