Fort Fetterman was constructed in 1867 by the United States Army on the Great Plains frontier in Dakota Territory, approximately 11 miles northwest of present-day Douglas, Wyoming.

Located high on the bluffs south of the North Platte River, it served as a major base for the start of several United States military expeditions against warring Native American tribes.

In 1876, during the Great Sioux War with the Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes, the monotony of garrison duty at Fetterman was broken by a series of major military expeditions that set out from the fort.

A small community (Fetterman City) was started around the empty fort by Charles Henry King and others as an outfitting point for area ranchers and for wagon trains.

An officers' quarters and an ordnance warehouse have been restored and contain exhibits, artifacts and dioramas about the fort's history, Fetterman City and area Native Americans.