Fort Laramie National Historic Site
— — the post the Oregon Trail leaned on.
Not only on a wall.
“An old adobe and timber post on the high plains, three miles upstream of where the Laramie meets the North Platte. For most of the nineteenth century it was the last serious resupply before South Pass — fur trade, then Army, then the Treaty of 1868 signed in one of these rooms. The cottonwoods along the river still cast the same long shadow at five o'clock. Wind comes in across the grass and the parade ground stands quiet under it. from the studio
Fort Laramie National Historic Site, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Fort Laramie sits in Goshen County in eastern Wyoming, three miles upstream of the Laramie River's confluence with the North Platte. Founded in 1834 as the fur-trade post Fort William, it was bought by the U.S. Army in 1849 to guard the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails. More than 350,000 emigrants passed through before the transcontinental railroad ended its role in 1890. The site was authorized as a National Monument in 1938 and redesignated a National Historic Site in 1960; the National Park Service preserves roughly a dozen original structures across the parade ground.
What stands today is mostly lime-mortared brick and adobe, plus heavy cottonwood and pine timber milled on the North Platte. Old Bedlam, the bachelor officers' quarters built in 1849, is the oldest documented military building in Wyoming and the white-painted landmark of the parade ground. The cavalry barracks, the post surgeon's quarters, the bakery, and the magazine were stabilized through the long restoration that began in 1938. Original lime plaster still holds on several interior walls; the rest is a careful National Park Service rebuild keyed to the 1876 footprint.
The site sits three miles southwest of the town of Fort Laramie on Wyoming Highway 160, about two hours north of Cheyenne. Grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk; the visitor center and restored buildings are open year-round except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. Admission is free. Living-history programs run on summer weekends, with the busiest stretch around the Fourth of July. Winter visits are quiet and cold; the parade ground holds wind off the Laramie River and the cottonwoods stand bare against the plains light.