Camp Dubois is a historical site at

Union Pass Union Pass is a high mountain pass in the Wind River Range in Fremont County of western Wyoming in the United States. The pass is located on the Continental Divide between the Gros Ventre mountains on the west and the Wind River Range on the ...

in the

Wind River Range The Wind River Range (or "Winds" for short) is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW–SE for approximately . The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and incl ...

in Fremont County of western

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

in the United States. Camp Dubois was west of the community of

Dubois, Wyoming Dubois is a town in Fremont County, Wyoming, Fremont County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 971 at the United States Census, 2010, 2010 census, but dropped to 911 in the 2020 census. The population nearly doubles in the summer with pa ...

. Camp Dubois is at about elevation on the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

in the

Shoshone National Forest Shoshone National Forest ( ) is the first federally protected National Forest in the United States and covers nearly in the state of Wyoming. Originally a part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve, the forest is managed by the United States ...

, near the Little Warm Spring Creek. Camp Dubois opened in July 1944 and operated as

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisin ...

Prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

(POW) camp. The camp was also called a Tie Camp. The camp closed in January 1946. Today there are a few remains of the camp. Before the POW camp, the site was a timber camp of the Wyoming Tie & Timber Company starting in 1914. The Wyoming Tie & Timber Company build the Tie Hack Historical Monument in 1946.

Wyoming Tie & Timber Company timber camp

Tie Camps opened near Camp Dubois in 1913. Trees were cut and turned into

railroad tie A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties trans ...

s for the growing

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

industry. Dubois timber camps supplied the

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Railroad classes#Class I, Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of t ...

. Those that cut railroad ties were nickname, ''Tie Hack''. Before World War 2 most of the workers immigrant from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Most Dubois timber camps were operated by the Wyoming Tie and Timber Company. At the largest Dubois timber camp is a 14-foot limestone monument overlooks former Tie Camp built in 1946 on

U.S. Route 26 U.S. Highway 26 (US 26) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that runs from Seaside, Oregon, to Ogallala, Nebraska. When the U.S. Numbered Highway System was first defined, it was limited to Nebraska and Wyoming; by the 1950s, it c ...

( Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway) at . The Tie Hack Historical Monument was built by the Wyoming Tie & Timber Company. Tie Hack Historical Monument was carved by Boris Gilbertson. The Tie Hack Historical Monument has a tie hack clutching a broad-head ax and a cross cut saw and other workers cutting and moving ties. A Tie Hack Memorial Marker is also at the site. The Tie Hack Historical Monument is northwest of Dubois, Wyoming. In 1914 the fist logging site for the Wyoming Tie & Timber Compan was in

Togwotee Pass Togwotee Pass (pronounced TOH-guh-tee) is a high mountain pass in the western United States, at an elevation of above sea level. On the Continental Divide in the Absaroka Range of northwestern Wyoming in Teton County, it is between Du ...

. In 1868 the first Tie Hacking start in

Medicine Bow Mountains The Medicine Bow Mountains are a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains that extend from northern Colorado into southern Wyoming. The northern extent of this range is the sub-range the Snowy Range. From the northern end of Colorado's Never Summ ...

to supply the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

. On the base of the Memorial: ''Erected to perpetuate the memory'' ''of the hardy woods and river men'' ''who made and delivered the cross'' ''ties for the building and maintenance'' ''of the Chicago and North Western'' ''Railway in the western country'' ''Wyoming Tie & Timber Company''

Prisoner of war camp

During World War 2, starting in July 1944

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

prisoner A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...

s were housed at Camp Dubois. Camp Duboi prisoners of war were used for timber operations. Prisoner of war labor worked for civilian employers under the military officials and the Department of Agriculture's Extension Service. At Camp Duboi the Camp prisoners worked for the Wyoming Tie and Timber Company. Wyoming Tie and Timber had request POW workers, due to the war labor shortage. Wyoming Tie and Timber Company cut and made railroad ties at the Wyoming Tie and Timber

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

. The camp worked six days a week, with Sunday off. The POW Labor Program benefited the US as there was shortage of labor during the war. About 150 POWs lived at the camp, with about 10 Army guards. Most POWs came from Camp Scottsbluff in

Scottsbluff, Nebraska Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, United States, in the Great Plains region. The population was 14,436 at the 2020 census. Scottsbluff is the largest city in the Nebraska Panhandle, and the 13th-most-populous city in N ...

. The local logging companies paid the prisoner labor, now

lumberjack Lumberjack is a mostly North American term for workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees. The term usually refers to loggers in the era before 1945 in the United States, when trees were felled us ...

s, the same as local civilians. The cut logs taken to banks of the Wind River. In the spring, with a high river, the logs were bulldozed into the river. The logs were then floated down to Camp Riverton in Riverton. The pay was given in camp

scrip A scrip (or ''wikt:chit#Etymology 3, chit'' in India) is any substitute for legal tender. It is often a form of credit (finance), credit. Scrips have been created and used for a variety of reasons, including exploitative payment of employees un ...

. The scrip could be used at the camp store for

candy Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a Confectionery, confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum ...

soda pop A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) carbonated, and typically including added sweetener. Flavors used to be natural, but now can also be artificial. The sweet ...

, stamps to write home and other items. At the end of the war the camp closed in January 1946. During World War II, two large POW base camps, ( Camp Douglas and Fort Francis E. Warren), and seventeen smaller camps that did agricultural and timber work were located in Wyoming. Other smaller camps in Wyoming were:

Basin, Wyoming Basin is a town in the county seat of Big Horn County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 census. The community is located near the center of the Bighorn Basin with the Big Horn River east of the town. Basin's post ...

(sugar beet harvest), Clearmont (sugar beet harvest), Deaver (sugar beet harvest),

Camp Esterbrook Camp Esterbrook is a historical site in the Medicine Bow National Forest in Albany County, Wyoming, Albany County of eastern Wyoming in the United States in the Laramie Mountains. Camp Esterbrook was in the Laramie Peak area, closest town is the ...

(timber camp), Huntley (sugar beet harvest), Lingle (agriculture), Lovell (remodeling the Lovell Armory and Cavalry Barn, and then sugar beet harvest),

Pine Bluffs Pine Bluffs is a town in eastern Laramie County, Wyoming, United States. It is located on the county's border with Nebraska. Pine Bluffs is part of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,129 at the 2010 censu ...

(sugar beet and potato harvest), Powell (sugar beet harvest), Riverton (sugar beet harvest), Torrington (agriculture),

Veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

(agriculture), Wheatland (agriculture),

Ryan Park Camp United States Forest Service Ryan Park campground, site of the historical Ryan Park Camp Ryan Park Camp is a historical site, east of the community of Ryan Park, Wyoming in Carbon County, Wyoming. The camp opened in 1930 as a Civilian Conservati ...

(timber), Centennial POW Camp (timber) and Worland (agriculture).

Exhibit

At the Wind River Historical Center is a Camp Dubois: German Prisoner Of War Camp Exhibit. The exhibit opened May 23, 2019. The grand opening was for the 75th anniversary in June 2019, the 75th anniversary of the POWs arrival. The Dubois Museum, Wind River Historical Center, at , has exhibits with original POW artifacts and camp photos.Wind River Historical Center
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Gallery

Duboistiehacksriver1924.jpg, Dubois Wyoming Tie & Timber Company tie hacks at river in 1924 Tiehacksnearduboisonrvier1924.jpg, Wyoming Tie & Timber Company Tie hacks on river near Camp Dubois in 1924. Tiedrive1924washakienatforest.jpg, Wyoming Tie & Timber Company Tie drive in 1924 in the

Washakie National Forest Washakie National Forest was established by the U.S. Forest Service in Wyoming on July 1, 1911 with from part of Bonneville National Forest. On July 1, 1916 the remainder of Bonneville was added. On July 1, 1945 the entire forest was transferred ...

References

External links