01Summary
A fur-trading post founded in 1834 that the U.S. Army bought in 1849. It became one of the most important stops on the trail for supplies, repairs and mail.
02History
In 1834 William Sublette and Robert Campbell built Fort William, a stockade of cottonwood logs, where the Laramie River meets the North Platte. It was soon sold, and by 1836 it belonged to the American Fur Company, which traded here for furs and buffalo robes. In 1841 the company replaced the rotting stockade with an adobe fort called Fort John, though most people called both posts Fort Laramie.
In June 1849 the Army bought the post for $4,000 to protect and supply emigrants. Travelers often stayed several days to mail letters, buy or trade cattle, restock provisions and reset the iron tires on their wheels.
In September 1851 thousands of Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho and other Plains people came to the fort for a treaty council. An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 people gathered in all, and their horses needed so much grass that the council moved about 30 miles down the North Platte to Horse Creek. There, on September 17, eight nations and the United States signed the Fort Laramie Treaty.
It set out each nation's lands and let the United States build roads and forts, in return for yearly payments. The peace did not last. In 1854 a quarrel over an emigrant's cow near the fort led to the Grattan fight, in which Lieutenant John Grattan, 29 of his soldiers, their interpreter and the Brulé leader Conquering Bear were killed.
The Army stayed until 1890, when the fort was closed and most of its buildings were sold at auction.
03Today
Fort Laramie National Historic Site preserves restored buildings and ruins of the Army post. Among them are 'Old Bedlam,' officers' quarters begun in 1849 and the oldest documented building in Wyoming, the cavalry barracks and the post trader's store.
04People connected here
05Stops nearby
The Oregon Trail ran about 2,170 miles from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City. The stops just before and after this one are below. You can also find Fort Laramie on the interactive map.