One of the amazing stories was John Phillips, who rode 236 miles in three days after the Fetterman fight, to request help for Fort Phil Kearny. He arrived in the middle of the officer's Christmas eve party, gave the message, and collapsed. This is believed to be one of the greatest horse rides in history, although later historians note that he did not make the entire ride alone.
Fort Laramie is big, with some buildings only foundations, and others restored to how they would have looked in the late 1800s. Marianne felt that it had a nice feel, unlike Fort Robinson, which in her mind held a lot of sadness and negative vibes.
Fort Laramie was on the Oregon trail, the Mormon trail, and the California trail. It had up to 700 troops stationed there, cavalry and infantry. In later years, Fort Laramie was an island of civilization and culture, with boardwalks and even a birdbath. The officer's wives formed the social scene.
Richard enjoyed talking to one of the reenactors, a woman on the trail. It would have been a very hard journey, with many deaths from cholera and other diseases. He even got to use a little French with some tourists from Lyon France.
After Fort Laramie, we drove to Cheyenne, where we had a nice dinner with Judy, Ron and Stephen. On Sunday, we drove home to Boulder in a misty rain.
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