Editing Dubois, Wyoming (section)

==History==
The original residents of Dubois wanted to name the town ''Tibo'', after the [[Shoshone language]] word for "stranger" or "white man," which was the Natives' affectionate name for their Episcopal priest, Father John Roberts. However, the postal service found this name unacceptable, so Governor [[Joseph M. Carey]] named the town with the name Dubois after his friend [[Fred Thomas Dubois|Fred Dubois]], an Idaho senator at the time.<ref name="Mockler">{{cite journal |author=Esther Mockler |title=Recollections of the Upper Wind River Valley|publisher=Pronghorn Press |year=2015}}</ref> In protest, the citizens of Dubois rejected the French pronunciation of "deh-bwah", instead opting for ''Du'', with ''u'' as in "Sue"; ''bois'', with ''oi'' as in "voice". This local legend is most likely not true as the town in Idaho, named after the same Idaho Senator, is pronounced the same way as the town in Wyoming. The accent is on the first syllable.<ref>[http://reference.allrefer.com/gazetteer/D/D04689-dubois.html All-Refer.com – Dubois, Wyoming] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051106023706/http://reference.allrefer.com/gazetteer/D/D04689-dubois.html |date=November 6, 2005 }}</ref>

[[File:Petroglyph-Dubois-WY.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Petroglyphs created by the [[Sheepeater]] Native Americans who first settled in the Dubois area]]
The first occupants of the mountains and valleys surrounding what is now Dubois were members of the [[Sheepeater]]s, a group of [[Mountain Shoshone]], who included the Wind River area in their regular annual migrations from the Great Plains through the mountains of Yellowstone and beyond.<ref name="Loendorf"/>  The Wind River Valley surrounding Dubois contains numerous remnants of these people who lived in the area for many hundreds of years before they were relocated into a nearby reservation.<ref name="Loendorf">{{cite journal |author=Lawrence L. Loendorf & Nancy Medaris Stone |title=Mountain Spirit: The Sheep Eater Indians of Yellowstone|publisher=The University of Utah Press |year=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Mountain Shoshones |journal=Wind River Rendezvous |volume=20 |issue=3 |date=July–September 1990|pages=3–5}}</ref> Relics of their existence in the mountains and valleys around Dubois include numerous prehistoric [[petroglyph]]s, hunting traps and blinds, and stone tepee circles.

The first Europeans to enter the area were trappers Francois and [[Louis-Joseph Gaultier de La Vérendrye|Louis Verendrye]] in 1742–43.<ref name=Allison>{{cite book |last= Allison |first= Mary |title= Dubois, Wyoming Area History |publisher= Curtis Media Corp. |year= 1991 |isbn= 0-88107-179-X}}</ref> In the years to follow, the Wind River valley was visited regularly by the [[Astorians]] and other fur trappers and hunters through the early 19th century. The first homesteaders arrived in the late 1870s.<ref name=Allison/>

[[Butch Cassidy]] (Robert LeRoy Parker) owned and managed a ranch on the outskirts of Dubois, beginning in 1890.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Edward J. Farlow |title=Wind River Adventures: My Life in Frontier Wyoming|page=123 |publisher=High Plains Press|year=1998}}</ref>  It is said that he was a frequent customer at [[Welty's General Store]] in Dubois, which is still in operation. A statue erected in the center of Dubois is modeled after Butch Cassidy.
In 1913, the town expanded with the addition of a hotel, a bar, and a general store, anticipating the arrival of Scandinavian lumber workers brought there by the [[Wyoming Tie and Timber Company]] the following year. (All of these structures are still standing.)

St. Thomas Episcopal Church was founded in 1910 by Reverend John Roberts, an Episcopal missionary who served the Native American tribes on the Wind River.<ref>{{cite map
 |title       = Dubois, Wyoming: Historic Walking Tour
 |url         = http://www.duboiswyoming.org/WalkTourBro_4.pdf
 |publisher   = Wind River Visitors Council
 |access-date  = February 28, 2015
|url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20150211061255/http://duboiswyoming.org/WalkTourBro_4.pdf
 |archive-date = February 11, 2015
}}</ref>

Charles Moore built the first of many dude ranches in the area, Ramshorn Ranch and Camp Yellowstone, at the mouth of the DuNoir Creek west of Dubois in 1907.<ref name=Allison/>

In the landscape surrounding Dubois are visible the remains of wood flumes constructed by the [[Lumberjack#Tie hacking|tie hacks]] who provided the railroad ties that helped to develop the American West. These Scandinavian immigrants cut logs into ties and sent these via the flumes to the Wind River where they floated to Riverton, about 70 miles east, for processing.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wyoming Recreation Commission |title=A Guide to Historic Sites |page=83 |year=1976}}</ref>

The [[Dubois Museum]] preserves and interprets the natural and social history of the Upper Wind River Valley<ref>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/venues/Dubois_Museum.html | title=Dubois Museum – Museum Day Venues | magazine=Smithsonian Magazine | access-date=February 10, 2012}}</ref> as the [[National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center]] focuses on public education about the biology and habitat of the [[Bighorn sheep|Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep]] with focus on the largest herd of Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep in the coterminous United States that winter in the Whiskey Basin of [[Whiskey Mountain]] adjacent to the [[Fitzpatrick Wilderness]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.summitpost.org/whiskey-mountain/236056 | title=Whiskey Mountain | publisher=SummitPost.org | access-date=February 10, 2012}}</ref> in the [[Shoshone National Forest]]. The Center preserves and interprets the relationships of the Bighorn sheep.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/res/Education_in_BLM/Learning_Landscapes/For_Travelers/go/wildlife_viewing/bighorn_sheep.html | title=National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center and Whiskey Mountain Bighorn Sheep Area (WY) | access-date=February 10, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810034126/http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/res/Education_in_BLM/Learning_Landscapes/For_Travelers/go/wildlife_viewing/bighorn_sheep.html | archive-date=August 10, 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The town is on [[U.S. Route 26#Wyoming|U.S. Route 26]] and is the beginning of the [[Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway]], U.S. Route 26 crossing the [[Continental Divide of the Americas|Continental Divide]] at [[Togwotee Pass]].

A significant proportion of Dubois residents are writers, artists, photographers, musicians and songwriters, drawn to the remote town in part by its relatively moderate climate and remarkable scenery.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} Annual cultural events include a national art show and a quilt show, a horseback chariot race, and celebrations during July 4 weekend. During summer months, a square dance and a rodeo including local and regional competitors take place every week.

On December 30, 2014, several businesses burned to the ground in the downtown area. The air temperatures at the time of the blaze were hovering near -35&nbsp;°F with wind chills in the range of 50 below zero (-50&nbsp;°F). Firefighters battled freezing equipment and gear throughout the night to get the fire under control. The blaze was ruled accidental. The origin of the fire appeared to be inside the rear of the "Main Street Mart" building in the attic above a wood stove. The fire was most likely caused by [[charring]] ([[pyrolysis]]) that resulted from the chimney coming into contact with building materials. Approximately half a block of Downtown Dubois was destroyed by the fire. In July 2016, a wildfire on the outskirts of Dubois again prompted evacuations.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/keci/wyoming-wildfire-prompts-evacuations/37567483| title = Wyoming wildfire prompts evacuations {{!}} KECI| date = July 21, 2016}}</ref>

In August 2020, the National Museum of Military Vehicles <ref>{{Cite web |title=National Museum of Military Vehicles |url=https://www.nmmv.org/about_nmmv.php |access-date=February 23, 2023 |website=nmmv.org}}</ref> opened southeast of Dubois. The privately funded $100M museum was founded by Dan Starks, a former lawyer and CEO of St. Jude Medical. It contains 500 fully restored military vehicles, artillery pieces, naval vessels and aircraft dating from 1897 to the present, depicting the American experience in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War with a focus on the people who used the equipment as much as on the equipment itself.