Fort Laramie in 1876: Chronicle of a Frontier Post at War

by Paul L. Hedren

Fort Laramie had a long and illustrious history as a way station on the Oregon Trail, trading center, rendezvous point, Indian agency, and military installation. Founded in 1834 on the high plains of present-day eastern Wyoming, the fort evolved into an organizational hub and chief supply center for the U.S. Army in its campaigns against the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians. Fort Laramie in 1876 focuses on a crucial year in the history of the fort, a year that saw General George Crook's Big Horn, Yellowstone, and Powder River expeditions; the defeat of Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer at the Little Big Horn; a fevered rush to the Black Hills gold fields; and chaos at the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Indian agencies. Many historians have written about these events, but Paul L. Hedren is the first to dwell on the operations of the most important military post on the northern plains during that time. He has drawn on the official army records of Fort Laramie—a vast body of correspondence, orders, and directives from all command levels—in addition to diaries and journals. Collectively, they illuminate the scene of a frontier military outpost making history in its support of General Crook in the Great Sioux War.

313 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

A native Minnesotan, Paul Hedren retired from the National Park Service in 2007 after nearly thirty-seven years as a park historian and superintendent at such storied places as Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Wyoming, the Golden Spike National Historic Site in Utah, and the Niobrara National Scenic River in Nebraska.

Paul is also a lifelong writer and the author of scores of scholarly and popular articles plus eleven books, with stories largely focusing on the Great Sioux War of 1876-77 and particularly that conflict’s subtleties and consequences. Paul’s won numerous writing awards including a Spur from the Western Writers of America, the Vivian Paladin Award from the Montana Historical Society, and the Herbert Schell Award from the South Dakota State Historical Society. In 2011 his book After Custer: Loss and Transformation in Sioux Country won a prestigious Wrangler Award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, and also the Sills Book Prize from the Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association.

Reviews

[Schoppie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read a book by Paul Hedren that I didn't absolutely love, and this book is no exception!

Paul Hedren is one of the best authors writing about the Plains Indian Wars, and his book "Fort Laramie and the Great Sioux War" is the only book of its kind. Fort Laramie certainly gets a lot of attention in treatments of Western American History along the Oregon Trail, but its role in the Great Sioux War is often overlooked because of the focus on Custer and the events in Montana. The much-reduced garrison policed the routes to the Black Hills, guarded telegraph-building teams, chased raiders, and organized and guarded supply trains to various points at the front throughout the conflict. Hedren takes no sides in the conflict, but he clearly admires the officers, soldiers, and their families stationed at Fort Laramie who faithfully served their country in often less-than-glamorous supporting roles at this most important post on the northern plains. The inclusion of women's accounts of the events (specifically Elizabeth Burt's writings) are a welcome change to the usual "men only" treatments of the Great Sioux War.

This book makes an excellent follow-up-read to Douglas C. McChristian's book "Fort Laramie: Military Bastion of the High Plains."