Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MM
Fort Laramie National Historic Site
An indelible part of Wyoming's history,
Fort Laramie
(307/837-2221,
www.nps.gov/fola
,
8am-7pm daily Memorial Day-Labor Day, 8am-4:30pm daily Labor Day-Memorial Day,
adults $3, free for seniors and children under 16) sits at the confluence of the Laramie and
North Platte Rivers. It was a major trading center, a military garrison, and the site where the
infamous Treaty of 1868 between the U.S. government and the Plains Indians was signed.
People from all walks of life, including Indians, trappers, missionaries, and homesteaders,
passed through the fort during its almost 50 years of existence.
Today there are 22 original structures on the 830 acres of this National Historic Site.
The first stop at the fort should be the
visitors center,
located in the old commissary build-
ing. There is an 18-minute video that describes the fort's rich history along with exhibits
with artifacts from frontier times, including weapons, uniforms, and historical photos. A
free brochure is available to help visitors with a self-guided tour, or experience the audio
tour ($3), which includes voices and sounds from the past.
THE GRAND OLD POST
Originally built as a fur trading post in 1834, Fort Laramie was established as a mil-
itary fort in 1849 when the U.S. government purchased the old Fort John. As was
true of most of the forts across the region, its mission was to ensure the safety of pi-
oneers traveling west on the established trails, the closest of which was the Oregon
Trail. The second military fort constructed for this purpose, Fort Laramie was unique
in that it was always an open fort, meaning there was no wall or fence enclosing the
structures.
In 1854, three years after the Treaty of 1851, which was meant to bring peace
between the Native Americans and the United States, 29 soldiers from Fort Laramie,
an officer, and an interpreter were killed in the Grattan Fight. The event fueled a new
ferocity in the war that raged throughout the 1860s and 1870s between Native Amer-
icans and the U.S. military. As the battles grew larger, Fort Laramie was often a sta-
ging ground and a command post.
By the late 1880s, when the Indian Wars were mostly a thing of the past, Fort
Laramie became more of a village than a fort. Trees were planted on the otherwise
barren landscape. Boardwalks were built in front of the officers' quarters. In March
1890, when the Union Pacific Railroad was routed south of the fort, with no enemy
