WYOMING FORTS
Ft. Bridger-In the summer of 1842, Mountain Man Jim Bridger announced he was building a trading post, "...in the road of the emigrants on Black's Fork of Green River." From its beginnings as a log and mud trading post, Bridger's "fort" matured into a modern frontier military post. It later evolved into the town of Fort Bridger, the only town in Wyoming with direct roots to the earliest days of the Oregon Trail.
Ft. Caspar-This military post evolved from previous sites know as Mormon Ferry Post and, after Louis Guinard spanned the North Platte River with a 1,000 foot log bridge in 1859, Platte Bridge Station. This site was one of the last opportunities the pioneers had to cross the river they had followed from central Nebraska on the Oregon Trail. The post was named in honor of 1st Lt. Caspar Collins who was killed while protecting a supply train from Indian attack.
Ft. Laramie-The most significant outpost on the Oregon Trail system was established as a trading post in 1834 by fur traders William Sublette and Robert Campbell. The U.S. military purchased the Fort in 1849 as a base to protect and supply the growing emigration on the trails. It later became a major link in the Pony Express, Overland Stage Line and the transcontinental telegraph systems and served as a base of operations for the High Plains Indian Wars.
Ft. Phil Kearny-This Fort and the nearby sites of the Wagon Box and Fetterman Fight are located in an area which saw some of the most dramatic incidents in the history of the Indian Wars.
Ft. Fred Steele-Established to protect crews working on the transcontinental railroad, the fort later played an important role in protection of local settlers and the railroad tie industry. It also served as railroad town and a stopping point on the old Lincoln Highway.