Much of his writing deals with the United States Army in the West, especially in its confrontations with the Indian tribes.

He wrote: The Western History Association annually gives out the Robert M. Utley Book Award for the best book published on the military history of the frontier and western North America.

He attended nearby Purdue University, receiving a Bachelor of Science in history.

He then attended Indiana University Bloomington for graduate school, receiving a Master of Arts in history in 1952.

[6] In 1997 he was awarded the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for lifetime achievement given by the Society for Military History.