When the army felt the need to establish a military presence as a bastion against hostiles and to watch over those traveling the Oregon Trail, the government bought the trading post. Some of the buildings were replaced, new ones added, and fortifications erected. Located on the west bank of the Laramie River not far from its junction with the North Platte, the fort was an important stopping-off point for those headed west. Fargo had been there more in the spring and summer than in the winter. It was unusual for him to see it mantled in snow, looking stark and bleak in the gloom of an overcast sky. The snow had stopped falling but it could start again at any time. A score of wagons was in a giant circle and half a dozen fires had been lit. People bundled against the cold were coming and going. The gates were open. Sentries on the ramparts kept an eye on the countryside.
