Fort Laramie

Fort Laramie, the military post, was founded in 1849 when the army purchased
the old Fort John for
$4000, and began to build a military outpost along the Oregon Trail.

For many years, the Plains Indians and the
travelers along the Oregon Trail had coexisted peacefuly. As the numbers of
emigrants increased, however, tensions between the two cultures began to
develop. To help insure the safety of the travelers, Congress approved the
establishment of forts along the Oregon Trail and a special regiment of Mounted
Riflemen to man them. Fort Laramie was the second of these forts to be
established.

The popular view of a western fort, perhaps generated by Hollywood movies, is
that of an enclosure surrounded by a wall or stockade. Fort Laramie, however,
was never enclosed by a wall. Initial plans for the fort included a wooden fence
or a thick structure of rubble, nine feet high, that enclosed an area 550 feet
by 650 feet. Because of the high costs involved, however, the wall was never
built. Fort Laramie was always an open fort that depended upon its location and
its garrison of troops for security.

In the 1850s, one of the main functions of the troops stationed at the fort
was patrolling and maintaining the security of a lengthy stretch of the Oregon
Trail. This was a difficult task because of the small size of the garrison and
the vast distances involved. In 1851, a treaty, the Treaty of 1851, was signed
between the United States and the most important tribes of the Plains Indians.
The peace that it inaugurated, however, lasted only three years. In 1854, an
incident involving a passing wagon train precipitated the Grattan Fight in which
an officer, an interpreter, and 29 soldiers from Fort Laramie were killed. This
incident was one of several that ignited the flames of a conflict between the
United States and the Plains Indians that would not be resolved until the end of
the 1870s.

The 1860s brought a different type of soldier to Fort Laramie. After the
beginning of the Civil War, most regular army troops were withdrawn to the East
to participate in that conflict, and the fort was garrisoned by state volunteer
regiments, such as the Seventh Iowa and the Eleventh Ohio. The stream of
emigrants along the Oregon trial began to diminish, but the completion of the
transcontinental telegraph line in 1861 brought a new responsibility to the
soldiers. Inspecting, defending, and repairing the "talking wire" was added to
their duties. During the latter part of the 1860s, troops from Fort Laramie were
involved in supplying and reinforcing the forts along the Bozeman Trail, until
the Treaty of 1868 was signed.

Fort Laramie
in 1876

Unfortunately, the Treaty of 1868 did not end the conflict between the United
States and the Plains Indians and, by the 1870's, major campaigns were being
mounted against the plains tribes. The discovery of gold in the Black Hills, in
1874, and the resultant rush to the gold fields had violated some of the terms
of the treaty and antagonized the Sioux who regarded the Hills as sacred ground.
Under leaders such as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, they and their allies chose
to fight to keep their land. In campaigns such as the ones in 1876, Fort Laramie
served as a staging area for troops, a communications and logistical center, and
a command post.

Conflicts with the Indians on the Northern Plains had abated by the 1880s.
Relieved of some of its military function, Fort Laramie relaxed into a Victorian
era of relative comfort. Boardwalks were built in front of officers' houses and
trees were planted to soften the stark landscape.

By the end of the 1880s, the Army recognized that Fort Laramie had served its
purpose. Many important events on the Northern Plains had involved the Fort, and
many arteries of transport and communication had passed through it. Perhaps the
most important artery, however, the Union Pacific Railroad, had bypassed it to
the South. In March of 1890, troops marched out of Fort Laramie for the last
time. The land and buildings that comprised the Fort were sold at auction to
civilians.

Some Details

Some Fort Laramie
Personae

Chronological List of
Events

Some Ft. Laramie
Firsts

Units Stationed at Ft.
Laramie

Commanding Officers
at Ft. Laramie

Post Surgeons at Ft.
Laramie

Post Traders at Ft.
Laramie

Historical
Handbook

Fort Laramie
Park History, 1834-1977 by Merrill J. Mattes

Fort Laramie
and the Forty-Niners by Merrill J. Mattes