Dr. Emmett Essin, an East Tennessee State University history professor, will speak at the sixth Fort Robinson History Conference in Crawford, Neb., on April 28.
Essin’s presentation is “They Wore Diamonds: Pack Mules, Indispensable Logistical Support for the Army.” During his career, Essin has researched extensively the American West, especially the role played by the mule in the United States Army. His monograph, Shavetails and Bell Sharps, has been referred to as the seminal work on the U.S. Army pack mule.
The conference, held on alternate years, is sponsored by the Nebraska State Historical Society and has as its theme “Four-Legged Soldiers: The Horse and the Mule in the Plains Wars and Beyond.”
Fort Robinson provides an appropriate setting for historians. Founded in 1874 to protect the nearby Red Cloud Agency outpost, the facility became one of the largest military installations on the northern Plains, continuing operations through World War II as a site for training K-9 Corps dogs and as a prisoner-of-war camp.

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