According to the marker on the south end of the bridge, “It is believed to be the oldest existing military bridge west of the Mississippi River. Once the then broad and turbulent North Platte River was spanned, the Cheyenne to Deadwood route was considered the best road to the Black Hills gold fields. The bridge also influenced the establishment of the famous Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage and Express Line. The bridge remained in use until 1958.” It is preserved as a footbridge and is on the National Historic Register. The National Park Service now owns the bridge.
We spotted lots of fish (trout?) under the bridge... 
This is also the location of one of the earliest conflicts between the American Indians and soldiers in Wyoming. The fight broke out when Brevet 2nd Lt. John L. Grattan and 28 soldiers attempted to arrest a Sioux Indian for killing a crippled cow belonging to a Mormon pioneer in a wagon train. An allegedly drunken interpreter, who had grievances against the Indians, apparently mistranslated an offer by Chief Conquering Bear to replace the cow with a sound pony of his own. Grattan ordered his men to fire and when the gun smoke cleared, Grattan, almost his entire command, and the chief lay dead. This August, 1854 incident led to years of intermittent hostility along the trail.
In 1834, Robert Campbell and William Sublette founded a trading post on the Laramie River about a mile and a half above its junction with the North Platte River. They named it Fort William. In 1835 they sold out to a syndicate of trappers, who shortly afterward sold it to the American Fur Company.
A post called Fort Platte is believed to have been built by rival trappers in 1841, about a mile and a half from Fort William and nearer the confluence of the Laramie and Platte Rivers. The owners of Fort William then enlarged the original fort and furnished it with bastions, blockhouses and loopholes. The rebuilt structure was named Fort John for John B. Sarpy, an officer of the company.
John Phillips was born on April 8, 1832, in Lages do Pico, in the Azores. From there, he headed to California in search of gold and was hired to be a water-hauler at Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming. When, on December 21, 1866, a group of soldiers getting firewood some five miles away from Fort Kearny were ambushed by more than two thousand members of the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes and the relief force was obliterated, leaving Fort Kearny with few men and supplies, the civilian Phillips volunteered to ride for help. Leaving in the middle of a blizzard, he rode the 190 miles to Horseshoe Station by night, hiding by day, and arrived on Christmas morning.
He sent a telegraph to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, and headed on to the fort after only a short rest. The telegraph station was burned, but Phillips had the good fortune of sending his message before the attack. After riding 40 miles farther in another blizzard, he arrived at Fort Laramie, which sent adequate reinforcements. Phillips remained in the hospital at Fort Laramie for several weeks before returning to work. He led a mail party between the two forts and later became a rancher. In 1883, at the age of 51, he died in Cheyenne.
The plaque at Fort Laramie commemorates his part in getting relief troops to Fort Kearny after what was termed the "Fetterman massacre." Although a congressional report praised him for his heroism and patriotism, in life the only reward he received was $300 for scouting duties, because, although he was a naturalized citizen, questions as to his citizenship slowed down the process, and in 1899 the Wyoming legislature posthumously awarded him $5,000, which his widow Hattie received. John "Portuguese" Phillips died on November 18, 1883. A monument in his honor is located ouside Fort Phil Kearny, and is part of the National Historic Landmark designation of the fort.
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