Fort Washakie is nationally significant representing Indian and Military affairs of the post Civil War period. Its namesake relates to one of the outstanding Indian Chiefs of Western America, Shoshone Chief Washakie. The Fort Washakie story represents one of the most notable examples of successful Indian-white relations in the Western United States. The fort was first established to protect the Shoshone and Bannock Indian Reservation against the wandering hostile Indian enemies of these two tribes. This protection was also extended to the miners of the nearby Sweetwater region. During the 1870s and 1880s Fort Washakie served a secondary function in providing a convenient supply base and springboard for expeditions entering Yellowstone National Park and the Big Horn country.

Photo of Fort Washakie, Wyoming Territory 1883 Wyoming State Archives

During the 1880s Chief Washakie, leader of the Shoshone people on the Wind River Reservation, gave 160 acres of irrigated farm land to the Rev. John Roberts. The gift was for the purpose of establishing a mission and a missionary school. In 1889 Rev. Roberts began construction of the Georgian Mansion style building which at first housed the school for Shoshone girls (classrooms, kitchen, dining hall and dormitory) and later became the control center and chief meeting place for all the mission's activities. The building was completed in 1890.