Blue sky view, to Officer Row ruined buildings and white 'Old Bedlam, sunken foundations ice-house, Fort Laramie, Wyoming, USA

---

Remains of an ice-house on the banks of the Laramie River (background). Soldiers cut blocks of ice from the Laramie River and hauled them by wagon to Fort Laramie's ice-houses. The ice was stored between layers of straw or sawdust insulation. Constructed partly underground, with thick solid walls and no ventilation, the fort's ice-houses each held up to 150 tons of ice. If carefully rationed by the Commanding Officer, the ice supply could last until September. Fort Laramie was owned by the US Army 1849-1890, after which it was abandoned and auctioned, its buildings being vulnerable to lumber scavengers. In the 1950s the fort passed into the care of the National Park Service. Many buildings have been restored.

---

Size: 2923px × 3313px
Location: Remains of ice-house, Fort Laramie Historic Site, Wyoming, United States
Photo credit: © robert harrison / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: america, american, army, blue, building, buildings, day, fort, foundation, foundations, grass, green, historic, history, ice-house, laramie, military, museum, open-air, remains, river, ruin, ruined, rural, scene, site, sky, states, stones, stonework, sunken, sunny, trees, underground, united, usa, view, walls, west, wyoming