An early depiction of Fort Sanders military fort.

The garrison at Fort Sanders frequently protected railroad crews from Indian attacks along the line over the Laramie Range and across the plains. Initially, Fort Sanders was the county seat for the original Laramie County (as created by the Dakota Territory), which was almost all of what later became the Wyoming Territory. On December 27, 1867, Dakota lawmakers moved the Laramie County seat to Cheyenne and created a new Carter County out of the western half.

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Soldiers, such as these men serving at Fort Sanders near Laramie, were originally tasked with protecting travelers on the nearby Overland Trail from Native American attacks. Later, their primary duty became protecting the workers of the Union Pacific Railroad when it arrived in 1869.

Note the man on the right, who is a shoe cobbler depicted with some of his tools. This photo shows a bit of everyday life at Fort Sanders and highlights the need for craftsmen and merchants at the fort.

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Photo by Joseph “J.E.” Stimson. 

This photo shows men at mess time and was likely taken sometime in the early 1900s by photographer Joseph Stimson after Fort Sanders had been dis-established.

In 1901, Stimson was hired as a publicity photographer for the Union Pacific Railroad to help change the image of the scandal-plagued railroad. Stimson was given free rein to photograph anything that might draw investors to the railway.

Learn more about photographer J.E. Stimson.

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Above is a picture of what appears to be a merchant  or a “sutler” at Fort Sanders. Sutlers were people who followed the army to sell provisions to its soldiers.  At one point in time, the sutlers were banned from selling alcohol to the troops at Fort Sanders, as they were getting into too much trouble in town.

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This letter shows how slowly information traveled, even along designated routes. In this letter from 1868, the writer is still requesting information about the Civil War.

Learn more about the mail service during the Civil War as well as the handwriting style of the day. 

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John Gibbon was a career officer in the United State Army who fought in the Civil War and in skirmishes with the Native Americans.

An 1847 graduate of West Point, Gibbon served in the Union Army although his father was a slaveholder and he had many relatives serving in the Confederate Army. He was one of three commissioners for the Confederate surrender. Gibbon was part of a group gathered for a meeting regarding the Union Pacific Railroad at Fort Sanders in July of 1868. Other attendees included Generals P. H. Sheridan, U.S. Grant, William T. Sherman, W. S. Harney and Joseph H. Potter, Commander of Fort Sanders.

Learn more about John Gibbon.

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Brigadier General Joseph Hayden Potter was a classmate of Ulysses S. Grant at the military academy at West Point.  In time, he would hold several posts in the West, including  Commander of Fort Sanders.

Potter was part of a group gathered for a meeting regarding the Union Pacific Railroad at Fort Sanders in July of 1868. Other attendees included Generals P. H. Sheridan, U.S. Grant, William T. Sherman, W. S. Harney and John Gibbon.

Learn more about Brig. Gen. Joseph Potter.

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William Selby Harney was a well-known cavalry officer of the Indian Wars who worked for peace with the Native Americans by advocating a good neighbor policy. He strove throughout his career to improve the nation’s treatment of the native population.  The Crows gave him the name “Man-who-runs-like-the-deer” after he challenged them to foot races outside the walls of the fort.

After the Civil War, Harney was a key figure in the Southern Treaty Commission that negotiated treaties with all the Plains tribes in 1867-68, and urged Congress to honor past treaties. After his death, the Sioux (Lakota) changed his name to “Man-who-always-kept-his-word.”

Harney was part of a group gathered for a meeting regarding the Union Pacific Railroad at Fort Sanders in July of 1868. Other attendees included Generals P. H. Sheridan, John Gibbon, U.S. Grant, William T. Sherman and Joseph H. Potter, Commander of Fort Sanders.

Learn more about Gen. William Harney.

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August Kautz emigrated to the United States and saw action in the Mexican-American War. Afterward, he studied at West Point, served on the frontier and was wounded twice in the Civil War.

President Johnson appointed Kautz to the nine-man military commission to try conspirators of President Lincoln’s Assassination. The commission found eight conspirators guilty, and on July 7, 1865, Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt were hanged at the Washington Penitentiary. Surratt was the first female in American history to be executed.

Kautz was part of a group gathered for a meeting regarding the Union Pacific Railroad at Fort Sanders in July of 1868. Other attendees included Generals P. H. Sheridan, John Gibbon, U.S. Grant, William T. Sherman and Joseph H. Potter, Commander of Fort Sanders.

Learn more about General August Kautz.

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In 1868, Brigadier General Adam Slemmer was part of a group gathered for a meeting of officials representing the Union Pacific Railroad and officers from Fort Sanders. Attendees included Generals P. H. Sheridan, John Gibbon, U.S. Grant, William T. Sherman and Joseph H. Potter, Commander of Fort Sanders. Not long after this, while in command of Fort Laramie, Slemmer died from the lingering effects of typhoid fever.

Learn more about Gen. Adam Slemmer. 

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