Named for Jacques Laramie, a French fur trader. (Gannett, 1905) Named for Jacques La Ramie, a French Canadian trapper with the Northwest Fur Company, who was killed by Indians on Laramie River where he was trapping in 1820 or possible earlier. The exact time of his slaying has never been determined. He was so greatly esteemed by his compatriots that they called the river where he lost his life by his name, although La Ramie grew into one word, "Laramie." Such is the origin of the name "Laramie River," from which comes Laramie, Laramie Plains, Laramie Peak and Fort Laramie. (WPA) Named for French Canadian Trapper Jacques La Ramie, a friend of the Indians in the early days, yet he was killed by the Indians in mid 1800's for hunting on their hunting grounds. (WPA) One of the principal tributaries of the North Platterises in northern Colorado, flows north through Albany County, Wyoming, and breaking through the Laramie Mountains turns northeast into the Platte. The name is derived from a French Canadian trapper, Jacques La Ramie, who about 1820 was killed upon its upper waters, by the Arapaho Indians. (WPA) The city, as well as the river, the mountain range, and the county, derives its name from Fort Laramie, which stands at the mouth of Laramie River. The most famous fort on the old Overland Trail was named directly or indirectly for Jacques La Ramie, a French fur trader of the early days. The old maps show the river as La Ramies Fork. (Guidebook of the Western United States)
Other Names:
Big Laramie River
County:
Albany; Platte; Goshen
Feature Category:
Water Features
More Reading:
Nine miles on the Laramie River. Costopoulos, Barbara Windom. [Guernsey, Wyo. : B.W. Costopoulos], 1998, c1979.; Laramie River Basin : historical flows of the Laramie River 1912-1956. Wilkins, Marvin. Laramie, Wyo. : University of Wyoming, 1959.
