Fort Robinson and the American Century, 1900-1948 (review)

Duplicating one smashing publishing success with another is always a daunting challenge, particularly when the second work is an extension of the first. But that is nary a concern when the author is as gifted as the historian Thomas Buecker. His Fort Robinson and the American Century brims with all the qualities that made its older shelf-mate, Fort Robinson and the American West, 1874-1899 (Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, 1999), such a brilliant and compelling book: the skillful storytelling, the vivid characterizations of people and place, the weaving of divergent issues and themes into a coherent narrative, the meticulous research, the illuminating photographs, and most of all, Buecker's extraordinary understanding of military methods and culture combined with an engaging and evocative style suitable for a general readership. This volume, like his first, also gives weight to the old adage about all history being local by linking a remote section of northwestern Nebraska to events of national and international scope and importance.

Fort Robinson and the American Century continues the history of Fort Robinson, Nebraska, in its last half century of military service and beyond. It was a period during which the fort performed many functions. It was a Civilian Conservation Corps headquarters, a field artillery testing station, a quartermaster remount depot, an Olympic equestrian training ground, a World War II K-9 training center, and a prisoner of war camp. Then, after being closed as a military installation in 1948, the fort became a USDA beef cattle research station and a Soil Conservation Service training center. When those operations were eventually phased out in the early 1970s, the grounds and buildings were transferred to the state of Nebraska for public park and recreational purposes. Today, as the oldest public institution in northwestern Nebraska, Fort Robinson is a fully functioning state park, museum, and historic site administered by several state agencies and offices.

The bulk of Fort Robinson and the American Century is devoted to the Second World War. As the world's largest quartermaster remount depot, the fort supplied tens of thousands of horses and mules to the Allied military effort, hosting at its peak an animal population of over twelve thousand head. On this subject Buecker simply shines. Demonstrating phenomenal command over what is by any measure complex material, he provides one insight after another on the sophisticated science of preparing equestrian stock for overseas war duty. In addition to its role as quartermaster remount depot, Fort Robinson was also the nation's leading K-9 training center, specializing in sentry, guard, scout, messenger, and sled dogs. By October 1944, over 3,500 dogs had been trained and released for service. Concurrent with these operations, a part of the fort was being utilized as a prisoner of war camp, with 2,980 German soldiers coming under guard by January 1945. Buecker makes a convincing argument that when considered against this range of activity, it is difficult to imagine another American military post of comparable size contributing more to the Allied victories over Germany and Japan than Fort Robinson, Nebraska.

With the publication of this second volume, Thomas Buecker has completed an invaluable service by adding greatly to our knowledge of an important and longstanding military site. His work is certain to remain for years to come a blueprint for others to follow undertaking the study of similar institutions.