Fort Laramie Three-Mile Hog Ranch
Encyclopedia
The Fort Laramie Three-Mile Hog Ranch was built to serve Fort Laramie
, in eastern Wyoming
, as a social center away from the soldiers' post. It became notorious as a place to gamble, drink, and as a center for prostitution
, with at least ten prostitutes always in residence. The location is notable as an example of one of only a few military bordellos still standing in the United States by 1974, the time of its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
The Fort Laramie site was one of a number of so-called "hog ranches" that appeared along trails in Wyoming.
Located about 3 miles (4.8 km) from Fort Laramie, the ranch was established in 1873 by Jules Ecoffey and Adolph Cuny as a trading post and saloon. The next year prostitution was added as a further attraction. One of the young prostitutes was Martha Jane Cannary, more popularly known in later years as Calamity Jane
.
Both Ecoffey and Cuny were dead by 1877. The site was important as a social, commercial and transportation center, the nearest town of any size being 85 miles (136.8 km) away. The Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage Company operated a hotel for stage passengers, which apparently coexisted with the bordello, both operating until the stage line was abandoned in 1887.
The ranch was described by U.S. Army Lieutenant John Gregory Bourke:
Two structures remain. A U-shaped lime-grout building housed the bar, several rooms, and a cellar, along with a wooden barn. Lime-grout was used as an early form of concrete. Other buildings, now vanished, included a barn with loopholes for defense, eight "cribs" or two-room cabins for prostitutes, shops and a pool hall.
The Fort Laramie Three-Mile Hog Ranch was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Fort Laramie National Historic Site
Fort Laramie was a significant 19th century trading post and diplomatic site located at the confluence of the Laramie River and the North Platte River in the upper Platte River Valley in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Wyoming...
, in eastern Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, as a social center away from the soldiers' post. It became notorious as a place to gamble, drink, and as a center for prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, with at least ten prostitutes always in residence. The location is notable as an example of one of only a few military bordellos still standing in the United States by 1974, the time of its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
The Fort Laramie site was one of a number of so-called "hog ranches" that appeared along trails in Wyoming.
Located about 3 miles (4.8 km) from Fort Laramie, the ranch was established in 1873 by Jules Ecoffey and Adolph Cuny as a trading post and saloon. The next year prostitution was added as a further attraction. One of the young prostitutes was Martha Jane Cannary, more popularly known in later years as Calamity Jane
Calamity Jane
Martha Jane Cannary Burke , better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, and professional scout best known for her claim of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok, but also for having gained fame fighting Native Americans...
.
Both Ecoffey and Cuny were dead by 1877. The site was important as a social, commercial and transportation center, the nearest town of any size being 85 miles (136.8 km) away. The Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage Company operated a hotel for stage passengers, which apparently coexisted with the bordello, both operating until the stage line was abandoned in 1887.
The ranch was described by U.S. Army Lieutenant John Gregory Bourke:
... tenanted by as hardened and depraved set of witches as could be found on the face of the globe. It [was] a rum mill of the worst kind [with] half a dozen Cyprians, virgins whose lamps were always burning brightly in expectancy of the coming of the bridegroom, and who lured to destruction the soldiers of the garrison. In all my experience I have never seen a lower, more beastly set of people of both sexes.
Two structures remain. A U-shaped lime-grout building housed the bar, several rooms, and a cellar, along with a wooden barn. Lime-grout was used as an early form of concrete. Other buildings, now vanished, included a barn with loopholes for defense, eight "cribs" or two-room cabins for prostitutes, shops and a pool hall.
The Fort Laramie Three-Mile Hog Ranch was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
External links
- Photographs of the Hog Ranch at the National Park Service's NRHP database.
- Fort Laramie Three-Mile Hog Ranch at the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office.
- Hog Ranches of Wyoming: Liquor, Lust & Lies Under Sagebrush Skies, Larry K Brown, 1995 High Plains Press. ISBN 0-931271-30-4.