Old West Group

Fort Laramie (originally founded as Fort William and then known for a while as Fort John) was a significant trading post and diplomatic site located at the confluence of the Laramie River and the North Platte River in the upper Platte River Valley in the eastern part of the Wyoming Territory. Founded in the 1830s to service the overland fur trade, it sat at the bottom of the long climb leading to the best and lowest crossing point at South Pass into western descending valleys and so was a primary stopping point on the Oregon Trail. Along with Bent's Fort on the Arkansas River, the trading post and its supporting industries and businesses were the most significant economic hub of commerce in the region.

Fort William was a private fur trading post founded by William Sublette in 1834. In 1841 it was purchased by the American Fur Company and renamed Fort John. In 1849 it was purchased and its operations were taken over by the Army to protect the many wagon trains of migrant travelers on the Oregon Trail, and hence the subsidiary co-located northern emigrant trails which split off further west such as the California and Mormon trails. The middle reaches of the Mormon trail stayed on the north banks of the Platte and North Platte River and merged with the other Emigrant trails heading west over the continental divide from Fort John-Laramie. The name Fort Laramie came into gradual use, likely as a convenient shortening of "Fort John at the Laramie River".

The fort was purchased from Bruce Husband for $4,000 in June 1849 by U.S. Army Lt. Woodberry on behalf of the United States Government. Three companies of cavalry arrived at the fort that same month, and Company ‘G’, 6th Infantry, which was the post’s permanent garrison for many years, arrived on August 12, 1849.

The fort was taken over by the Army largely to protect and supply emigrants along the emigrant trails. In 1851, the first Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed, resulting in relatively peaceful relations between the whites and the Native Americans during the 1850s, though troops from the fort made up the small force that was killed during the Grattan massacre of 1854 under the command of Second Lieutenant John Lawrence Grattan. During the increasing strife of the 1860s, the fort took on a more military posture.

On Christmas night in 1866, John "Portugese" Phillips ended his historic horseback ride at Fort Laramie after riding 236 miles from the Powder River. "Lt. William J. Fetterman's entire unit had been killed in a fight with the Sioux under Red Cloud," and Phillips arrived at Fort Laramie to summon help for Fort Phil Kearny. Legend maintains that Phillips' thoroughbred horse dropped dead upon arriving at the fort, though it is unclear as to whether Phillips kept the same mount for the entire ride. "Whatever the particulars of his ride, Phillips did cross hostile Indian country, and most of the journey took place during a brutal Wyoming blizzard."

On July 5, 1867, General Grenville M. Dodge and his survey crew plotted the site, now known as Cheyenne, in Dakota Territory (later Wyoming Territory). This site was chosen as the point at which the Union Pacific Railroad crossed Crow Creek, a tributary of the South Platte River. The city was not named by Dodge, but rather by friends who accompanied him to the area Dodge called "Crow Creek Crossing." It was named for the American Indian Cheyenne nation, one of the most famous and prominent Great Plains tribes closely allied with the Arapaho.

The construction of the Union Pacific Railroad brought hopes of prosperity to the region when it reached Cheyenne on November 13, 1867. The population at the time numbered over 4,000, and grew rapidly. This rapid growth earned the city the nickname "Magic City of the Plains."

Fort Laramie itself was never seriously threatened by Indian attacks during the quarter-century of intermittent warfare sparked by the Grattan massacre. However, a number of civilians were killed in the immediate area and their property destroyed or stolen during this period of hostilities on the plains.