Places: Fort Laramie, Wyoming
Forts served many purposes in the American west. Just because a place was called a fort didn't necessarily make it a military installation. Fur traders, either working for a company or independents such as William Sublette or Jim Bridger, also fortified their trading posts. Because these trading forts were situated in good locations for local tribes to gather, they were often taken over later as military posts and became the site of treaty parleys. Such is the story of Fort Laramie in Wyoming. Fort Laramie, now a National Historic Site, is located on the junction of the North Platte and Laramie Rivers in the Upper Platte Valley. William Sublette, a Kentucky-born trader and scout, chose the location for a trading post in 1834 and named it for himself, Fort William. In 1841, John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company bought the property from Sublette and named the place Fort John, but not after Astor. Finally, in 1849, as more and more emigrants ca...