FORT LARAMIE. 53 



arrangements for continuing our journey. I here unpacked one 

 of the barometers "which I had taken charge of for the Smithsonian 

 Institution, to be left at this post. It had stood the journey ad- 

 mirably, was in perfect order, and was gladly received by Lieu- 

 tenant Woodbury, of the corps of Engineers. Observations also 

 were made for the latitude of the post, which placed it in lat. 

 42M2' 38.'' 2, long. 104° 31' 26". 



Fort Laramie, formerly known as Fort John, was one of the posts 

 established by the American Fur Company for the protection of 

 their trade. Its walls are built in the usual style of such structures, 

 of adobe or unburnt brick. The company sold it to the United 

 States Government ; and their people, when we arrived, were tem- 

 porarily encamped near the ford of the creek, having recently sur- 

 rendered the possession of the post to the troops, whom we found 

 engaged in preparing for its extension and in the erection of addi- 

 tional quarters, under the superintendence of Lieutenant Woodbury. 

 It is garrisoned at present by two companies of Infantry and one 

 of Mounted Rifles, under command of Major Sanderson, of the 

 latter corps, by whom we were received with the greatest courtesy, 

 and promptly furnished with such supplies as were within the 

 resources of his command. I procured here fifteen additional mules, 

 and our stock now consisted of fifty-six mules, five horses, four 

 steers for beef, and two milch-cows, one of which we had found on 

 the prairie, abandoned or lost by her owners. 



The country has risen considerably since leaving Scott's Bluff, 

 and the general flora indicates a much drier atmosphere: the 

 grasses especially are brown and burned up wherever the earth is 

 not directly moistened by proximity to some stream. The soil 

 around Fort Laramie appears to be sterile, owing no doubt to the 

 extreme dryness of the air and the almost total absence of dews. 

 The great quantity of coarse conglomerate, too, which, by its dis- 

 integration, leaves the surface covered with gravel, must operate 

 as a great impediment to cultivation. The rocks, however, con- 

 tain the elements of fertility, being composed of limestone, clay, 

 and sand ; and I have no doubt that, with the aid of irrigation, the 

 bottom lands of Laramie Creek might be made to produce most 

 abundant crops. Hay is cut about eight miles up the stream in 

 quantity sufficient for the wants of the garrison. 



A short excursion of some seven miles up the Laramie river, 

 showed that the sections of the bluffs presented strata of sand- 

 stone conglomerate, formed, in some cases, of the detritus of sand- 



