Place

Children Stories at the Captain's Quarters

California National Historic Trail, Fort Laramie National Historic Site, Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, Oregon National Historic Trail, Pony Express National Historic Trail

A room filled with paintings, a table with several chairs, and wood burning stove — Inside the Captain's Quarters
NPS

Many children lived with their families at Fort Laramie. There were plenty of opportunities for them to get into mischief.

“Master Lou Freeman with two or three companions threw and broke some rotten eggs on front of the printing office this AM.”

“It is very disagreeable indeed to have such a performance.” – Private John Kelly, 1883

Officers could send their children east to be educated. But Fort Laramie had its own school. Students here faced some unique distractions.

“A stray shot fired by some man a t target practice…passed through the schoolhouse door and slightly injured the daughter of [the] Ordnance Sergeant. I would therefore respectfully recommend that a different locality be selected for future practices. …” – D.G. Caldwell, Post Surgeon, 1883

Fort Laramie became a complex, diverse community of soldiers’ families, unmarried men, civilians, and Indians living around the fort. Children added to that sense of community. It helped make life bearable here, on the lonely, windswept edge of the plains.