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Duck Lake Station was in the 1860s one of thirty-one stopping points or waystations in Wyoming along the Overland Trail, a central route through Western America. Stage stations along the Overland Trail were usually spaced from ten to fifteen miles apart. Duck Lake Station is thirteen miles east of Dug Springs Station and thirteen miles west of Washakie Station. In a given area stations were similar in appearance. For example, those east of the Continental Divide were of pine logs while those west of the Divide were of native stone.

Not all of the stage stops were alike in number of structures, nor was there uniformity of services offered the traveler. Some of them were ''home'' stations that provided the amenities of civilization to travelers and were located at intervals of perhaps 50 miles. In addition to offering larger, more commodious quarters, the menu was better than that found at ''swing'' stations such as the one at Duck Lake.

Swing stations were merely one-room structures offering accommodations that were basic and a bill of fare that was usually poor. Despite scanty physical remains, Duck Lake Station is important as one link in a pioneer chain of transportation and communication in the American Far West.