Founded in 1874, the Ryan Ranch is one of the oldest ranches in the Upper North Platte River Valley. Barton T. Ryan, founder of the ranch and a man of many talents, played a significant role in the historical development of this picturesque valley in south-central Wyoming. The structures at the Ryan Ranch headquarters, in size and design, are of a genre typical of many western ranches dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The ranch is significant as a pioneer ranch in an area of southern Wyoming that is still primarily pastoral in character.