FORT LARAMIE — Little has changed at this historic Army outpost in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming for nearly 170 years. That includes Fourth of July celebrations that feature meat cooked over an open fire, patriotic music and baseball.
Even in the 1860s, what would become America’s pastime was a budding tradition that continues, including vintage baseball played by 1860s rules that fans today would never recognize as baseball.
The Colorado Vintage Base Ball Association — playing as the Colorado Territory All-Stars — and a local team of Fort Laramie rangers and volunteers played a few innings Friday as part of Fort Laramie National Historic Site’s Independence Day party.
Those watching saw something radically different from what they see in today’s Major Leagues.
Then, it was two words: base ball. And gone were the familiar fences marking the end of the playing field. That means no home runs by blasting balls over the outfield wall.
“Typically, you’d just be playing in the open field at places like Fort Laramie,” Ranger Jaret Carpenter, who played for the Fort Laramie team, told Cowboy State Daily before the game began.
Fences weren’t added until the late 1800s when baseball grew in popularity and permanent stadiums were built across the country.
A batter strikes a ball during a demonstration of the National Pastime under the rules of the 1860s during the Fort Laramie National Historic Site Independence Day celebration. (Matthew Christian, Cowboy State Daily) 
A batter strikes a ball during a demonstration of the National Pastime under the rules of the 1860s during the Fort Laramie National Historic Site Independence Day celebration. (Matthew Christian, Cowboy State Daily)
The Differences
Also gone was the pitcher's mound.
Pitchers, called hurlers, originally threw from a boxed-in area around 45 feet from the batter. The mound at 60 feet, 6inches from home plate wouldn’t become a fixture of the game in 1893.
The distance between bases is also different. Bases are 90 feet apart in modern baseball but could be anywhere between 60 and 90 feet under 1860s rules.
The balls are also different.
Modern baseballs are four-seamed, while 1860s baseballs had two seams, which meant they were softer and were harder to hit long distances. They had to be softer, because there were no baseball gloves then.
In the 1860s, teams still fielded nine players, Site Superintendent Mark Davison told Cowboy State Daily.
However, the names of the positions are different: along with the hurler, batters were called strikers, the catcher wascalled a behind, shortstop was the short-scout or a short-fielder, and the outfielders were called scouts.
Instead of cursing an umpire’s bad decisions, fans (aka cranks) would yell at an arbitrator and the team leader arguing the call was called a captain instead of a manager.
They Wanted Batters To Hit
Modern baseball pitchers throw overhanded. Hurlers threw underhanded.
“The hurler is not trying to strike a player out,” Carpenter said. “They're trying to pitch a ball that the player can hit.”
Just like in modern baseball, three swings meant the batter was out. But getting on base via unhittable pitches was different.
In modern baseball, four pitches outside the strike zone means the batter is walked and able to take first base. In the 1860s, the arbitrator provided a warning after two unhittable pitches and allowed the hitter to go to first after three more unhittable pitches.
Another huge difference is if a ball bounced once and caught, it counted as an out, Carpenter said.
In modern baseball, a ball that starts rolling in fair territory but goes immediately into foul territory is considered a foul ball. In the 1860s, the rule didn’t exist. If a ball hit in fair territory but rolled foul, it was still a fair ball.
Baserunners can’t interfere with balls in play in modern baseball. In the 1860s, baserunners were allowed to kick the ball away from fielders.
Stealing bases was allowed but considered unseemly in the West.
‘Very Much’ Like The 1860s
Davison said the demonstration of vintage base ball was so popular at Fort Laramie last year, it was brought back.
Mother and daughter Donna and Megan Duncan watched the game from underneath a tree nearby.
“We came out last year and had a lot of fun,” Donna told Cowboy State Daily.
Mike Brown of Eaton, Colorado, suited up for the Colorado team.
“I was at this event last year and it was one of the most fun events we had last year,” Brown told Cowboy State Daily. “It's a beautiful facility. It's very historic. I mean, it's very much like what it would have been like back in the 1860s.”
Matthew Christian can be reached at matthew@cowboystatedaily.com.
