Fort Laramie

We couldn't get online to post last night so here is Tuesday's post.

First, Happy Birthday to our 4year old grandson, Jesse!!

Today, Monday, we visited Fort Laramie and the site of the Oregon Trail in Guernsey, Wyoming near Fort Laramie.  The significant part of the Oregon Trail site is the preserved wagon ruts.  Thousands of wagon wheels, fitted with iron tread, cut into the soft sandstone and preserved the actual trail.  You can read the plaque in the picture that explains it and see the picture of the ruts.

Fort Laramie is a National Historic Site.  It has a history that began in 1834 as a buffalo robe trading post but later was bought by the U.S. government to be used as a military fort.  It became the largest and most important military post in the northern plains and served as a base for military operations against the northern plains Indians.

After the Indian Wars it was largely dismantled for the building materials and otherwise pretty much fell into ruins.  Some buildings survived and have been restored and re-furnished.  A tour shows how the fort soldiers lived.   There is the bachelor officers quarters, the married officers houses and the commissary among others.  The one I found the most interesting was the cavalry barracks.  You can see the bunks, foot lockers, stacked rifles, uniforms and head gear in the picture.

Also, there are pictures of  the Platte River Bridge at Fort Laramie that spans the North Platte River.  It was built in 1876 and is still there in good shape.  You can’t drive over it but you can walk across it and go underneath it.  Note the rock filled log ice breakers on the upstream side to protect the pilings.

Plaque

 The ruts in the rock.

Fort Laramie

Fort Laramie

Inside the cavalry barracks.

Platte River Bridge plaque

Bridge

Platte River Bridge and ice breakers