Following the guidon during a living history field trip to Fort Laramie.
NPS Photo
Welcome teachers and classrooms to the Grand Old Post!
Live the life of a soldier at the crossroads of a nation moving west. Follow trails to the Pacific or the Salt Lake Valley. Trace the paths of the fur and hide trade across the Plains and into the Rocky Mountains. Learn about negotiations between Native nations and the United States government at this meeting place of two rivers.
Explore different stories of the American West during the 2021 Virtual Writing Festival.
NPS Photo
2021 Fort Laramie Virtual Writing Festival
Get your pencils, pens, keyboards, and touchpads ready! Fort Laramie National Historic Site and the Nebraska Writing Project have partnered to host a virtual writing festival. Web pages with daily lessons will open at the morning of each date. We encourage writers to submit their work after the end of the festival until May 31 so selections can be shared with the public.
To take part in the writing festival, register with Nebraska Writing Project at: https://bit.ly/3kQzSGI or contact Clayton Hanson. Teachers, classrooms, and students who do not register are welcome to make use of the videos and lessons but will not be able to submit work or give formal feedback to festival organizers.
April 12 - Session 1: Memories and Marks– Journey with Ranger Clayton Hanson and Brenda Larabee, NeWP TC through the memories of travelers on the trails. Discover how your own memories can become memoirs.
April 13 - Session 2: “The mail must go on” – Write and ride along with Ranger Joe Reasoner and Jan Knispel, NeWP TC and discover how high-speed communication was as important in the early 1860s as it is today. Trace the epic journey of the Pony Express and learn how three entrepreneurs and about 120 riders shrunk a nation that was on the brink of civil war.
April 14 - Session 3: Crossroads - In this session, Ranger Eric Valencia and Diana Weis, NeWP TC present on how place remains with you. They center around the question: How do time and experience give us a perspective of place?
The findings, conclusions, and views expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views of Wyoming Humanities, Humanities Nebraska, or the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.
