Fort Laramie, WY Summary

Fort Laramie, 2 hours north of Cheyenne on State Route 26, bore witness to the West’s most important treaty between the Sioux and the US government over their traditional hunting territory along the Bozeman Trail. Originally a fur trading post, Fort Laramie became a military post in 1841, protecting the pioneers along the Oregon Trail.

Now, comprising 830 acres, the reconstructed fort houses various buildings, including the officers’ quarters furnished with a wealth of military artifacts and photographs.

In the summer, Fort Laramie reenacts life at an outpost in a living history program, complete with period costumes. The fort is open daily and houses a massive library of the pioneers who passed by.

At Guernsey, off US-26, the Oregon Trail Ruts National Historic Landmark features a deeply embedded wagon rut on a hill of sandstone. Nearly 2 miles away is Register Cliff, where thousands of immigrants carved their names and dates of passage into the limestone rock. East at Torrington is the Homesteaders Museum where a classic stagecoach and homestead stand adjacent to the museum.