June 3, 2015, Wednesday: Longmont, Colorado to Fort Laramie, Wyoming

After spending a week at my sister's enjoying her dog (Mica) and cats (Max and Bounce), I headed north on I 25.  The further north I went, the lower the Rocky Mountains became.  The countryside is uncharacteristically green with all the rain they have been having.

I stopped at the Wyoming Welcome Center - they had an excellent mini-museum highlighting dinosaurs, Indians, emigrants, cowboys, mining, oilfields and winter sports.  I picked up an armload of brochures to refine my travel plans.

Driving north in southeast Wyoming, the smallish (compared to the Colorado Rockies) Laramie Mountains appeared in the distance on my left, and the immediate countryside became hilly again with occasional large stone outcroppings, a little badlands.  Eventually, Laramie Peak came into view.  It is the only one of the Laramie Mountains that rises over 10,000 feet and served as a major landmark for the emigrants heading West as it could be seen for almost 100 miles.

I turned off I 25, heading east on Route 20, the Oregon Trail Scenic byway, that follows the North Platte River where the emigrants followed their dreams of religious freedom, fertile farmland or striking gold in the west.  My first stop was the Oregon Trail Ruts National Landmark near Guernsey.  These ruts cut up to 5 feet into the soft sandstone rock in the area.

Since Jack is not with me yet, I am finding I am taking more photos of L'il Guy (the RV) instead - see him in the background?  Sorry.

The numbers of wagons per day that crossed this area reached 600.  These ruts are in soft sandstone rock.

There will be a test.....

Next I stopped at Register Cliff where thousands of emigrants carved their names and dates - most between 1840 and 1860.

Swallows were nesting in the overhanging rocks on Register Cliff

The soldier's barracks

My final stop for the day was Fort Laramie National Historic Site just as dark clouds started building.  The visitor center had a 20 minute  video that gave the history of the fort.  It started as a wood stockade trading post for trappers and later buffalo hunters and Indians.  Later it was converted to an adobe walled fort still used as a trading post and supplying the westward emigrants on the Oregon, Mormon, and California Gold Trails.  The government purchased the privately owned trading post to be used as a military fort to protect the mass westward emigrations as well as providing troops to deal with the increasing problems with Indians.

Dining in the Barracks

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Officer Quarters

The Fort is on the confluence of the Platte and Laramie Rivers.  Heavy rains the day before resulted in the river overflowing its banks.

The Jail

Old Bedlam-the oldest structure in Wyoming

I was surprised by a couple of things here....the military fort was open - the adobe walls were demolished and the vast majority of the troops stationed here were infantry, not calvary.  Shocking, huh?

Major treaties were signed here with the Indians, but the white man broke every one, leading to the Indian Wars.  Contrary to popular belief and old Western movies, most emigrants died of disease and accidents and Indian attacks were very rare.  When the Indian Wars were over, and the railroad was transcontinental, Fort Laramie became obsolete and the Army sold it at public auction in 1890.