Fort Laramie National Historic Site

15Aug21

There are some national park sites I visit that I either don’t have the time or the desire to see everything in the park.

That wasn’t the case at Fort Laramie National Historic Site in eastern Wyoming. I believe I went on every trail, walked through every building, and went around all of the ruins of the historic fort.

This was my second visit to Fort Laramie and like the first it was hot. But the heat didn’t deter me from really exploring this park. 

Fort Laramie was a military post for four decades beginning in 1850, serving as a transportation and communication hub for the central Rocky Mountain region and the principal military outpost on the Northern Plains.

Today, Fort Laramie National Historic Site is a combination of original and reconstructed structures and ruins that give you a sense just how big the fort was. The visitor center is located in the old Commissary Storehouse and is a good jumping off point for your tour.

My first real stop on my tour was the banks of the Laramie River. I walked the length of the park’s riverbank down to the far end of the Fort Laramie boundaries. The river provides a beautiful setting with historical markers along the way telling you about life on this western fort.

These aren’t the only historical markers. The park site is dotted with the informative signs throughout. Most give you explanations of what happened in that particular building, intermixing historical facts with first-hand accounts from the soldiers, wives and others who called Fort Laramie home.

The park’s ruins range from the remaining building foundations to walls. Interesting enough, most of the ruins are from buildings you would have thought would have survived the past century or so. The Administration Building is nothing but ruins as is the hospital and officers quarters. Yet the post surgeon’s quarters and cavalry barracks remain intact.

The cavalry barracks is one of my favorite buildings to tour at Fort Laramie. Located at the end of my tour, this building features two large squad bays upstairs and a kitchen and mess room downtowns. Each of these rooms is fully equipped, showing what they would have looked like in Fort Laramie’s heyday.

The two guardhouses are also intact and are interesting to tour. As is the commander’s house. Another favorite stop is the Post Trader’s Store and Complex where a store has been restored to its 1860s appearance. Here you can grab a cold drink. One of the things I fondly remember about my previous stop at Fort Laramie was the delicious root beer I had that day.

Given the heat and the memories, I had to grab another root beer as my tour of Fort Laramie came to an end.

Just like last time, the root beer didn’t disappoint.

Filed under: Uncategorized   |  Leave a Comment