Fort Laramie, and then, a side trip

Leaving Scott's Bluff, my next stop was Fort Laramie, in what is today Wyoming. In 1857, however, Fort Laramie in the southeastern part of the state was in the Nebraska Territory, carved from the original Louisiana Purchase.

Repeating a sentence from the History of the Tenth Regiment of Infantry..

• The regiment took up the march July 18 and reached Fort Kearney August 7 where it remained until the 11th, and on August 31 encamped eight miles below Fort Laramie

The regiment took a month and 20 days to go from Ft. Kearney to Ft. Laramie. I made the trip in about five and a half hours of road time over about a day and a half.

Entrance to Ft. Laramie, WY

 That fact begs the question -

How much time did the travelers in the wagon trains spend on the trail?

From "FORT LARAMIE PARK HISTORY 1834-1977"
             by Merrill J. Mattes

• The emigrant season at Fort Laramie was short, a maximum of 45 days. The timing of one's visit there hinged on two factors, in an equation of survival.
  
  
  One left the Missouri River jumping-off place no sooner than the spring rains could green up the prairies for vital pasture for mules and oxen. This could be any time the last half of April.
  
  
  Near the other end of the journey was the barrier of the Sierra Nevadas; if you got there too late after your exhausting traverse of the arid Great Basin you could die of exposure in October snows. So you aimed to reach Hangtown (later Placerville) in the Mother Lode country no later than mid-September.
  
  
  Averaging 12 to 15 miles per day, including rest stops, over the total distance of near 2,000 miles, this meant a journey of four to five months, depending on the fortunes or misfortunes of the trail. This also meant that in 35 to 40 days from your starting point you should be at Fort Laramie.
  
  

It seems the Army was moving a little slower, so the Regiment's arrival at the end of August, sans companies A and D, was past the peak of the pioneer wagon train visits that occurred in June.

The so-called Utah, or Mormon War of 1857-58

I guess it's time to discuss the reason for the 10th Regiment's move to the west.
--From the Regimental History:

•  Following closely upon the Indian troubles which most of the regiment had been employed, since early spring, in suppressing, came the necessity to send to Utah a large military force to protect the Federal officers there, and to compel obedience to the laws. Brigham Young, who had been running things successfully with a high hand for some years, finally announced himself as follows:
  
  "I am, and will be Governor, and no power can hinder it until the Lord Almighty says,' Brigham, you need not be Governor any longer.'"

This seems to have settled it. The Government ordered an expedition, consisting of two thousand five hundred men under Colonel A. S. Johnston, to Utah Territory for protection of the newly appointed Governor, Alfred Cumming, and other federal officials in the discharge of their duties. Elements of the 10 Regiment of Infantry would be part of that force.

Company D, of which Jerome was a member, would miss the first encounter with the Mormons. From the Regiment History - -

• On the night of September 24th the Mormons made an attempt to stampede the mules of the baggage train, a small party of them dashing through the herd, firing and yelling. Only eleven of the mules were driven off, and they were recovered the next day by a party of teamsters sent in pursuit under Lieutenants Maynadier and Swayne. The regiment reached Green River on the 27th, left there at midnight the same night, and after a march Of 23 miles reached Ham's Fork. Company C formed a part of the command of Captain R. B. Marcy during October. It returned to Ham's Fork October 31. A and D joined the command on the 6th of November.

The 10th was together at last, but the winter was not to be an easy one.

Continuing from the Regimental history - -

• The regiment arrived at Camp Scott, near Fort Bridger, on the 20th, where a winter camp was formed. The health of the regiment was reported remarkably good, but many cases of frost-bite occurred during the month. Theoretical and practical instruction was maintained as regularly as was permitted by inclement weather, and the absence of large details for detached guard and outpost duty, and the necessity of hauling all the fuel by hand four or five miles. These laborious duties were performed too, upon a restricted and indifferent allowance of food. The ration of flour was restricted at one time to ten ounces, and the beef cattle furnished were of the poorest quality, some of them unable to stand up. The regiment moved from Camp Scott to Fort Bridger March 18, 1858, in one of the most terrible snowstorms ever encountered in that valley. It remained at this post until June 15, when it marched to Salt Lake City.

The U.S. Marshals assigned to bring order the the Utah Territory had their hands full.

From The Journal of Arizona History, Spring 2012… Article about Pete Gabriel

• “By 1858, nineteen-year-old Pete struck off on his own. That spring, he was at Ft. Bridger on the Oregon Trail. The Utah War, which pitted Mormons against the U.S. Army, was in full swing. The previous October, Mormons had torched the fort in an unsuccessful effort to keep it from falling into the hands of the army. The soldiers wintered near Fort Bridger and by early spring they and local settlers were almost out of meat."

Meat was in short supply, as noted in both references above. A U.S. Marshal was assigned to help.

• “U.S. Marshal Peter K. Dodson was ordered to lead a supply expedition to a Shoshone Indian encampment on Bear River, thirty miles east. Dotson picked thirteen civilian volunteers, including Peter Gabriel, and started out on April 24. They were soon spotted by Mormon scouts. More troubling, Dotson and his men were able to buy only four head of cattle at the Shoshone camp.  Late on the night of April 26, Dotson, Gabriel, and the rest were wakened by Indians who warned them that a company of ninety-one Mormons had entered Bear River canyon. Dotson later reported that the Mormons had told the Indians that ‘they intended to wipe out this party of Americans who were on Bear River.’ Dotson and his men quietly slipped out of camp at midnight and made their way back to Ft. Bridger."

Back to the present day at Ft. Laramie, WY

It was time to take a break from my great-grandfather's travails to visit some family members in Colorado. Leaving Ft. Laramie, I drove west to I-25 and headed south for 320 miles.

My destination was the home of my wife's cousin Donna and her husband in Pueblo, CO. It was a welcome departure from camping to stay a couple of nights in their comfortable home. I also took the opportunity to visit and have lunch with my cousin Harriet, Jerome's great-granddaughter, who lives with her husband in Monument, CO near Colorado Springs.

In the next segment, after this 300+ mile side trip, I'll return to the Oregon/California trail and explore the rest of Jerome's trek to Ft. Bridger.