Ft. Laramie, Wyoming Territory, 1876  
 
(continued from page 1) on Powder River on the 17th. Short of supplies and plagued by inadequate transport and bad weather.  Crook withdrew to his base at Fort Fetterman to wait for spring.

Crook, along with the other forces, was ready to move as spring opened the trails of the region. He drew supplied and men from Fort Laramie and other posts, and  struck out again from Fort Fetterman, toward the north.

 General Alfred Terry, commanding the Department of Dakota coordinated the movements of two column, one from Fort Ellis, Montana and the other from Fort Abraham Lincoln, Dakota.

 The three forces steadily penetrated the hostile country. Crook met a stalemate on the Rosebud on June 17, and Custer, with part of Terry's column met defeat on the Little Horn on June 25th.

Fort Laramie saw its peak of military activity that year, as column after column of troops moved up to the Indian country. Many of these forces crossed the North Platte on the army's then new iron bridge.

The army inflicted substantial defeats on major bands of hostiles through late 1876 and early 1877. In the fall of 1876 many new army posts in and around the Indian country were created, to serve as bases from which to closely police the Indian activities.

Through 15 years of police action by the army on the plains, Fort Laramie played an important but constantly declining role, for the Indians were restricted increasingly to areas over a hundred miles from the fort, with other posts closer at hand.

The years from 1878 to 1890 were years of peace, order, improvement, at Fort Laramie. Better officers quarters were built, irrigation started, a water system installed, transportation and communication to the post were regular and efficient. Military life at the post settled into a routine of training, ceremony, social activity and informal pleasure.

The army adopted a policy in the late 1880's of concentrating its forces at larger, more modern posts along good transportation lines, and over a ten year period most of the remaining Indian Wars posts were phased out, Fort Laramie among them.

With the army's departure, civilians bought up the buildings and ultimately the land was opened to homesteading. For a period of about 20 years
 

                                    

 

                                                                           

 

 

 

 

 

 

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