Dubois, Wyoming

The 1880s settlers in Never Sweat, Wyoming, enjoyed the warm, dry winds that flowed across town and the great Wind River. Hunters and trappers, including Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and Butch Cassidy, had their field day scoping out big game species such as bighorn sheep, elk and black bears on bordering mountains like Whiskey Mountain. But when the postal service insisted the name Never Sweat just wouldn’t work, the government changed the name to Dubois (pronounced “Dew-boys”).

Today, this quaint wooden town with its pioneer history offers not only a visit to the past but also a lavish array of recreational activities like fishing, horse packing, skiing, snowmobiling and learning about the country’s largest home for Bighorn Sheep herding.

What’s the latest gossip? Wolves and grizzly bears and their good, or bad, effects on hunting are always subjects for lively, and sometimes heated, debate.

Good Cowboy Bar: The Rustic Pine Tavern (119 E. Ramshorn St.) has always been a gathering place for locals.

Favorite Local Cuisine: The Sundance Cafe (106 E. Ramshorn St.) offers steak, the cuisine of choice for our “good old boys.” A cheeseburger and fries at the Cowboy Cafe (115 E. Ramshorn St.) is a “must” for visitors.

Best Western Art Gallery: Silver Sage Gallery (124 E. Ramshorn St.) features our top artists, such as Tom Lucas, Bud Boller and Dustin Stephenson.

Best Western Bookstore: Two Ocean Books (128 E Ramshorn St.) offers a wide variety of Western fiction and nonfiction.

Best Spot to View Wildlife: Deer, elk and an occasional wolf or bear may be sighted along any Shoshone National Forest access road. The largest herd of bighorn sheep in the contiguous U.S. winters on the ridges around Dubois, but sheep from the herd can be spotted along Whiskey Basin Road all year.

What historic site do most of the school children visit? The Dubois Museum/Wind River Historical Center complex (909 W. Ramshorn St.) contains eight historic cabins that reflect the early settlement history of the town.

Do-Not-Miss Attraction: The National Bighorn Sheep Center (907 W. Ramshorn St.) tells the story of the Whiskey Basin bighorn sheep herd and its long struggle to survive in a changing habitat.

Popular Local Event: Our weekly summer rodeo, held Friday evenings, also offers a packhorse race at the end of May and a buffalo barbecue in August.

What local radio personality do locals listen to? We don’t have a radio station, and the town being surrounded by mountains makes radio reception a “sometime thing.”

Best Time of the Year: If you’re a winter sports fan, our crisp powder snow and miles of snowmobile and cross-country ski trails are hard to beat. Our summers are so mild and lovely that one always forgets that winter is never far away.

Average House Cost: Exceeds $100,000.

Average Temperature: Year-round average is 40 degrees. Winter low is 27 degrees and summer high is 76 degrees.

Who knows Dubois best? Mary Allison, who wrote Dubois, Wyoming Area History, the only history book on the town. Mary knows more about our history than others will ever know.

Who’s the person in Dubois everyone knows? That would also be Mary Allison. A party is not a party without Mary.

Best-Kept Secret: People who live in Dubois think that we are. We welcome visitors, but we’d like to stay the way we are—a friendly little Western town where jeans are stylish at any event.

Special thanks to Norma Williamson, director of the Dubois Museum, for sharing her love of the town with us.