Fort Laramie
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Fort Laramie, located in present-day Goshen County, Wyoming in the United States, was a significant 19th century trading post and later a military outpost of the United States Army. Founded in the 1830s during the fur trade, it was taken over by the Army in 1849 and emerged as one most important centers of white settlement in the American West. During the middle 19th century, it was a primary stopping point on the Oregon Trail and was, along with Bent's Fort on the Arkansas River, the most significant economic hub of white commerce in the region. Many of the Army's military campaigns in the Indian Wars were conducted from the headquaters at the fort, and it gave its name to the Treaty of Fort Laramie, an important agreement between whites and Native Americans regarding white settlement. Decommissioned and abandoned in the late 19th century, the fort contains historic military structures on its grounds, which are operated by the National Park Service as Fort Laramie National Historic Site.
The fort is located along the lower Laramie River near is mouth on the North Platte River, across the river the modern town of Fort Laramie in Goshen County, Wyoming. Despite its name, the fort was not located at present-day Laramie, Wyoming (Laramie City), which was founded later and is located approximately 75 mi (120 km) to the southwest. The Army took over the fort in the late 1840s largely to supply and protect emigrants along the Emigrant Trail. During the 1850s, relative peaceful relations between the whites and the Native Americans meant that the fort served mainly as a supply post. During the increasing strife of the 1860s, the fort took on a more military posture. In the late 1860s, the fort was the primary staging ground for the United States in the Powder River Country during Red Cloud's War. The resultant peace agreement was known as the Treaty of Fort Laramie. After the completion of the transcontinental railoroad, the fort decreased rapidly in significance as was decommisioned in the 1880s.
In the 1950s, a fictionalized account of life at the fort during the 19th century was depicted in the CBS radio program Fort Laramie.
Commandants of the fort
External link
- NPS: Fort Laramie National Historic Site (http://www.nps.gov/fola/)