PODCAST · arts

Fort Laramie - Single Episodes

by Old Time Radio

FORT LARAMIE Fort Laramie opened with "Specially transcribed tales of the dark and tragic ground of the wild frontier. The saga of fighting men who rode the rim of empire and the dramatic story of Lee Quince, Captain of Cavalry". When Norman Macdonnell created Fort Laramie in late 1955, he made it clear to his writers that historical accuracy was essential to the integrity of the series. Correct geographic names, authentic Indian practices, military terminology, and utilizing actual names of the original buildings of the real fort, was insisted upon. So when the radio characters referred to the sutler's store (which is what the trading post was called prior to 1870), the surgeon's quarters, Old Bedlam (the officers' quarters) or the old bakery, they were naming actual structures in the original fort. While Macdonnell planned to use the same writers, soundmen, and supporting actors in Fort Laramie that he relied upon in Gunsmoke , he naturally picked different leads. Heading up the cast