Old Army Bridge Over the Platte River

Wyoming's delegate W. R. Steele put the bridge bill before Congress in February 1874, after Cheyenne freighters threatened to take the agency trade to Sidney rather than keep fording the North Platte, and the cost was capped at $15,000. King's Cleveland company won among eleven bidders with three iron spans for $10,500. In December 1875 Captain W. S. Stanton left thirteen stone-loaded Army wagons on each arch for days, and one pier settled. Sherman wanted the tolls abolished by May 1876. The gold fields the plaque names lay inside the reservation the 1868 treaty had promised the Lakota.

What the plaque says

Old Army Bridge Over the Platte River Erected in 1875 This bridge was a vital link between Cheyenne, Fort Laramie and the military outposts. Indian agencies and gold fields of the Black Hills Dakota region. Placed by the Historical Landmark Commission of Wyoming July 1951 Wyoming Historic Civil Engineering Landmark Fort Laramie Bridge 1875 Wyoming Section ASCE

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Laramie National Historic Site — 1.4 mi
  Old Bedlam, the officers' quarters of 1849, survived the auction that scattered the rest of the post; an 1875 Army bridge still crosses the river.
• Register Cliff State Historic Site — 9.5 mi
  The first camp out of Fort Laramie, where the oldest date on the rock reads 1829 and three emigrants never left.
• Oregon Trail Ruts State Historic Site — 12 mi
  The clearest wagon ruts on the trail, worn by iron tires and cut deeper by travelers who hacked at the ledge to get their wagons over.

More markers nearby

• Fort Platte — 0.3 mi
• Fort Laramie National Historic Site — 0.6 mi
• Mormon Pioneers at Fort Laramie — 0.8 mi
• The Greatest Ride in History — 1.5 mi