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.