2 Best Sights in Cheyenne, Laramie, and Southern Wyoming, Wyoming

Fort Laramie is one of the most important historic sites in Wyoming, in part because its original buildings are extremely well preserved, but also because it played a role in several significant periods in Western history. Near the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte rivers, the fort began as a trading post in 1834, and it was an important provisioning point for travelers on the Oregon Trail in 1843, the Mormon Trail in 1847, and the California Trail in 1849, when it also became a military site. The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed here, leading to the end of the First Sioux War, also known as Red Cloud's War. National Park Service rangers interpret scenes of military life and talk about the fur trade, overland migration, and relations between settlers and Native Americans.

Historians aren't sure how Mormons came to control Fort Bridger trading post. They may have purchased Fort Bridger from Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez or forced the original owners to leave. As the U.S. Army approached during a conflict known as the Mormon War of 1857, the Mormons deserted the area and burned the original Bridger post. Fort Bridger was rebuilt and then served as a frontier military post until it was abandoned in 1890, and many of the military-era buildings remain. You can attend interpretive programs and living-history demonstrations during the summer, and the museum has exhibits about the fort's history. The largest mountain-man rendezvous in the intermountain West occurs annually at Fort Bridger over Labor Day weekend, attracting hundreds of buckskinners and Native Americans, plus thousands of visitors. The grounds are open daily, and the historic buildings are open in the warmer months.