Fort Laramie, Wyoming

The next leg of our whirlwind loop north was to head back down to Wyoming on our way to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. The landscape in north central Wyoming was much like what we had been traveling through in Montana except that we could now see portions of the Rocky Mountains appearing to the west of us. We noticed on our National Park Service map that there was an NPS historical site at Fort Laramie, which was not far from our intended travel route, so we pressed on further than we would normally plan to drive so that we could reach the Fort Laramie site and camp there overnight with the goal of visiting the park in the morning. The campground we found five miles east of Fort Laramie was somewhat on the Spartan side but the family managing the site was quite friendly (and provided us with lots of park service brochures) and we had our pick of campsites. LOL!!!! The weather forecast was for the temperature to drop into the upper 30s overnight, so we bundled up inside our home on wheels and read through the various brochures on Fort Laramie, the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, the Pony Express and the California Trail. Who would have thunk that all those historic routes passed through this one spot on the map. Notwithstanding the frequent coal trains chugging by and blowing there whistles, we had an uninterrupted night’s sleep snuggling under the covers to keep warm.

The next morning we drove over to Fort Laramie NHS towing our RV and hoping that we would be able to park there rather than having to unhitch the RV at the campsite and go back to it after our visit. Fortunately, the historical site had a good size parking lot and very few visitors. The park service personnel at Fort Laramie were extremely friendly and helpful in explaining the historic role that Fort Laramie played in helping immigrants on their way to California, Utah (the Mormons) and Oregon. Fort Laramie also played a significant role in both fighting and drafting treaties with the Indian tribes in the Wyoming Territory. We were surprised to learn that, unlike the western forts typically displayed in western movies, Fort Laramie never had any type of protective wall around the military facilities there, both because there were no trees anywhere in reasonable proximity and because the fort itself was never attacked by Indians. Most of the buildings that had been restored and furnished showed the affects of major construction and remodeling which took place in the 10-15 years before the fort closed in 1890. The furnished rooms in many cases looked quite comfortable and spacious, but we suspect that they were more crowded and less comfortable than they appeared. For example, the barracks for enlisted troopers seemed reasonably full even though it only had 24 bunks in it. The plaque on the wall, however, said that the barracks were intended to accommodate 69 soldiers in each wing; we have no idea where they would have put the other 36 bunks. (Jo’s comment on this – David is Mr. Detail Man!!!!).

After touring the fort, we had a pleasant lunch in a nearby grove filled with picnic tables before climbing back into the truck and heading down towards Estes Park.