Historically, it is Fort Laramie, which was established by trappers William Sublette and Robert Campbell as a trading station in 1834 and bought by the U.S. government in 1849 to make it a base from which traders and travelers could be protected. This protection was closely related to the indigenous population, the Indians.
The Sioux, led by Red Cloud, gave up after a massacre at Sheridan in 1868.
The town was named after a trapper named Jacques LaRamie, who is said to have been the first non-Indian to set foot here.
Old town
The old town of Laramie is quiet and attractively designed. You can still feel the flair of the old houses and how it used to be here, to live here a 100 years ago. Many small cafes invite you to reasonably priced, good food.
Shopping
Many small shops and some of them with tourist souvenirs. But you can also dress up completely in Western style, from boots to Stetson hats. There should be something for everyone to shop.
Overall
As mentioned, it is a nice little town, but it misses the ‘wow’ factor and can’t compete with comparable cities like Jerome, Arizona, or Tombstone, Arizona.
Overall, Laramie is worth a stop to have seen it once, but it’s more of a city you’ll visit in transit. Compare also Colorado’s old towns: Silverton, Telluride, Ouray, Boulder.
How to get there
Accessible via I-80 from Cheyenne or from the south from Denver, Colorado in a convenient day trip (I-25 North, then I-80 West or alternatively I-25 North, SR14 West and SR287 North to Laramie)
Map
Wyoming Territorial Prison and Old West Park
The restored Wyoming Territorial Prison, built in 1872 and in which Butch Cassidy also sat (probably only in this prison, nowhere else could you receive him as a guest).
A museum shows the history of the U.S. Marshals in the park.
But not only original pieces of the time, but also film excerpts from old Hollywood Westerns that played here.
Frontier Town is a replica 19th-century trapper town, where there are also shows (of course gun shows) and a diner theatre.
Open daily between about 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. from May-end October, with Frontier Town only open between the last Monday in May and the first Monday in September.
Entrance fee: approx. $7.oo
Address:
975 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, east of the junction with I-80. If you are arriving via I-80, it is Exit 311.
Web: https://wyoparks.wyo.gov/index.php/places-to-go/wyoming-territorial-prison
