INTRODUCTION
By Marian Albright Schenk
FOREWORD
By Dean Knudsen
SECTION 1
Primary Themes of Jackson's Art
SECTION 2
Paintings of the Oregon Trail
SECTION 3
Historic Scenes From the West
 |
| This photographic portrait captures William Henry Jackson at his most stylish. Dating from the same period, this image may have been made on the occasion of Jackson's 1873 marriage to his second wife, Emilie Painter. (SCBL 925) |
Section 2: Paintings of the Oregon Trail
FORT LARAMIE
One would assume that the long, hard days on the trail would have been enough to distract the thoughts of a lovelorn young man, but that was not the case with William Henry Jackson. In fact, the grinding monotony only served to give him more time on which to dwell on his failed relationship. By the time he reached Fort Laramie, Jackson had worked himself up to the hope that there would be a letter waiting for him at the post, telling him to come home.
A person can easily imagine the expectation Jackson experienced when Fort Laramie's postmaster handed him several letters with postmarks from home—only to experience a crushing disappointment when the realization came that none of the letters were from his sweetheart. This emotional turmoil probably explains why Jackson made little mention of Fort Laramie in his diary and why no sketches of the post exist.
 |
| The site that later became Fort Laramie was originally a fur trading post known as Fort John. This image is very similar to the painting, "Fort Laramie" and differs only in that it offers a closer view of the fort. (SCBL 162) |
The two paintings that Jackson later produced of the site depict a much earlier view of Fort Laramie, before the fur trading post—known as Fort John, was purchased by the US Army in 1849. The adobe-walled structure with the prominent towers was the only stockade Fort Laramie ever had—but it had been torn down prior to Jackson's arrival in 1866. The fort Jackson visited had no defensive wall, and simply consisted of a number of buildings surrounding a large parade ground.
In 1866 Fort Laramie was an extremely active military post in the midst of a major transformation. The end of the American Civil War resulted in an increase in the number of emigrants on the trail, and it also meant that the volunteer soldiers who had been stationed at Fort Laramie had to be mustered out of the service and replaced by officers and soldiers of the regular army. This all took time, and when Jackson arrived at Fort Laramie on August 7, 1866, the last of the volunteers had only just been relieved by the 18th US Infantry a few weeks before—more than a year after the end of the war.
Jackson had also just missed the signing of a treaty at Fort Laramie between the government and the Brule Sioux. Hoping to bring an end to the warfare that had inflamed the Plains since 1864, Colonel Henry E. Maynedier and Indian Agent E.B. Taylor had been conducting negotiations with the various bands of the Sioux since June. Unfortunately the arrival of the 18th U.S. Infantry during these negotiations caused the wary Sioux leader Red Cloud to withdraw. The treaty that was signed was worthless and the warfare continued for another two years.
Bypassed by the transcontinental railroad and relegated to functioning as a supply base after the end of the Sioux Wars in 1877, the fort was eventually abandoned by the army in 1890. Some of the buildings were used by people who homesteaded on the grounds of the old fort, while other buildings were sold at auction and dismantled for use elsewhere. Jackson revisited Fort Laramie in 1937 and his efforts to document its history undoubtedly assisted the efforts that finally resulted in the post becoming a National Historic Site and being protected by the National Park Service.
1. Remi Nadeau, Fort Laramie and the Sioux (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1982), 201-212.
 |
| Fort Laramie. Signed and undated. 23.5 x 36.9 cm. (SCBL 29) |
 |
scbl/knudsen/sec2k.htm Last Updated: 14-Apr-2006 |
 |