Fort Laramie National Historic Site

Fort Laramie- the Crossroads of a Nation Moving West. This unique historic place preserves and interprets one of America's most important locations in the history of westward expansion and Indian resistance.

In 1834, where the Cheyenne and Arapaho travelled, traded and hunted, a fur trading post was created. Soon to be known as Fort Laramie, it rested at a location that would quickly prove to be the path of least resistance across a continent. By the 1840s, wagon trains rested and resupplied here, bound for Oregon, California and Utah.

In 1849 as the Gold Rush of California drew more westward, Fort Laramie became a military post, and for the next 41 years, would shape major events as the struggle between two cultures for domination of the northern plains increased into conflict. In 1876, Fort Laramie served as an anchor for military operations, communication, supply and logistics during the "Great Sioux War."

Fort Laramie closed, along with the frontier it helped shape and influence in 1890. Its legacy is one of peace and war, of cooperation and conflict; a place where the west we know today was forged. We invite you to discover and explore the many crossroads that was, and still is Fort Laramie. For more, click "In Depth" in the upper right. Or, click below to go to the NPS History Page. Use the search feature for: Fort Laramie.

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