Dubois

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 chose Dubois after his friend Fred Dubois, an Idaho senator at the time. 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. The first occupants of the mountains and valleys surrounding what is now Dubois were members of the Sheepeaters, a group of Mountain Shoshone. They included the Wind River area in their regular annual migrations from the Great Plains through the mountains of Yellowstone and beyond. 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. Relics of their existence in the mountains and valleys around Dubois include numerous prehistoric petroglyphs, hunting traps and blinds, and stone tepee circles. The first Europeans to enter the area were trappers Francois and Louis Verendrye in 1742–43. 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. 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…

Geography

The town is on U.S. Route 26 and is the beginning of the Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway, U.S. Route 26 crossing the Continental Divide at Togwotee Pass. Dubois is located at (43.535936, -109.635915) and an elevation of 2115 m (6940 ft). The Wind River runs through the town. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-billed Magpie

  Pica hudsonia (Sabine, 1823) · Aves
  694
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  638
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  458
• Yellow Warbler

  Setophaga petechia (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  397
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  373
• Violet-green Swallow

  Tachycineta thalassina (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  360
• Mountain Bluebird

  Sialia currucoides (Bechstein, 1798) · Aves
  339
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  330

Largest nearby schools

• Dubois Elementary
  Elementary · Dubois · 89 students · 9.9:1 ratio
• Dubois High School
  High · Dubois · 53 students · 10.6:1 ratio
• Dubois Middle School
  Middle · Dubois · 40 students · 13.3:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.67 — 2026-09-07
  57 km NE of Kelly, Wyoming
• M 3.44 — 2026-09-07
  57 km NE of Kelly, Wyoming
• M 2.6 — 2026-08-16
  5 km NNW of Jackson, Wyoming
• M 2.6 — 2026-07-18
  20 km ENE of Pinedale, Wyoming
• M 3.1 — 2026-04-06
  26 km ESE of Kelly, Wyoming
• M 2.9 — 2025-09-28
  25 km SW of Fort Washakie, Wyoming