In April of 1862, Captain Levi Rinehart traveled to the American West as a member of the 11th Regiment with the Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. First dispatched to Fort Leavenworth, the troops then moved onward to Fort Laramie, arriving on May 30th. During this time, the “Eleventh Ohio” was charged with protecting various locations along the North Platte River, including the Overland Mail route, telegraph stations, and other American encampments. In carrying out these duties, Rinehart and his fellow soldiers often found themselves in conflict with Native American tribes, including one memorable battle during the winter of 1865. “On November 28, Colonel John M. Chivington led Colorado volunteers in an attack on a large Indian camp at Sand Creek, Colorado. This infamous assault sparked a general uprising that would spread across the Central Plains.... Trouble began on February 13, when Captain Rinehart left Deer Creek [Station] with ten men to pursue Cheyennes who had raided a prospector's camp. The soldiers intercepted the Indians near La Prele Creek, and in a brief skirmish Rinehart was killed." He was 29. Life for the western soldier at this time consisted of sustained moments of calm punctuated by intense violence. "Despite Indian hostilities, life for the Eleventh Ohio generally consisted of monotonous routine, especially at the scattered stage stations.... Recreation consisted mainly of reading and hunting." For his part, Rinehart used some of this free time to create lasting visual documents showing those critical locations during an extremely tumultuous period of American history. Eight of his works have been documented, three of which were returned to his family with his "effects." The watercolor scenes displayed here are the remaining group of five that, remarkably, have survived. Quotations from: David P. Robrock, "The Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Cavalry on the Central Plains, 1862-1866"