Some eighty miles north of Scottsbluff, just west of Crawford village, Fort Robinson State Park , beside 1000ft crenelated cliffs in the inhospitable White River Valley, preserves the spot where the US Army coordinated its campaign to rid the gold-rich Badlands of the native Sioux. Today, it's a cross between a dude ranch and a living history village; a cosmeticization which makes the memories of the obliteration of an entire way of native life all the more poignant.

Restored fort buildings contain period furnishings, and there are two small museums. A simple stone marks the spot where Crazy Horse was killed; the tour train (three per day; $3) acknowledges it with a mere ten-second halt. Good-value horseback rides pass some wondrously weird rock formations, and Fort Robinson Lodge (tel 308/665-2900; $75-100) has nice rooms as well as bargain cottages; the Lodge's restaurant serves cheap buffalo tacos and other beef and bison dishes. There is good camping for $8 per person, or you could really rough it, at the beautiful but remote Toadstool Geological Park, 25 miles to the north.

The town of CHADRON , 23 miles east of Fort Robinson, is worth a visit principally for the small Museum of the Fur Trade , four miles east on US-20 (summer daily 8am-5pm; $2.50) - a valuable historical archive illustrating the unique barter system that operated between fur traders and local Native Americans.

Fort Robinson State Park

• Fort Robinson State Park
• Crazy Horse

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