Road Trip Through History:Empire, Wyoming and Black Homesteading

This barely counts as a “road trip through history” post. It is more of a “a historical marker sends me looking for more information” post. The historical marker gave the bare-bones account* of Empire, Wyoming—a short-lived community of Black homesteaders in Goshen County, near the Nebraska-Wyoming border. The marker ended with this sentence: “Empire remains…

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Road Trip Through History: Fort Robinson

Forts and so-called “Indian agencies” and the relationship between them were a recurring them on our trip through the western plains.* The simple version is that agencies were established at various locations to manage trade and treaty obligations between the United States and the Native American nations. In theory, the agencies were intended to insure…

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