Several ghosts are said to linger at Fort Laramie in what was the beacon of civilization when Wyoming was a prairie in the wilderness. Soldiers that ended their days in the many wars from this time to a Lady in Green seen riding on her black horse every seven years, the historical site has more than old buildings to offer.
In southeast Wyoming in Goshen County, Fort Laramie National Historic Site stands as a spectral testament to the bygone era from 1834 when it started as a trading post and diplomatic enclave. The originally known as Fort William was an important trading post in the 19th century originally meant to oversee the fur trade.
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It was then bought by the American Army and was also often used as a stopping place for migrants on the Oregon Trail on their way west for a new home, people going the California Trail for the Gold Rush, The Mormon Trail, armies stationed there for a time or fur traders coming and going. It was not necessarily a place you were meant to stay on for, but it looks like that some of the souls passing through are still lingering here.
Old Bedlam and it History
Old Bedlam, with its timeworn walls and creaking floorboards, has become a focal point for visitors seeking a glimpse into the spectral mysteries of Fort Laramie. Old Bedlam is Wyoming’s oldest documented buildings from 1849.
Why this building was called Bedlam though is uncertain. In England at this time, Bedlam was a word for insane asylum. This was not an asylum though, but first and foremost office quarters for the bachelors. Although it was really far from everything else and quite isolated.
The furnishing was sparse and meant to be practical for communal living. Native American artifacts from trading and the oncoming wars were hugely popular though and were often used to decorate with.
The Haunting of Old Bedlam
Numerous reports have surfaced of encounters with an apparition clad in the regalia of a cavalry officer, who silently roams throughout the building. Companies of Cavalry has been stationed at Old Bedlam since its time as a Frontier Army Post from 1849 and fought in the Civil War, the Bozeman War and the Great Sioux War. The last soldiers left Fort Laramie in 1890.
Did one of these officers stay behind in his afterlife? Witnesses describe a commanding presence that, despite its ethereal nature, seems to assert authority over the living. The whispered admonishments to “be quiet” echo through the corridors of Old Bedlam, as if the phantom officer is enforcing a long-forgotten order.
George in The Old Captain’s Quarters Building
Old Bedlam is not the only haunted building though. The old Captain’s Quarters Building from 1870 is also said to be haunted by a ghost. This haunting has reportedly gone on for years, all the way back to when the Fort was in use as a military presence and has been reported on by many former military men.
Strange things like doors opening or the sound of footsteps when no one is coming are said to happen there. There have also been lights inside of the facility, even without electricity. By the staff working there, the spirit has been nicknamed George.
Other Ghosts Haunting the Fort
The Cavalry Barracks from 1874 that housed hundreds of soldiers at once is also said to be haunted. Early in the morning, when it would have been time for the soldiers to answer the reveille to have been played, you could hear the sound of heavy boots over the boardwalk.
There is also said to be a young man in a raincoat looking to talk to someone even there is no one there. Although not much is known about him, he is considered a ghost.
Something looking like a surgeon in a blood stained uniform from the U.S Army looks irritated around the area where there once was an old hospital. There is not much left of the hospital but a shell, but it is said that many men died and their bones are still around there.
A small creek known as Deer Creek is behind the Old Bedlam and jail. It is said to have the ghost of a man throwing rocks into the creek in the early hours. He is said to be unfriendly and should be avoided as well as it is said he is headless.
Another ghost left alone is the Civil War ghost acting erratically southeast of the fort in a place called Bovee Draw past the visitors center that comes out at midnight. If he was a union or confederate is unknown.
By the Detention Dam there is a man with a bloody sword said to be standing still, staring into the water around midnight.
According to reports and staff there are also those that claim to have seen the ghost of Portugee Phillips riding on horseback across the fields. This was a famous rider who brought the news of the Fetterman Attack to Fort Laramie in 1866.
The Lady in Green
There is not only one ghost haunting this historic site. Perhaps more known is the story of the Lady in Green haunting Fort Laramie. This story is from the time when the place was known as Fort John and was a trading post for fur in the 1830s.
The man in charge was an agen sent out from a fur trading company to live there. He had a beautiful and sophisticated daughter that he brought with him into the wilderness. She was known to be a good rider and liked it out in the wild with the horses. Although she was only meant to stay for a little while in some versions, she begged to stay on in the Wyoming wilderness she grew to like.
In some versions though, she was the daughter of the owner of Fort Laramie’s Sutler’s Store, a licensed person allowed to sell supplies to the military.
Although her father feared for her safety because of robbers on the trail, conflicts with the native tribes and a young woman being so far from “civilized” society, he gave in to his strong willed daughter, promising him that she would never leave the compound without an escort and gave many men the task of protecting her as he wasn’t always around.
One day he was away from his posts, his daughter slipped away and ran from the trading post on a big black horse. Two men tried to reach her, but she was faster and road through the prairie and never returned.
When the father returned he sought for her everywhere with a search party, but she was never found and what happened to her remained a mystery. Did she have an accident, was she killed or something else? We will never know except that she never stopped riding.
Although she didn’t return back to the trading post alive, she was still sometimes spotted on the prairie close to it seven years after her death allegedly. It is said that her ghost shows herself east of the Fort Laramie and on the Oregon Trail every seven years.
The next being in 2025 as she was once spotted in 2011, and perhaps also in 2018? In 1976 the Cheyenne Westerners even held a midnight event at the fort as she was supposed to appear that year. They decided to prank their audience by having a man draped in a blanket riding over the grounds.
When he got off, he told his friends that he would never ever do that again as he claimed he had heard phantom hooves following him. Could it have been the Lady in Green?
She is alone still riding her stallion. She is wearing a long green riding dress and a veiled hat with feathers on. Her dark hair is tucked up under it, holding a jeweled riding whip.
The Haunted Fort Laramie
For those who dare to step into this historic enclave, the ghostly encounters serve as a poignant reminder that the past, with its tales of triumphs and tragedies, may not always remain confined to the annals of history. In the moonlit shadows of Fort Laramie National Historic Site, the strange things like smelling rosewater and tobacco and the sound of a rider in the night, continue to puzzle those that visits.
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References:
Haunted Fort Laramie, Wyoming – Legends of America
Fort Laramie National Historic Site – Wikipedia
Haunted 307: Fort Laramie National Historic Site near Guernsey
Ghosts of Fort Laramie Haunt Wyoming Historic Site
Historically Haunted – Paranormal Housewife
Haunted Fort Laramie and Legend of the Lady in Green
