R n the P 'os i l ui s qf ost p ta .

T'E CO'ER

Con ten ts ' Entitled Fort Laramie or Sublettes Fort near ' the Nebraska, or Platte River, the sketch repro The Old Guardhouse duce d here was originally made in watercolor by Fur-Trading Era Alfred Miller (1 8 1 0 an American artist who Fort Laramie as a Pioneer Post accompanied the expedition of Sir William Drum 1 837 1 Fort Laramie as a Military Post mond Stewart to the West in and 838 . The Fort Laramie Today scene depicted shows a colorful Indian encamp Allied Sites of Interest ment in front of the palisades an d blockhouses of

old Fort Laramie . The sketch is from the Alfred l Mi ler Collection in the possession of Mrs . Clyde

Porter , Kansas City, Mo . , and reproduced with

her permission .

UN I TED STATE S D EPARTM E NT O F TH E I NTER I O R

A LD C 'E Secretaz O . H R L I S , gy

AT I O NAL PAR ' SER 'I C E NE'TO B Da n y N N . n D re r , i cto Fort Laramie N ation a Mon u me n t

NO 'ISTORIC SITE in the Rocky Mountain region is Others seeking adventure or a better and more I of . ts u more important than that Fort Laramie fruitf l life , found protection and supplies at Fort

as - as story fur trading station and military post Laramie , the great way station on the road to the

its epitomizes the history of the successive stages by West . In last decades it was a center for which the immense territory reaching from the negotiations with the northern plains Indians , and Missouri River t o the Pacific coast was Opened to a base for military Operations which drove the l settlement and occupied by adventurous and Indians from their o d homes . It served also as a

- freedom loving American and European pioneers station and a protection for the Pony Express , the seeking to build new and better homes for them overland stage, and the mail service . ’ Of 1 880 s selves and their children on the virgin land In the , with the final subjugation Of the

of i the West . plains Indians and with the coming the ra lroad on of its Located the rolling plains the southeastern as the chief means of travel , Fort Laramie lost

of part the present Wyoming, Fort Laramie was usefulness as a military post and was abandoned in

'

1 834 of 1 890 . e founded in during the mighty days Rocky This famous post , howev r, will long be

Mountain fur trapping and trading, and saw this remembered for the notable part it played in the '

wax . it typically pioneer business and decline By s history of western settlement . The men Of varied

who gates , facing upon the Oregon Trail , passed the origins who passed it on their westward trek or firs t Protestant missionaries and the first home lived there as traders or soldiers were imbued with seekers on their way t o the Oregon country to the democratic faith and helped to establish that l a -Off f . o bui d new America on the far shores of the faith in the vast territory west the . 'Missouri ' Pacific . Mormons seeking to found a new ion To them, to their achievements , to their demo

of ' - n in e rs in the promised land tah, forty hoping cratic ideals , and to the post itself, Fort Laramie f that Cali ornia was El Dorado, prospectors bound National Monument has been created as a for the mines of Montana and Idaho , and hosts of memorial .

e r 7 42 A sk tch of Fo t Laramie in 8 . F ar Tradin Em portant group of guides for the Federal Govern g al ment in its first surveys Of the centr Rockies . Notable though its pioneering achievements L O T N OT NG AF ER the Louisiana Purchase , Ameri were , the Rocky Mountain Fur Co . lacked the cans began to exploit the lucrative fur resources financial resources and marketing facilities of the of the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains . larger fur companies . Competition was in cre as 1 8 1 2 Late in , Robert Stuart , carrying dispatches in g ly keen and unscrupulous 'and both the price w for John Jacob Astor east ard from Astoria at the and the demand for beaver skins , principal object of r mouth the Columbia River, reached the neigh of trapping, g adually declined as silk and other i borhood of the future Fort Laramie and subse hats began to replace the once fash onable beaver . ’ in 1 83 1 quently gave what is apparently the first written Finally, , Astor s powerful American Fur

Co . began to Operate in the central Rockies and description Of the region . Ten years later the to diminish still further the business of its small Rocky Mountain Fur Co . was launched to open

competitors . Three years later , the Rocky Moun up the rich central Rocky Mountain region . This

Co . tain Fur , unable to meet these adverse condi company, first to exploit the Fort Laramie region , wa v s . tions , dissol ed opened up the country around the sources of the a 1 834 saw That same ye r, , the establishment of ' w Platte , Green , ello stone , and Snake Rivers , and Fort Laramie , the product of the foresight of gave the world its first real information concerning William L . Sublette and Robert Campbell, two the character and the potentialities of this vast partners with more than a decade of experience territory . Its trappers and traders discovered as trappers, traders , and entrepreneurs . They Great Salt Lake and were the first to go from that realized that the declining demand for beaver . Californ ia point southwesterly to southern and skins and the g rowing market for buffalo pelts westerly across the barren lands of Utah and would soon force the abandonment of the annual al Nevada to the Sierras and C ifornia . The most mountain rendezvous for the exchange of goods i r s . famous explo ers of the Far West , the Rocky and beaver skin For, wh le white trappers

CO . im l Mountain Fur men composed the most large y procured the beaver skins , they did not

An er ew o the Old G r ' e oth vi f ua d ous . — F r an e r r w n F T LA MI E I 7863 . then generally compete with the Indians in se OR RA N om a ly d a i g made M llman r Co. G E e en O C L r e B ler C. oe l l w w by ug , , v th hio ava y . a ami curing and tanning buffalo hides , hich ere P ke en i re r n re or t R iver in foreground . ic t f ce n right a is e closu f he w idely used as lap robes and overcoats , the de l e e er w ere the new l was l w en the l one o d c m t y, h hospita bui t h o d

w as . mand for hich w constantly mounting As - was n e . to be een s k o the ree le . disma tl d This is s ju t bac f th gab d

' ’ w l n the os t sutler s e The lr le are to the shre d business men , Sublette and Campbell per bui di g ( p hom '. cava y stab s

ex re e r en er . I n the en er o the re and to the ex c e ived that under these circumstances a perma t m ight c t c t f pictu , treme rea r (low roofs a nd tops windows just showing'is the nent trading post mus t necessarily replace the of ’ ler r ll o th t er r A e r a e w e e . sut s sto e. f oofs this dat mad of di t h ' moving rendezvous . Indians , not w ite men , ' ' Be l n a t the r o the a s ta re l e n the d am sta ds ight f fl g fi, di cty b hi d ff bulky bu alo pelts , not small beaver skins , must r nn n L r e e n r fou ca o . a ami P ak i the backg ound . w u be dealt ith, and a walled post was conseq ently needed for the safe storage of trade supplies and to the river and the surrounding region in memory

Laramé buffalo hides . of jacques (or La Ramie', a trapper The junction of the Laramie and the Platte reported to have been killed about 1 8 21 by Indians Rivers was in the buffalo country of the Sioux and on the banks of the stream now known as the

w . had long been used for trade ith the Indians Laramie River . 1 8 34 Here , therefore , early in the summer of , a During its heyday as a fur trading post in the ’ ’ 1 0 a n i 4 s . 83 s d 8 0 trading station was established Rectangular in the early , Fort Laramie was the

w 1 5 of I n as . form , the post enclosed by pickets about center the vast fur country of the Rockies

two u w feet high . Three blockhouses , at diagonal the spring, goods and s pplies for trading ere

o n e f . The o f corners and over the front gate , defended the brought from Council Bluf s arri val the

n Of station . The storage rooms and the quarters for supply cara van was the great occurre ce the the men were placed against the inside of the year for the men of the post shut off from con tact

of w w - n m Stockade . Named Fort William in honor Sub ith civilization . I t broke the inter lo g onot

was w lette , the post shortly sold to a fur company ony'eastern ne spapers told of the happenings in c w w headed by Thomas Fitzpatri k , regarded by his the vast outside orld 'and eagerly a aited letters ' ' w w n l . o t he fello s as the outstanding mountain man br ught ord of relatives a d O d friends . l n

1 8 36 n w Bought in September by the American Fur spri g , too , the company trappers , equipped ith w ’ Co . as of 5 a o ut h . , Fort William rebuilt adobe about bea ver tr ps , set to make the year s catc

w a n d was w m e t o t he a n u a years later hen its logs began to decay , Mean hile , the pack ules proceed d n l

s w t he m h m n a n s o u t . t e chri tened Fort john Popularly , ho ever , su mer rendez vous in ou t i , the

was w o ffu r n o s w e post kno n as Fort Laramie , the name given standing feature tradi g in the R ckie , h re ’ e Th adobe sutler s store as it exists today .

w of don me n t of n hite traders met hundreds Indians with skins the an ual rendezvous . These devel

whi o me n t s and furs ch they traded for gaudy finery, beads , p , however, did not immediately lessen the e il of kniv s , combs , mirrors , verm ion , tobacco, and importance permanent stations like Fort

For w oo e . fire ate r . t ff At the rendezvous , , the indep ndent Laramie the trade in bu alo robes continued ’ e m l trappers supplies w re renewed for the co ing to mount , and Indians cou d be depended upon

r year . When the rendezvous with its keen t ading, to bring these to the post . Indeed , Indians came

mi as r boisterous merriment , reckless gambling, and hard to regard Fort Lara e the g eat trading post

was . drinking over , the furs secured by trade and of the central Rockies

i as brought in by American Fur Co . employees were In and around the fort at most t mes w found packed on mules and taken to Fort Laramie to a colorful as semblage of Americ an traders and

- l of . n n become part the trading stock trappers , India s , French Canadia s , and ha f

. an d in Beaver skins were Obtained also through com breeds Late in the summer the fall , bands

out of x i pany traders sent from the fort to visit Indian Siou , Cheyennes , and Arapahoes , seek ng to

w . hi bands as far a ay as northern Montana Sup trade with w te men , camped near the post in m f . o plied usually with alcohol , tobacco , ver ilion , large numbers At all seasons the year , how

of n . and the other articles of barter , these traders , in ever, clusters India lodges were to be seen ’ d the post s early years , still brought back significant Unscrupulous and unrestraine competition led 40 . 1 8 i additions to the beaver skin stocks By , to use of d luted alcohol as the most common ar

f an d t ic le f w o o t . ho ever, the increasing scarcity beavers rade Eagerly sought by the Indian , the declining demand for beaver pelts greatly alcohol was given to him at exorbitant prices in

m of u w . w diminished the i portance Of the lone trader and , terms skins and f rs Incidents ere kno n of even more significantly, brought about the aban Indians who e ven exchanged e verything they — — d . r , r r l possesse fu s , lodge ho ses fo a keg of alcoho F ort Laramie as a P ioneer P ost The sale of alcohol became so pre valent and so the in As A L'AS 1 8 1 8 of com destructive in its effect on Indian that the E R , the rich potentialities the ’ arativel k early 1 840 s the American Fur Co . attempted to p y un nown Oregon country were called

r f e . secure st ingent en orcement of the Federal laws to the attention of Eastern rs by Hall J Kelley , a agai nst selling in toxicatin g beverages to the In Massachusetts school teacher who became an ff of e dian s . But these e orts were only partly success enthusiastic advocate emigration to the Or gon ful in of of , and alcohol continued to exert a baleful region through his study the reports Lewis and

n a . . fluence o both the Indian and the fur tr de Clark In the years that followed , the tales of trap

1 845 wa s ff In it estimated that bu alo robes pers , explorers , and missionaries promoted curiosity were sent out from Fort Laramie in a sin gle ship about the almost untouched lands of t he Pacific ’ of of l83os ment , and that pounds beaver skins had coast, and by the end the , widespread Th n w . e n . was e bee collected the previous year Occasionally, interest manifested in the country

flatboa ts f . . bullboats , made of bu falo hide , were missionary activities of the Rev Jason Lee , Dr

o hi . . . sent down the North Platte River with cargoes f Marcus W tman , and the Rev H H Spalding , the

an d i n robes sk ns , but only for a short season in the pioneer Protesta t missionaries of the Oregon coun

was . t o spring the river deep enough for navigation try, all ofwhom accompanied the supply caravans

a of It was much s fer to send the robes and skins Fort Laramie and wrote brief descriptions it , were across country to Fort Pierre on the Missouri particularly notable in arousing public interest . t 1 8 37 River , and then by boat to St . Louis , the grea The hard times that followed the panic of ,

of . n f emporium the American fur trade In time , a and belief in the greater opportu ities af orded by was i l f reg ular wagon road established between Forts the virg n soi o the Pacific coast , brought about 4 f Laramie and Pierre . the emig ration in 1 8 1 o the first organized band m f 0 With the establish ent by Jim Bridger, the best o approximately 8 home seekers bound for Cali h w 1 843 f rn ia . was kno n of the mountain men , in of the famous o and the Oregon country T is the first fort in southwestern Wyomin g which is called by of many annual wagon trains that went westward

t v i . his name , the rading acti ities of Fort Laramie along the Oregon Tra l past Fort Laramie The w ere given greater scope . Bridger conducted first center of white habitation for hun dreds of r much of his trade th ough Fort Laramie , sending miles , the fort was a welcome sight to weary emi sea shells and other articles procured in California grants who had been on the treeless plains for ' re aired the ir to the post , in addition to beaver pelts and deer weeks . Here they paused , p outfits , skins . replenished their supplies , gave their horses and

1 845 n - i After the enormous increase in overla d cattle a much needed rest , and obta ned the latest emigration and travel to the Pacific coast brought information on the condition of the route before a new source of profit in the supplies sold to emi leaving the plain s and proceeding into the moun

fi t ain ous e 1 8 50 grants who made Fort Laramie their rst stop for t rritory where , before , supplies

- . be n l rest and provisioning After that year , fur trading could not usually secured u ti the Oregon t activities became rela ively much less importan t , country was reached . One writer describes Fort ' and with the sale of the post to the United States Laramie as furnishing importa nt assistance and Government in 1 849 its day as a center of the fur protection to hundreds of our people on their way

. of trade passed to Oregon an d California . Some them had lost

- n was adve n t ur i w The fur tradi g era an exciting , their horses and oxen , the r wagons broke do n , i ous , and important phase of frontier history . It and others aga n were sick , unable to travel , some

o f is , therefore , only fitting that Jim Bridger, Thomas had broken limbs and some entirely destitute

l an d h a ll f Fitzpatrick , Wi liam Sublette , the other trap anyt ing like provisions , of these un ortunate ' pers and traders of the Rocky Mountain West in dividuals met with instant relief.

I n 1 843 m should be commemorated as men whose courage , , the first great igration passed Fort ''7 m of initiative , and determination made possible the Laramie . holc fa ilies migrated , a census

o f of w 260 1 30 w exploration much the Far West and so both the annual caravan sho ing men , omen ,

n o f stimulated and facilitated the settlement of home and 6 1 0 children . For the ext quarter a cen

- t seekers to the vast trans Missouri country . tury annual cara vans and scores of independen of i 1 849 companies took tens thousands of emigrants west The greatest em g ration , however , came in , ward to build new States in the Rocky Mountain when or more gold seekers followed the trail n l i w l r a d country and o the Pacific coast . Not unti the to Cal fornia in a i d ush to gain quick n easy ' l was s . a Union Pacific Railroad con tructed in the wealth Singly, in sm l groups , in large parties , ’ 1 860 s r did the Oregon Trail , the g eat thorough the wagons and pack animals paused at Fort t he its r fare of the covered wagon to West, lose out La amie for rest and supplies , but soon were once

on standing significance . more the road to the Golden West . The year 1 847 witnessed the emigration of a new The following year it was estimated that even

on t he and , to most Americans, extremely curious element, more emigrants were trail , about l . auvoo a . the Mormons Driven out of N , Ill . , by being the number usu ly given So vast was the

as d of r r persecution , they ha been hounded previously tide emig ation that facilities for repai work at

of s u r w out Mi so ri , the fi st band of Mormons , led by Fort Laramie ere inadequate for the needs of the

ho ' L . l w vigorous Brigham oung, paused at Fort aramie emigrants The mi itary authorities , were

n of on their way to fou d a settlement in Salt Lake now in charge the fort , particularly noted the ’ ' on m alley, whose virgin soil they hoped at last to urgent need for blacksmith and wagon akers

1 8 1 n . . 5 find freedom from intolerance shops In , the emigration decli ed to about

A view z ie in 7870 .

1 8 5 2 but rose again in to about In Supplies and utensils were loaded on the handcarts , . w fl on e or the follo ing years , numbers uctuated greatly, of which was assigned to four five persons l f ' emigration to Ca i ornia and Oregon rapidly who made the long trip on foot, pushing and 1 5 i was 8 0 . n . diminishing after the peak reached in pulli g the . carts The hardsh ps suffered by

For some years , however, the number of Mor emigrant parties are demonstrated in the suffer

n i as two a mons bou d for Utah rema ned fairly constant , ings of the l t h ndcart companies which 1 partly because of the aid given poor emig rants crossed the plains in 8 56 . Inadvisedly starting - from Europe and the Eastern States by the Per the long trip across the plains late in July with

e t ual E the m p migration Fund Of Church of Latter deficient supplies , they were delayed by the eces i . 1 8 56 s t of . Day Saints In , the Mormons began and y repairing their carts At Fort Laramie i cont nued for several years to use modest handcarts they replenished their provisions , but there was

hi i . of . was on a large scale in place teams T s unusual still not enough , and rationing nstituted

v inno ation was necessitated by the inability of the Cold weather and snow overtook them, but cloth

was ff Mormon Church any longer to buy wagons and ing insu icient , and , in their fatigued and

f r f 2 o o . 00 horses the use emigrants Carts not unlike weakened condition , about persons of the

of - w those present day street sweepers were used . more than died . Some of the dead ere

amie today . ' Old Be l in 7874 The w n at t e n o l n er ex ts . d am . i g h left o g is

' ' ’ S wn ere Are r ew Old Be l r r e r e icers r er t e r er a nd l en er . ho h fou vi s of d am , histo icf am st u ofl q ua t s, pos h adq ua t s, socia c t ’ ure at F rt L r e w een e at r e le r l o the r r n l l n . l o a ami , hich has b us d va ious tim s as so su viva f fo t s o igi a bui di gs

A view of the structure about 7902 The l n in 7938 r r to the en e en re or n bui di g , p io comm c m t of st atio .

' Old Be l as it n ow e r in the r e o re r n the n l P rk Ser e d am app a s, p oc ss f sto atio by Natio a a vic . n was t oo w . buried in the sno , as the grou d frozen and the fort remained a supply center But rela

t ive l hard to dig . y , Fort Laramie became less important as a

The rapid growth of American settlement in pioneer post . The building Of the Union Pacific and

California , Oregon , and Utah led to the establish the other transcontinental railroads , with their sub

1 8 50 I n de en d sidiar ment in of mail service between p y lines , diverted travel and transportation ,

' . an M . d o . ence , , and Salt Lake City, tah During further diminished the significance of the post ’ ’ 1 8 50 s l 88os most of the , Fort Laramie was the division Finally, in the , it ceased to have significance

of n r point , the mail stages from each end the li e to the emig ant , the traveler , and the freighter . being scheduled to meet here on the 1 5th of the month . Actually , however , regular schedules were F ort Laramie as a Military P os t ffi d was di cult to maintain , an this especially true in the winter on account of uncertain weather . In B' 1 848 T'E 'AST IN CREASE in travel over the Ore w connection with the mail service , express and gon Trail had clearly sho n the need for military passengers were usually carried also . Not until posts as supply centers and sources of protection t he Pony Express was established in the spring for the advancing white civilization from hostile of 1 8 60 was there a truly fast mail service in the Indians who were now thoroughly alarmed by the

of w vast undeveloped West . The product partly almost continual stream of estbound caravans f ff . o l of the vision and e orts of William H Russell , and high y incensed by the disappearance grass

s . the great freighting firm of Ru sell , Majors , and and game from the Oregon Trail and its vicinity

. . E on Waddell , and of Senator W M Gwin , of Cali migrants and travelers, their part , charged f i m o . for ia , and partly the organiz ng ability of the Indians with thievery and beggary Late in fl Alexander Majors , the Pony Express used eet the year, Fort Kearny was established near Grand

in t wha . horses ridden by light men or boys , who changed Island on the Platte River is now Nebraska steeds at relay stations 6 5 to 1 00 miles apart . The following spring Fort Laramie was bought by 1 860 1 86 1 of During and , the arrival and departure the United States and the erection buildings of the riders are said to have been the most exciting was started . Among these was the building which ’ ffi . as events at Fort Laramie The Pony Express em came to be known Old Bedlam, the o cers

hasiz ed was of ff i p quick service and fairly successful quarters , scene many gala a a rs and the most n in bringing letters across the plai s and mountains famous structure at the old post . m f f 8 1 . . o 1 5 from St Joseph , Mo , to Sacra ento , Cali , in In the summer , probably the largest 1 3 i 1 8 60 about days , wh ch, in , seemed the height assembly of Indians in the history Of the West

of it of speed . In spite s outstanding achievements , gathered at Fort Laramie to meet representatives

' the Pony Express could not successfully compete of the United States in an attempt to settle the n e w in with the overland telegraph finished the fall of problems and avoid future trouble . More than

1 86 1 and was abandoned at that time . Indians of the northern and central plains ’ i 850 s w In the late , freight transportation by and foothills assembled . O ing to the better 3 5 i wagon became almost as conspicuous a feature of forage about Horse Creek , m les east of the

l as . m the Oregon Trai the westbound emig ration fort , the meeting was oved to that place , where of The establishment military posts in the West conversations continued for over a week . A treaty of and the presence hundreds and , at times, thous was then signed whereby the Indians agreed not ands oi soldiers involved the transportation of to molest wagon trains and to permit the station 1 8 5 8 of r of . w i g eat quantities supplies In , a year ing of troops along the trail , h le the Government

unusual activity, Russell , Majors , and Waddell was to pay the Indians annually in goods ,

alone used wagons , men , and and to set aside a reservation comprising eastern

. m of oxen For freighting, as for travel , Fort Laramie Wyo ing, half western Nebraska, half of Colo f o a . was the great outpost , a base operations being rado, and parts of Kansas and South D kota 3 in maintained here which supplied and repaired the Comparative peace reigned for years , but ' . 1 4 freight wagons as they arrived August 8 5 , this was broken by the Grattan

1 860 F e After , ort Laramie was primarily inter Incident . A Mormon migrant charged that a

of o esting as a military post . Emigrants and travelers nearby band Sioux had st len and killed one w still came and went 'freight wagons still rolled by' of his co s . The commander at Fort Laramie

I ' was in formed of the incident by a chief of the States met with some Sioux and Cheyennes Indian band who reported that the guilty man at F ort Laramie to secure their consent to the

of . ha d bee n reprimanded . In order to arrest the building the Bozeman Trail In the midst of offending Indian , Lieutenant Grattan , just out of the conference , troops under orders to open West Point,was sent with a detail of 30 men to the Bozeman Trail and erect forts along it ap

e ared his the Sioux ca mp . The Indians , however , refused p , and Red Cloud and tribesmen , resentful

of i of . re to surrender the guilty man , a dispute followed , th s Show armed might'withdrew The and fin ally the soldiers fired the ir muskets a n d maining Indians then reluctantly signed the treaty wa s of as their two howitzers . But their aim high , and providing for the opening the new road , and a the Sioux swarmed around the soldiers and killed reward were given the gifts dear to the Indian all but on e of them . This incident led the Indians heart . Meanwhile the Bozeman Trail troops had of to take to the warpath . Trading posts and small begun construction Fort Phil Kearny at the foot

n re of . settlements were attacked , stage li es raided , the Big Horn Mountains Fearful that their Old ’ i w lay stations destroyed , and emigrants wagons way of l fe would be rendered impossible ith the ’ ’ as on w burned . But no attack w made Fort Lara hite man s penetration , Red Cloud s band kept f n . o . mie , although it was seriously underma ned the troops in a state virtual siege Wagon and n s Followi g these incidents a period of compara wood train were ambushed , wood cutters were as

l e f sau t d . tive peace ensued in the Fort Laramie region . , and all but armed traf ic stopped The a 1 00 21 The post, though held by fewer th n men worst incident occurred on December , when

u the was . . . 80 hi d ring most of War between the States , Capt W J Fetterman and men from Fort P l l not attacked by the Indians , whose hostile efforts Kearny were ambushed whi e protecting a wood of an i were largely ineffective because their lack of train d k lled to a man .

' u . on re nity and good generalship However, sev The Fetterman Massacre left the fort with a d duc e . eral occasions stage Stations were burned , emi garrison and clearly in grave danger Fort

i was 230 grants and travelers were molested , horses were Laram e , their principal base , more than

in out i stolen , and Colorado there were serious m les distant , but it must be reached if the essen t breaks . Meanwhile , to the north of Fort Laramie tial supplies and troops o withstand an assault the influx of population into Montana an d Idaho were to be secured . In bitter cold and with a ’ i i r follow ng the d scovery of gold there led to a de blizza d raging, John Phillips , veteran , scout, set mand for a new wagon road leaving the main trail out on an historic ride to secure help before disas ter e i w near Fort Larami , proceed ng down the Po der overtook the garrison at the hands of the exultant w A i n . . S h R ver , and then going est to the Bozeman mi es Indians he arrived at the fort late on C rist

as his This proposed road , known the Bozeman Trail , mas night , horse fell dead . A dance was in

r infuriated the Sioux , whose great chief, Red Cloud , prog ess at Old Bedlam, but news of the tragedy refused to consent to its establishment since it was stopped the holiday celebration and preparations

run r of to th ough the center their last g reat hunt for a relief expedition were made immediately . In ing reserve . Fort Laramie , then the headquarters temperatures often below zero, the relieving troops

was i . f of the army district of the Platte , the center of made the r way northward The arrival o re

1 8 5 for me n t m 6 1 8 66 . in ce s military operations in and Indian eli inated serious danger , but no imm di w raids on wagon trains and travelers in the e decisive blo could be struck at the Sioux . ate vicin ity of the fort were climaxed in July 1 865 The outstanding military event of 1 867 was the t he an d 25 his of 2 by slaughter of Sergeant Custard of Wagon Box engagement August , in which the of men . Three columns men were sent out military escort for wood cutters from Fort Phil

w as v . in hat is known the Powder Ri er Expedition Kearny repelled one attack after another . Mean Its purpose was to pun ish the Indians north of while the troops a t this fort and at Forts Reno and

. n . . on the l w Fort Laramie From its beginni g , however , the C F Smith , also Bozeman Trai , ere ffi l success of the expedition was rendered di cult by practical y besieged . n inadequate maps , poor guides , rough terrai , and In November a new peace commission came to lack of food . Early in the fall it returned to Fort Fort Laramie to negotiate with the northern plains ’ Laramie , ha v ing failed to achieve its objecti v e . Indians , but Red Cloud s hostile bands refused to 1 866 mm s ' In June , peace co i sioners of the nited attend as long as the forts on the Bozeman Trail

1 3 nf was te re d h i were not abandoned . The co erence there t roughout the West rendered Fort Laram e fore a failure , but in the following April , Red less and less important'the use of railroads and for Cloud consented to come to a new meeting . The new roads purposes of travel and transportation American commissioners then Offere d to abandon made the post no longer a vital supply center for

i its n f . the Bozeman Tra l and defendi g orts But , travelers and freighters'and the country about ’ hi r r suspicious of w te men s promises , Red Cloud Fort La amie was g adually being Settled in the ’ ’ refused to Sign the suggested treaty until its pro late l870 s and early 1 8 80 s . Ranches were estab lishe d visions had been act ually executed . In August , and white men and cattle replaced Indians ium ff on was t r s . Fort Phil Kearny abandoned , and the and bu aloes the Wyoming plain The

r phant Sioux immediately put it to the torch . ga rison at Fort Laramie , therefore, became pri

- Three months later, Red Cloud signed the treaty . marily a law enforcement agency . I t escorted By its terms the land above the North Platte River stages and gold shipments and arrested cattle

of the hi . b 1 88 9 and east Big Horn Mountains was regarded rustlers and ghwaymen But, y , it was as unceded territory . All the present South obvious that the fort no longer served an essential u was Dakota west Of the Misso ri to be a reservation military function , and orders were given for its v w on which Sioux were to settle down and li e by abandonment . The follo ing spring the last d farming an d on rations supplied by the Govern troops departe .

. of mie m ment , rather than by hunting The treaty marked The passing Fort Lara sy bolized the

al the end of Fort Laramie as the g reat trade center passing also of the American frontier . For most

x ' its s 60 r old of of the Siou . nder term the post lay outside yea s the post had seen the pageant the

who as the country of the Sioux, were consequently West it swept on to the conquest of the con i . t n en t . forbidden to come to the fort Trapper, trader, explorer, fortune seeker ,

t o i w — e Comparative peace once more came the Fort soldier, sportsman , m ner, co boy, settler ach

i 1 875 1 876 of Laramie region and lasted unt l and , these had tarried at the fort and gone on his

l a his when the gold rush to the Black Hi ls, located in way to m ke contribution to the building of

x . si the Siou Reservation, brought hundreds of white America The abandonment of the old fort g men from the Colorado country to the fort where n ifie d that a mighty chapter in the American epic

ak . For they stopped on their way to D ota a Short had been finally written . The hopes and the time the post was also a station on the route of the opportunities offered to America by western exp an

- De adwood Cheyenne stage line . White men hav sion existed no longer . But the heritage of faith ing violated the Fort Laramie treaty of 1 86 8 by in freedom and equality of Opportunit y that the

l d i n e w their rush to the Indian lands in the Black Hi ls , frontier ha fostered st ll lived . Although

n on re ser ms of l hostilities broke out with the rebellious and serious proble socia , economic, and vation Indians under Sitting Bull and Crazy political adjustment were to rise as a result of the l if Horse , and the fort became a base for mi itary end of the frontier , these could be solved Ameri

i n u operations against the Sioux in the r last great cans but retai ed the faith , the hope , and the resol stand against the inevitable victory of the white tion that characterized their pioneer forebears . ’ i man s civ lization . was The Indian menace now really over, but F ort Laramie Today the frontier , terrorized by temporary I ndian suc 'T N OF T'E F O M B' LD NG cesses like the spectacular Custer Massacre , de SI EE R ER I I S of Fort Laramie

. man de d that Fort Laramie be strengthened . The have survived Of these , Old Bedlam, used at vari ’ ous fi Federal Government , believing the need existed , times as of cers quarters , post headquarters , and

is . reinforced the post and constructed many new social center , outstanding in interest It is the sole ’ I mm of s . or permanent buildings . From its beginning as a survival the post s original building ’ t aliz e d . al military post, the number of buildings had been in Capt Charles King s historic novel , l m r 1 8 67 43 La amie or the ueen o Bed a , steadily g owing . By there were strue r , ' f which vividly tures . Now new construction raised the number recreated the life of the fort , Old Bedlam recalls

its . i 1 88 5 6 5 . unt l , in , there were But the need for past as does no other structure at the post ’ such a large military base was rapidly passing . Another interesting Old building is the sutler s of The Indian was at last defeated 'new posts seat store , center most of the trading done at Fort

1 4 s

M afi a

r rr The Caval y Ba acks .

60 m af . Lara ie ter it became a military post The western Nebraska , miles away, an important

on . r sutler was a licensed trader , and from him soldiers , landmark the Oregon Trail The g aves of

d . of n Indians , and emig rants bought nee ed supplies thousands pioneers remain hidden and u known

The store was built in the early days of Govern along the route of the Oregon Trail, but a number . ment control of the . fort and is one of the oldest which are marked can be found in the vicinity of i buildings in Wyom ng . The old guardhouse the fort . s tands by the Laramie River . Bars are still in the Ten miles from Fort Laramie is Register Cliff on w w to indo s , and a heavy wooden door leading the of - which hundreds pioneer names are carved on s teel lined dungeon still creaks on its hinges . i f ’ Among the other remaining buildings are the the chalkl ke substances of the clif s clay . A day s w mi i was , cavalry b arracks and the hospital . Excavated agon drive away from Fort Lara e th s a O n e foundations reveal the location of various buildings favorite camping place for pioneers . of those

n l his o old . the parade ground pioneers, Mi ton Estes , inscribed name there in

be 1 8 59 his i Efforts to preserve all these structures were while on way to the Colorado Rock es , 1 9 1 5 1 937 gun about , and in the State of Wyoming where Rocky Mountain National Park is now purchased the site of the fort . The following year ' located , and Estes Park illage which was named was t o a it donated the Feder l Government which his E for father, Joel stes . proclaimed the historic ar ea a national monument A crude cross marks the Site of the Grattan to be administered by the Department of the 8 of . Massacre , miles east the monument Interior through the National Park Service . There are 21 4 acres in the national monument and Easy to observe are the old wagon tracks which r l these effectively protect all visible evidence of the wo e so deeply into the Oregon Trai that the old fort . The National Park Service has long elements have not yet removed them . Near

r ' o . range plans to prese ve the present buildings in Guernsey, y , are wagon ruts cut nearly 3 feet order that they may be a permanent memorial to deep by the thousands of oxen- pulled wagons which

. an important phase of frontier history Plans crossed the plains . call for the establishment of a museum to tell the Fort Laramie National Monument is located eventful story of the post . At present a small 3 w of w miles west of the to n Fort Laramie , Wyo . , temporary museum is open ithout charge . w . . 2 . and U S High ay No . 6 I t is under the

immediate supervision of a c u s t o d i a n . For Alli d Sit s o I n t r s t e e f e e i ' add tional information address C u s t o d i a n ,

O T A AM AT ONA L ON 'M NT F R L R IE N I M E is closely Fort L a r a m i e N a t i o n a l M o n u m e n t , Fort w allied ith Scotts Bluff National Monument in Laramie , Wyo .