FORT LARAMIE
PLAN OF POST
1888
LEGEND 1 OFFICERS’ QUARTERS 2 ” ” 3 ” ” 4 ” ” 5 ” ” 6 ” ” 7 ” ” 8 ” ” 9 ” ” 10 ” ” 11 ” ” 12 ” ” 13 COMMANDING OFFICER’S QUARTERS 14 OFFICERS’ QUARTERS 15 ” ” 16 ” ” 17 ” ” 18 ” ” 19 ” ” 20 PRINTING OFFICE 21 ADMINISTRATION BUILDING 22 LIBRARY 23 MAGAZINE (OLD GUARD HOUSE) 24 BARRACKS 25 KITCHEN AND MESSHALL 26 GUARD HOUSE 27 GENERAL SINK 28 OIL HOUSE 29 MARRIED MEN’S QUARTERS 30 BARRACKS 31 KITCHEN AND MESSHALL 32 ” ” ” 33 ” ” ” 34 NEW BARRACKS 35 COMMISSARY STORE HOUSE 36 GRANARY 37 BAKERY 38 Q.M. STORE HOUSE 39 Q.M. STORE HOUSE AND OFFICE 40 TELEGRAPH OFFICE 41 Q.M. STORE HOUSE 42 ” ” ” 43 Q.M. SHOPS 44 ” ” 45 Q.M. EMPLOYEES’ QUARTERS 46 Q.M. SHOPS 47 ” ” 48 ” ” 49 Q.M. EMPLOYEES’ QUARTERS 50 HARNESS ROOM 51 STABLES 52 ” 53 ” 54 SAW MILL 55 RUSTIC HOTEL 56 STAGE COACH STABLES 57 HOSPITAL 58 HOSPITAL STEWARDS’ QUARTERS 59 N.C. STAFF QUARTERS 60 BATH HOUSES 61 SUTLER’S RESIDENCE 62 SUTLER’S STORE BUILDINGS STANDING TODAY ARE SHOWN IN BLACK
Officers’ row in the winter of 1889. Courtesy U. S. Signal Corps.
During these same years, Fort Laramie was assuming a false air of permanence as many of the old buildings of frame, log, and adobe construction were replaced by sturdy new structures with lime-concrete walls. A water system changed the parade ground from a gravelly flat to a tree-shaded greensward. The last cavalry unit to be stationed at the fort rode away in 1883 with Col. Wesley Merritt. Part of the Seventh Infantry, commanded by Colonel Gibbon, then garrisoned the post.
General view of Fort Laramie in 1889. Courtesy U. S. Signal Corp.
Fort Laramie’s importance had been threatened by construction of the Union Pacific Railroad 100 miles to the south. Its fate was now sealed by construction, in the late 1880’s, of the Northwestern Line 50 miles to the north. This made Fort Robinson the logical guardian of the Indian reservations to the north, and by 1886 Col. Henry Merriam, then commanding officer of the Seventh Infantry and Fort Laramie, was ready to agree that further development of the old post was unwise. Not until August 31, 1889, however, was abandonment of the proud old fort decreed. At the request of Wyoming’s Governor Warren, troops remained at the post until March 2, 1890, when the last two companies of the Seventh Infantry marched away. A few men were left to ship movable property, while a detachment from Fort Robinson dismantled some of the structures and on April 9, 1890, auctioned off the buildings and fixtures. At that auction, Lt. C. M. Taylor of the Ninth Cavalry sold the buildings of historic Fort Laramie at prices ranging from $2.50 to $100. Thirty-five lots of buildings and much miscellaneous furniture and fixtures brought a total of $1,395.