Laramie Peak
Encyclopedia
Laramie Peak Is the highest and most prominent peak in the Laramie Range of Wyoming. With a peak elevation of 10276 feet (3,132.1 m), it is the only peak in the Laramie Range to exceed an elevation of 10000 feet (3,048 m). It can be seen from great distances from both sides of the Laramie Range including from over 120 miles away at the top of the Scotts Bluff National Monument
in Nebraska
and in the Wyoming
towns of Wheatland
, Douglas
, Rock River
, and immediately outside of the cities of Laramie
and Cheyenne
. It seems much larger on the eastern side of the mountain.
, a French-Canadian fur trade
r who lived in the area in the 1820s and who was found dead at the Laramie River.
and the Mormon Trail
. After reaching Scotts Bluff the top of the hill was visible at the horizon. For more than one week the hill guided the people on the track and signal the end of the relatively flat part of the way, reaching the Rocky Mountains
Mark Twain
wrote 1871 in his book Roughing It about the hill: "We passed Fort Laramie in the night, and on the seventh morning out we found ourselves in the Black Hills, with Laramie Peak at our elbow (apparently) looming vast and solitary -- a deep, dark, rich indigo blue in hue, so portentously did the old colossus frown under his beetling brows of storm-cloud. He was thirty or forty miles away, in reality, but he only seemed removed a little beyond the low ridge at our right."
Scotts Bluff National Monument
Scotts Bluff National Monument in western Nebraska includes an important 19th century landmark on the Oregon Trail and Mormon Trail. The National Monument contains multiple bluffs located on the south side of the North Platte River; it is named for one prominent bluff called Scotts Bluff, which...
in Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
and in the Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
towns of Wheatland
Wheatland, Wyoming
Wheatland is a town in and the county seat of Platte County in southeastern Wyoming, United States. The population was 3,548 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Wheatland is located at ....
, Douglas
Douglas, Wyoming
Douglas is a city in Converse County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 5,288 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Converse County...
, Rock River
Rock River, Wyoming
Rock River is a town in Albany County, Wyoming, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 235.-Geography:Rock River is located at ....
, and immediately outside of the cities of Laramie
Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 30,816 at the . Located on the Laramie River in southeastern Wyoming, the city is west of Cheyenne, at the junction of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 287....
and Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
. It seems much larger on the eastern side of the mountain.
Name
The mountain was named for Jacques La RameeJacques La Ramee
Jacques La Ramée was a French or French-Canadian fur trader who lived in what is now the U.S. state of Wyoming after moving there in 1815. In 1820 or 1821, he left for the season to go trapping along what is now known as the Laramie River...
, a French-Canadian fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
r who lived in the area in the 1820s and who was found dead at the Laramie River.
History
Laramie Peak was an important landmark for the settlers on the Oregon TrailOregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
and the Mormon Trail
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868...
. After reaching Scotts Bluff the top of the hill was visible at the horizon. For more than one week the hill guided the people on the track and signal the end of the relatively flat part of the way, reaching the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
wrote 1871 in his book Roughing It about the hill: "We passed Fort Laramie in the night, and on the seventh morning out we found ourselves in the Black Hills, with Laramie Peak at our elbow (apparently) looming vast and solitary -- a deep, dark, rich indigo blue in hue, so portentously did the old colossus frown under his beetling brows of storm-cloud. He was thirty or forty miles away, in reality, but he only seemed removed a little beyond the low ridge at our right."