Fort Laramie and the Pageant of the West, 1834-1890

A noble piece of work on this legendary sentinel of the American west. From the initial founding of Fort Laramie as a trading post in 1834 by fur trappers William Sublette and Robert Campbell, to the demise as a military outpost in 1890, the reader is chronologically taken along on these fifty-six years as to the importance of this western safe haven. We read of the significance of Ft. Laramie to the traders and Indians, the transfer of it to the American Fur Company, then finally to the U. S. military in 1849. It was a beacon to the thousands of trail emigrants from the 1840's through the 1860's while stocking up on supplies, livestock and repairs to wagons. It also importantly served as a military safeguard to the emigrants, thwarting Indian insurgencies from the 1850's through 1870's, contributed to the principal mail line and Pony Express to California, to freighters going further west, etc. etc. The authors cover not only the history of the fort itself, but also the relationship of this stronghold to other geographical areas in its region. Excellent read and very presentable.