June 22

1844 "Thus died the man who heads the list of western heroes, but before closing the story of Dr. Whitman, I must refer to a letter written by him on June 22, 1844, addressed to Hon. James M. Porter, Secretary of War. Dr. Whitman had, on his visit to Washington during the winter of 1843, been asked to make suggestions as to the necessary aid the government could give to those going to Oregon. In response to this, he suggested the establishing of posts along the route to protect mountain travelers, these posts to be supplied with provisions for sale. Among other places, he urged that a settlement be made on Horse Shoe Creek, in what is now Wyoming, also at Laramie's Fork, another on the North Platte west of this point, on the Sweetwater, and on Green River. In his letter he says that at these places there is good land for cultivation and irrigation. It may be said to the credit of the government that it did, in part, a few years later, carry out the plans of Dr. Whitman by the purchase of the trading posts known as Fort Laramie and Fort Bridger. " (The History of Wyoming from the Earliest Known Discoveries, Volume 1  By Charles Griffin Coutant)