Eastern Wyoming continued

 

Old Fort Laramie Painting by Alfred J. Miller (1858)

The early pioneers that followed the Oregon Trail entered Wyoming along the banks of the North Platte River.  Fort Laramie is located on the north side of the river.  The old fort served may purposes while it was an active army post and contains much history.  It was a thrill and an honor to participate in a flag ceremony at the fort in June of 1968.  In the movies, you will see the wagon trains in a circle with the Indians attacking, riding around the circle.  In all of my reading I can not find any instance when that actually happened!  There is only one case where the Indians attacked a circle but they did not ride around in circles.

 

Modern day Fort Laramie

The northeast corner of the state was originally a very large Lakoda Souix Indian reservation.  The discovery of gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota created a demand for land for the white man.  The Indians did not give up their right to the land easily, as General George Custer found out.  Crazy Horse and the united indian nations could only keep the white man out for a short time before the indian wars forced them to live as captives on their own land.  I believe, as the native Americans did, that the land does not belong to man, man belongs to the land. 

The Cheyenne / Deadwood stage trail follows the eastern Wyoming border.  In the early days, before the railroad went north, the stage was the only way into the wild west town of Deadwood.  Lusk is the last community to have a bordello.  North of Douglas, in the Thunder Basin National Grasslands it the town of Bill, Wyoming.  Bill is a very small town.  It has one building that houses groceries, the post office, the jail and out front is a gas pump.  It services all the ranches for miles around.  When I was growing up, the mayor's name was Bill.  He was also the constable, grocer and post master. Much to the surprise of many visitors, there is a parking meter in front of the building.  Some "easterners" are often surprised when they failedto put a coin in this singular device and end up with a fine or even worse, jail.

aoljpictureUpload, aoljpictureUpload_2