A Fort or a Convenience/Rest Stop?

Any time Joe and I have traveled on the east coast and experienced their tollways, there are so many turnouts where folks can get gas, snacks and rest. Sometimes there are police stations and car repair shops as well. Before I started writing my stories, I never really considered that what those rest areas represent are not dissimilar to what the emigrants on the California Trail found when they came upon a “fort.”

 As a western kid, I always thought a fort was a military outpost. Come to find out, most of the military “forts” that were used on the California Trail in 1849 started as fur trading posts where the mountain men would come to trade their accumulated furs for goods they would survive on in the wilderness. 

The larger fur trading companies like the Hudson Bay Company or the American Fur Company, built the “forts” to keep their assets safe but smaller, more entrepreneurial trappers also created their own trading posts. The compounds were very much a business asset with limited defensive intentions until they became military installments as the need arose.

Before I geek out on the most impactful of the California Trail’s forts, let’s do a quick review.

Once the emigrants started heading west in the late 1840s, the American government saw the opportunity to create military “forts” where soldiers would be housed, and emigrants could come for protection. The three I use in The Gantlet are: Fort Kearney (Nebraska) along the Platte River, Fort Laramie (Wyoming), and Fort Bridger (Wyoming).

The reconstructed stockade at Fort Kearny. NPS Photo.

Let’s start with Fort Kearney. It was re-established in 1848 (many forts went through relocation until they found the best spot), and was named after General Stephen Watts Kearney. It became the eastern anchor of the Great Platte River Road and eventually played a role in the Pony Express, an Overland Stage station and a telegraph station. It was mostly a supply post for the emigrants, so its construction was not in a defensive manner and no direct attack was ever made on the fort. 

Aerial View of Fort Laramie National Historic Site. NPS.

Fort Laramie had several names (Fort William and Fort John) and locations before it became what we know today. Located at the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte Rivers in modern day Wyoming, it was a private trading post in the 1830s for the fur trade established by William Sublette and Robert Campbell before being sold to Jim Bridger and Thomas Fitzpatrick, who then sold it to the American Fur Company in 1836.

In 1849 the United States Army purchased it as a post to protect the many emigrants traveling on the Oregon Trail. It became a significant historical location where many treaties were signed in hopes of peaceful relations with the Native Americans in the 1850s. With the increasing strife of the 1860s, the fort became more military in posture.

Fort Bridger, along the national historic trails. NPS Photo.

Fort Bridger also started out as a trading post located on the Blacks Fork of the Green River in what became Wyoming. It was established by Jim Bridger and his partner, Louis Vasquez. It played a major role in the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails where emigrants could resupply, rest, and purchase fresh livestock to continue their travels.

The US Army established a military post there in 1858 during the Utah War. It was a stop on the Pony Express, and its soldiers were instrumental in protecting the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad and the Overland Stage and Mail route. It was eventually closed in 1890 when Wyoming became a state.

So, the next time you are traveling and pull out at convenience/rest stop, you can think of it as a “fort,” and you won’t be all that wrong!