Copy of photograph captioned, "UP Depot, Ft Steele Wyo."

In 1868, when laborers were hard at work building the Union Pacific portion of the transcontinental railroad across what soon became southern Wyoming Territory, the U.S. government established three new outposts to protect work crews and new communities along the route. One of these was Fort Fred Steele, named for an officer of the Mexican and Civil wars and located where the new railroad crossed the North Platte River. Structures included officers’ and enlisted men’s barracks, a commanding officer's quarters, two large warehouses and a powder magazine, and a number of smaller structures.