Fort Fred Steele State Historic Site

Established in 1868 to protect the railroad work crews against Indian attacks. Occupied until 1886. Self-guided tours of the ruins are provided by interpretive signage. About Fort Fred Steele Fort Fred Steele State Historic site is about 12 miles east of Rawlins, Wyoming and 1.25 miles north of Ft. Steele Rest Area just off of Interstate 80.Fort Fred Steele was established on June 20, 1868 and occupied until August 7, 1886 by soldiers who were sent by the U.S. Government to guard against attack from natives. The construction of the Transcontinental Union Pacific Railroad across southern Wyoming 1867-1869, in turn, brought the cattlemen, sheepherders, loggers, tie hacks, miners and merchants who changed the wasteland into Wyoming Territory.Colonel Richard I. Dodge, who selected this site on the west bank of the North Platte River, named the fort for Major General Frederick Steele, 20th U.S. Infantry, a Civil War hero.