The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-08-14

on the Arkansas river, and make it public
park. Colorado is busy with it's plans for the
reconstruction Of Bent's fort near Lamar, the
post whose history is veritable summary of
the historic Santa Fe Trail.
The Bent brothers and Ceran st. Vran began
trading on the Upper Arkansas in the early
twenties. The famous adobe fort, at first called
Fort William, was begun in 1928 and completed
in 1882. The inclosure was $50 feet by 135 feet.
The walls were four feet thick and fifteen feet
high. BastionS thirty feet high from two
corners and were provided with loopholes for
musketry and cannon. Fort Bent was for twenty
years the most important trading post on the
frontier and to name all the men who were con-
nected with it-FremOnt, Kit Carson, Dick Woo
ton and host of others-s to call the roll of
all the outstanding men in the earliest Wild
West.
What Bents fort was to the Santa Fe Trail,
Fort Laramie was to that other famous trans
continental highway the Oregon Trail SO it is
especially appropriate that movement should
now be under way in Wyoming for the pur
chase of old Fort Laramie from it's present
owners lit forms part of a cattle ranch) and
convert it into state monument. The last
legislature appropriated $4,000 for this pur-
pose and Fort Laramie may soon be restored
to some of it's former glory.
The history of Fort Laramie goes back to
1888 when Robert Campbell and William Sub
lette, trappers and fur traders, established q
camp on the North Platte river a few miles
west of what is now the state line of Wyoming
Here were erected few cabins and this from
tier outpost was first named Fort William, then
Fort John and finally named Fort Laramie after
Jacques La Ramie, French Canadian trapper
whose exploits made him noted figure in that
region.
From the beginning the fort did prosperous
business in pelts and furs, trading principally
with the Ogalaa bands of the Sioux, the Chey-
ennes and the Arapahoes In 1885 it became the
property of the Rocky Mountain Fur company,
composed of Milton Sublette, Thomas Fitzpat
rick Jim Bridger, Henry Fraeb and John Bap-
tiste Gervais.
Later in the same year the post passed into
the hands of Lucien FOntanelle for the Ameri-
can Fur company which had been founded sew
eral years earlier by John Jacob Aston. Bust
ness was so good that the American Fur COM
pany felt justified in spending $4,000 on i'm
provements. These included engagements, i'm
proved Notifications and increased facilities for
handling furs and trading with emgrants and
trappers
The American Fur company sold Fort Lara
mic to the government i'm 1S49 and for many
years under national control it served as prin-
cipal depot for emigrants and base of opera
tons against Indians 1t was rebuilt and en-
larged and sun-dried brick was used in strength
ening the Notifications. Walls 20 feet high and
feet thick were built around it, enclosing a
space $50 feet long by 200 feet wide. Within
this enclosure there were more than dozen
buildings, chucked squarely against the walls
Fort Laramie was the refuge for countless
trail-weary folks, many of whom were killed on
the road to Oregon 1t gathered innumerabe
romantic and historical associations. While it
was an army post it was also place Of gayety.
The train captains were glad to stop there while
the members of the caravan rested and sang,
danced and played games At times brisk trade
was carried on with the Indians; there was
always an encampment of them nearby, some
times friendly, often hostile.
Fort Laramie played stirring part In the
Indian wars of the sixties and seventies and
was finally abandoned as military reservation
in 1890. 1t then passed into private hands and
has had three different owners. Some of itA
buildings have been remodeled and put to varf-
Gus uses but others have crumbled into the
dust of oblivion from which it is now proposed
to restore this historic outpost.
&c by Western Newspaper Union.)