THE OREGON TRAIL’S FORT LARAMIE—AND A GIVEAWAY

Signing my first contract!

Hi everyone, it’s Jennifer Uhlarik. I am so excited to share some news with you this month. I just signed a publishing contract with Barbour Publishing! I’m going to be one of nine authors with stories in their upcoming Oregon Trail Romance Collection. Each story in the collection revolves around the Oregon Trail, so I’ve found myself researching a lot of new things in the past few months. I shared one interesting tidbit with you in my previous post here. Today, I wanted to share more of my research.

A small portion of my story will take place at Fort Laramie, which was located on the Laramie River in present day Wyoming, a mile or so north of where it joined the North Platte River. In its heyday, the fort served as a means of protection for the Oregon Trail, which was the main thoroughfare to California after the 1849 Gold Rush, as well as other places out west. However, it didn’t start its existence as a military fort.

It was built in 1834 as a trading post, and it was originally called Fort William, after William Sublette, William Anderson, and William Patton, all of whom were fur traders. Later, the name changed to Fort John, some think to honor John Sarpy, also a fur trader. The trading post continued on in its original purpose until 1849, when gold was discovered in California. As droves of easterners poured across the vast expanse of the western lands, the military saw need to set up a way to protect the newcomers. Thus, it was suggested that a fort be set up at or near the trading post. By late June, 1849, the sale of the trading post to the military was arranged, and the fort’s name was changed again, this time to Fort Laramie, after the river on which it was situated. The river was named after French fur trader Jacques Laramie, who was killed by Arapahoes at the river’s headwaters in 1821. 

By August of 1849, two companies of Mounted Riflemen and one company of Infantry took over the fort. At first, the soldiers occupied the old trading post buildings, but only until new ones could be built. Because wood was such a scarce commodity in that area, the buildings were made from a concoction of kiln-fired limestone, sand, gravel, and water. The mixture was known as Lime Grout, and dates all the way back to Roman days. However, lime grout is quite porous, so much upkeep had to be done on the fragile buildings.

One of the buildings they erected, a two-story building used for unmarried officers’ quarters, went by the nickname of “Old Bedlam.” As the tale goes, the noise of the parties and card games of the bachelor officers would get so out of hand at times, the building was reminiscent of England’s Bedlam Insane Asylum. However, because it was two-story, this building became a beacon to travelers making their way west, drawing the emigrants to the safety and security of the fort.

Interestingly, the fort was not surrounded by any type of wall. It was open and approachable from many directions. However, in its history, the fort was attacked by Indians only once. The attack came in 1864, when warriors suddenly rode across the parade ground and made off with several horses. The attack came on quickly, so quickly that they never caught the horse thieves.

Fort Laramie was only a third of the way into the journey to Oregon, and many travelers who reached the fort chose to turn back due to the hardship of the journey. Others would restock their supplies at the fort and carry on, their dreams of a new life in the West undaunted by the difficult passage. The fort had a compliment of shops and warehouses to hold and sell supplies for the soldiers, the travelers, and especially for other military forts further west. With a telegraph, it sent word back and forth between West and East, and it was often the place where transportation to parts further west was organized.

Due to copyright reasons, I am not able to include many fantastic photos I found of the Fort Laramie Historic Site, but CyArk has a wonderful section of their website dedicated to Fort Laramie found HERE, in case you would like to see photos, take a virtual tour, or learn more about this important piece of American History.

Unfortunately, Fort Laramie was eventually phased out as the railroad grew and took over. The Union

Pacific Railroad line fell seventy miles south of Fort Laramie, and the Chicago and Northwestern line fell fifty miles to the north, leaving the fort in a no-man’s land between tracks. The fort was abandoned by 1890, then part of the grounds were sold to the Department of the Interior. Today, the old fort has been partially rebuilt and is a national monument.

It’s your turn. If you had lived in the later half of the 1800’s, would you have been one of the brave ones who ventured into the Western Territories, or would you have stayed in the more settled lands back east? Why? To celebrate my recent contract, leave your email address with your comment, and you’ll be included in the drawing for one of Barbour’s latest novella collections.

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen, when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has won five writing competitions and made the top 10 and top 3 in two other competitions. In addition to writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers and lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, teenaged son, and five fur children.

How One Cow Started A War

© Andreas Krappweis

Hey everyone! Jennifer Uhlarik here. As I was researching recently, I stumbled across a rather interesting tidbit of information that I didn’t know. Were you aware that a single cow was one of the catalysts that sparked the First Sioux War?

One lonely cow!

It happened in August, 1854, near Fort Laramie, Nebraska Territory (present day Goshen County, Wyoming). A group of Mormon emigrants was traveling over the Oregon Trail when one of their cows wandered away. The bovine ended up in a large encampment of Lakota Sioux with roughly 4800 men, women, and children. There, a visiting Miniconjou warrior named High Forehead shot and killed the cow.

Mormon wagon train leaving
Council Bluffs, IA

The owner of the cow tracked it down but became fearful when he saw the encampment full of Sioux, so he went to Fort Laramie instead. He explained the situation to Lt. Hugh Fleming. Fleming, in turn, approached the Sioux chief, Conquering Bear, to discuss the situation. Conquering Bear attempted to negotiate, offering a horse from his own herd or a cow from the tribe’s herd, but the Mormon man demanded $25 cash. When they couldn’t come to terms, Fleming demanded the arrest of High Forehead, but Conquering Bear again wouldn’t agree since he had no authority over the Miniconjou tribe. They ended their negotiations in stalemate.



Second Lieutenant John Grattan, a fresh graduate of West Point, took matters into his own hands. He had little respect for the Sioux as warriors and went in search of a fight, so he took an armed detachment of thirty soldiers and one interpreter and marched into the Sioux encampment to arrest High Forehead. The interpreter, who was drunk at the time, began to taunt the Sioux warriors, calling them women and promising they would be killed by the soldiers. Grattan went to High Forehead’s tent and demanded that he surrender, to which High Forehead refused. Then, Grattan went to Conquering Bear to again negotiate. The chief once more offered a horse in exchange for the dead cow, but Grattan rejected the offer. He demanded the arrest of High Forehead. Again, the negotiations ended in stalemate. It was as Grattan walked back to his horse that the shooting began.

Red Cloud

The Sioux warriors had gradually flanked the soldiers during the negotiations, and one man became so nervous he fired his gun. The bullet struck the Sioux chief, mortally wounding him. With bows and arrows, the Sioux killed Grattan and eleven of his soldiers. The remaining men retreated to a rocky outcropping nearby, but a group of Sioux led by the rising war chief Red Cloud pursued and killed them all.

For days after the battle, the Sioux wreaked havoc on the nearby settlers, trading posts, and Fort Laramie. After three days, the Indians abandoned the large encampment and returned to their respective hunting grounds, going against the provisions of the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. When a burial party went into the encampment, they found the bodies of the thirty soldiers had been mutilated almost beyond recognition.

© Phil Konstantin

When news of the battle that became known as the Grattan Massacre reached the War Department, a plan for retaliation was formed. They sent Colonel William S. Harney to Fort Kearny with the intent to garner revenge. The Indian agent in the area forewarned the Sioux of the coming battle, and half the Sioux forces went to Fort Laramie and presented themselves as friendly. The other half under Chief Little Thunder’s leadership, remained at large, although they desired also to live peacefully.

On the morning of September 3, 1855, a 700-soldier force of descended on an encampment of 250 Brulé Sioux. Harney and his men killed more than one hundred men, women, and children that day, and also took roughly seventy prisoners. The Battle of Ash Creek, as it became known, began a long history of attacks and retaliations that would continue for many years on the Western frontier. In fact, The Battle of Ash Creek can be directly linked to one of the most famous cases of retaliation in all of Indian war history. One of the young boys who witnessed the massacre of family and friends at Ash Creek grew to be known as the great Sioux warrior, Crazy Horse, who twenty-one years later, rode into battle against Custer on the banks of the Little Big Horn.

It's your turn. How do you think the situation with the runaway cow should have been handled? Could war have been prevented?

Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen, when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has won five writing competitions and made the top 10 and top 3 in two other competitions. In addition to writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers and lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband, teenaged son, and five fur children.