Fort Sanders was a
wooden fort constructed in 1866 on the
Laramie Plains in southern
Wyoming
Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
, near the city of
Laramie. Originally named Fort
John Buford, it was renamed Fort Sanders after General
William P. Sanders, who died at the
Siege of Knoxville during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. This was the second fort to be named after Sanders, the first being in
Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...
. The fort was originally intended to protect travelers on the nearby
Overland Trail from Indian attacks, but later the garrison was tasked with protecting the workers of the
Union Pacific railroad when it arrived in the spring of 1868. In 1869 the town of Laramie (originally called "Laramie City") was created about north of the fort. Fort Sanders became less important following the construction of
Fort D. A. Russell in
Cheyenne in 1868, but the
War Department maintained it until 1882 when the buildings were sold.
Layout
The fort grounds were by , including a parade ground. The post was originally built for four companies, but was later expanded to accommodate six. Nearly all of the buildings were constructed of wood except for the stone guardhouse, which was built in 1869 and remains the only structure standing on the original site today. At least two additional buildings from the fort were moved to other locations in Laramie and survive today. The post Commander's quarters were moved to LaBonte Park and have been used as community center, and since 2010 the headquarters of the nonprofit food access organization
Feeding Laramie Valley.
Another building became the Cavalrymen Supper Club.
See also
*
List of the oldest buildings in Wyoming
References
External links
* L.C. Bishop,
Emigrant Trail Map Series: Fort Sanders, 1959
Fort Sanders Guardhouse at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office
{{Authority control
Pre-statehood history of Wyoming
Buildings and structures in Albany County, Wyoming
Sanders
National Register of Historic Places in Albany County, Wyoming