Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
to fight and no trails to protect, the military decommissioned the fort and sold many
of its buildings at auction.
For decades, Fort Laramie existed as a small village, attracting a few curious his-
tory buffs, but not much else. Three homesteaders secured and used some of the ex-
isting buildings for businesses or agricultural purposes, preventing them from the
fate of many of the buildings, which were to be stripped and sold for valuable lumber
and other materials. By the numbers, nine original buildings survived by being useful
while more than 50 were demolished, moved, or stripped for lumber. In 1938, after
much wrangling among federal and state officials and private landowners, including
a battle over turning the fort into a golf resort, the 214 acres that had once been Fort
Laramie were made a national monument. In 1960, the monument was increased to
571 acres and named a National Historic Site by Congress. A great deal of restora-
tion took place at the fort from 1950-1970.
Today, visitors can amble around the grounds and peek into several of the restored
buildings. Admission for seven days is just $3. A very worthwhile audio tour,
including readings from journals of people who lived at the fort, is available at
the visitors center (8am-7pm daily Memorial Day-Labor Day, 8am-4:30pm daily
Labor Day-Memorial Day). The fort offers a Living History Military Weekend (visit
www.nps.gov/fola
for dates and details), which brings the fort to life with reenact-
ments and various educational events. The weekend is also the time for the annual
Moonlight Tour. Other events throughout the year include Haunted Prison Tours in
October and Horse Barn Dinner Theater evenings in summer.
While at the fort, visit the
cavalry barracks,
which clearly gives a sense of the cramped
living quarters of the soldiers, and
Old Bedlam,
initially the fort headquarters and later used
as officers' quarters. The officers were known to host wild parties in the building, hence its
name. Also on the grounds is an old stone
guardhouse
where prisoners were kept, a model
of the original
Fort John
building erected in 1841, and the old fort
bakery.
To get to the fort from Cheyenne, head north on I-80 for 80 miles to exit 92 for Guernsey
and Torrington. Drive east for 27.9 miles, turn right onto Highway 160, and follow the
signs. The drive is just over 113 miles and should take about an hour and 45 minutes.
