Turning the corner of the parade ground by the remains of a small brick
fountain and passing the site of another now-missing officers' quarters,
you reach the site of the fort built in 1841 by the American Fur Co.
Located on high ground in a bend of the Laramie River, it dominated the
then treeless valley from bluff to bluff. Many historians believe this
was also the site of log-stockaded Fort William, erected in 1834, but
conclusive evidence as to its location is lacking.
[Illustration: _Guard mount, about 1885, facing officers' quarters,
now in ruins._ Courtesy Wyoming Historical Department.]