An hour east of Douglas, WY and about 12 miles west of Fort Laramie (see Torrington) off US Hwy 26 near Guernsey, is Register Cliff where many travelers carved their names into a sandstone cliff. Just within a few miles west of there are clearly visible ruts well worn into a section of sandstone.
Fort Fetterman, now a State Historic Site just north of Douglas, was established as a military post in 1867, because of conditions existing on the Northern Plains at the close of the Civil War. Civilization was advancing across the frontier along the old Overland Route with the Union Pacific Railroad pushing west, and the fort was needed as a major supply point for the army and protection against the Indians.
