Overland Trails: Fur Trappers to Pony Express Riders

ENJOY THE ADVENTURE AND HISTORICAL SITES BETWEEN ST. LOUIS AND FORT LARAMIE.

- CANDY MOULTON

When we think and write about the overland trails, we usually start somewhere in the east at a place like St. Louis, Independence, Kansas City or St. Joseph and follow the trail west. But the trail went both directions, so this time I am starting at Fort Laramie. Never fear, we will get back to the West on this journey.

Fort Laramie, established as a military post in 1849 to provide protection for travelers along the overland trails leading to Oregon, California and the Mormon settlement in Utah, became the most valuable post in the region. In that period almost everyone traveling east or west passed through Fort Laramie, where they could find supplies, collect or deposit a letter, and learn news of the trail.

Near the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte rivers, the post for three decades provided for overland travelers, served as a military post, and played a role in negotiations and relations with the tribes of the Northern Plains. Fort Laramie is now a national historic site.

On from Fort Laramie

The area near the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte rivers became strategically significant in 1834 when Robert Campbell and William Sublette established Fort William as a center for fur trade. Fort William was close to the site where Fort Laramie was later constructed.

Thomas Fitzpatrick guided the first wagon train over the Oregon Trail in 1841, and he also led John C. Fremont’s first expedition into the West in 1843. The importance of Fort William had dwindled after the last big Rocky Mountain fur rendezvous in 1840, but the value of its strategic location was clearly evident, which led to Fort Laramie’s construction as a military post in 1849.