Our First 2011 Daycation - Approximately 300 miles

We went on our first Daycation of 2011 on June 4th up to the little town of Story, Wyoming which is approximately 140 miles north of Casper.  We also took along with us a young couple and their 4 month old baby, The Williams' from Logan, Utah, who have just recently moved to Wyoming and are in our ward for the next few months. 

We all loaded up in my car with a picnic lunch and headed north on a beautiful day.  We went this direction because it was close to the interstate and with Joe's recent medical problems and all the rain and melting snow, I felt it was safer to be near some civilization in case of any problems.  I'd been told about how pretty the little town of around 800 people were and it's close to a couple of historical sites.  So, off we went.  I sat the cruise control on the car and never touched it at all, except to stop at the rest area, for almost 140 miles. 

Just as we were getting ready to exit the interstate, there was a sign taped to the exit sign saying "Yard Sale" and an arrow.  Never have I ever seen a yard sale sign attached to an interstate sign.  We did come upon the first of several yard sales and the picture shows where we stopped.  I did spy an antique chair and told the people I'd buy it if they could get it into my truck.  So, in the end, I bought a chair AND a bungee cord for ony $15.00!

The little community is nestled in the pines along the banks of Piney Creek and is apparently a town full of log cabin summer retreats and beautiful white birch trees.

Story was first platted by a horse trader, Marshall Wolf, who was going to name the town after himself but was dismayed to find that Wolf, WY already existed nearby. The town was instead named after Charles B. Story, a rancher who was instrumental in getting a post office established – the first building in what had until then been a town made up of only tent structures.

Today, Story features a post office, library, several motels and bed and breakfasts, excellent restaurants and basic amenities.

Just a short drive to the south of Story is the historical site Fort Phil Kearny. The fort was built in 1866 and was one of just three military outposts along the Bozeman Trail. The structure was abandoned in 1868 under the terms of the Treaty of Fort Laramie and burned to the ground soon after.

Before we got to the fort though, we drove down a dirt road out in the middle of nowhere to see where the Wagon Box Fight took place.    Now to explain the Wagon Box Fight...In the midst of the Indian Wars on the western frontier, the Wagon Box Fight stands out for its unlikely outcome. On August 2, 1867 Chief Red Cloud and an estimated force of 1,000 Sioux Indians attacked a group of woodcutters and soldiers camped outside of Fort Phil Kearny. Severely outnumbered, twenty-six soldiers and six civilians took refuge behind the cover of wagon boxes and managed to hold off the initial attack until relief forces from the fort arrived. While the Sioux forces lost between five to sixty warriors with another estimated five to 120 injured, the soldiers and civilians sustained only three deaths and two injuries. Historians attribute much of the success of the men fighting behind the wagon box corral to their weaponry—new, rapid-fire breech loading rifles. Following the crushing defeat of Captain Fetterman’s forces just months earlier, the Wagon Box Fight proved a significant victory for the military in the battles along the Bozeman Trail". 

Here is Joe and I sitting on the seat of the wagon box.  These were removed from the wagons so that the woodcutters could stack more wood without having the box limit the amount.  And, because these were U.S. Army wagons, this is the color they were painted.

These interpretive posts placed around the area gave you the opportunity to see where events took place.  You could do so by looking through the PVC piping that was placed in these posts which pointed in the direction of the event.

Here is Nephi, Hannah and baby, Joanna checking out the seat too.

This says...This monument is erected to perpetuate the memory of one of the famous battles of history. It is dedicated to the courage and bravery of 28 soldiers in Company C, 27th United States Infantry, and four civilians, who held their improvised fort made of 14 ordinary wagon-boxes against three thousand Sioux warriors under the leadership of Red Cloud for a period of six or seven hours under continuous fire. The number of indians killed has been variously estimated from three hundred to eleven hundred.

When we left here, we headed down another dirt road to got see Fort Phil Kearney about five miles away.  While riding down the road, we saw...

...several herds of deer.

...and a few wild turkeys.

Then we reached the fort and it was here that we ate our picnic lunch after touring the interpretive center and watching a film.

Established on the Bozeman Trail to protect miners crossing Lakota lands into Montana, Fort Phil Kearney, named for a popular Union General, was the site of the 1866 Fetterman Massacre, when Lakota warriors under Red Cloud lured a patrol led by Capt. William J. Fetterman beyond sight of the fort and destroyed them.  During its brief two-year existence, Fort Phil Kearny was the focal point of a violent war between the U.S. Army and the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians. When the Union Pacific Railroad reached a point where the dangerous route was no longer needed, the Bozeman Trail and the fort was abandoned in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. Shortly after, Fort Phil Kearny was burned, probably by Cheyenne Indians.

So, a great day was had by all.  The baby was great as we hardly knew she was even in the car and some of us got sunburned from all the walking around, but it was so good to get out exploring again!