A series where we take a #lookback at the stories and history of our community, brought to you by Mick Pryor, Financial Advisor with Edward Jones.
-By Seth McFarland
Sometimes history reveals itself in unexpected ways. While installing the Dubois Museum’s newest exhibit on the outfitters and packers of Fremont County, museum staff made an extraordinary discovery connecting a historic photograph to an artifact already in the museum’s collection.
The connection centers on Charles Cornell Moore, founder of the famed CM Ranch and one of the most influential figures in Wyoming’s early dude ranching industry.
Moore, the son of J.K. Moore, a trader at Fort Washakie on the Wind River Reservation, helped shape tourism in the Wind River Valley. Although he briefly attended law school in Michigan, he returned to Wyoming and established the Yellowstone Camp for Boys in the Dunoir Valley before founding the CM Ranch at the foot of Whiskey Mountain. The ranch would go on to become one of the oldest and most respected dude ranches in the United States.
As museum staff prepared a new display highlighting the region’s outfitting heritage, they selected a photograph showing an outfitter’s camp scene with Moore in the foreground packing bedrolls. At first glance, it appeared to be just another fascinating glimpse into the working life of a Wyoming outfitter.
Then museum Collection Manager Michael Baker noticed something unusual.
Hanging from Moore’s belt was a knife sheath that looked remarkably similar to a knife already preserved in the museum’s collection.
After careful comparison, the evidence became clear: the knife visible in the photograph appears to be the very same knife now displayed in the museum exhibit.
The knife itself is a well-used skinning knife manufactured by I. Wilson of Sycamore Street, Sheffield, England. Though modest in appearance, the blade represents an important chapter in frontier history.
The Wilson firm operated from approximately 1750 until 1970 and became one of the largest producers of butcher knives, skinning knives, and trade knives used throughout North America. Founded by Thomas Wilson in 1750, the company originally manufactured knives for shoemakers and butchers before becoming a major supplier to the fur trade.
Wilson knives became especially popular during the nineteenth century because of their durable high-carbon steel blades. After passage of the McKinley Tariff Act of 1891, imported goods were required to display their country of origin, prompting the company to add “Sheffield England” to its knife markings. Historians believe the curved skinning blade carried by Moore likely dates from about 1891 to 1910.
The knife bears Wilson’s famous “peppercorn and diamond” trademark, a hallmark so respected that it was frequently counterfeited. The mark, officially approved in 1766, was said to symbolize a blade that cut as keenly as pepper and held its edge like a diamond.
While Bowie knives and other frontier weapons often capture the imagination, practical tools like Wilson skinners played a far greater role in everyday life across the American West. Hunters, trappers, outfitters, and ranchers relied on the curved blades for skinning game and processing hides. The blade’s curved shape allowed users to follow the contours of an animal’s hide while minimizing damage to both the skin and the meat.
The Moore knife shows every sign of having been a trusted working tool.
Its five-pinned wooden handle, likely beechwood, has been carved with the initials “CCM” for Charles Cornell Moore. Additional carved lines and markings suggest years of personal use. The accompanying leather sheath also bears Moore’s initials and includes a small pocket holding a well-worn sharpening stone.
The wear patterns on both the blade and stone tell their own story. This was not a ceremonial keepsake or decorative possession. It was a tool that accompanied Moore through years of guiding, outfitting, ranching, and life in Wyoming’s backcountry.
For museum staff, the discovery illustrates the power of museum collections and the stories they preserve.
A single photograph provided evidence that transformed an interesting artifact into a personal object directly linked to one of Dubois’ most significant historical figures. Together, the photograph and knife offer a rare glimpse into the daily life of a man who helped establish the traditions of outfitting and dude ranching that continue to define the Wind River Valley today.
Visitors can see both the photograph and the knife in the Dubois Museum’s new exhibit on the outfitters and packers of Fremont County, where a simple working knife now tells a much larger story about Wyoming’s frontier past.
Next up for the Fremont County Museum
July 16, 7pm at the Pioneer Museum, “The Pony Express in Wyoming” Wyoming Community Bank Discovery Speakers Series
July 18, 10am with the Pioneer Museum, “Railroad Trek” Wind River Visitors Council Adventure Trek
July 22, 7pm at the Pioneer Museum, “Eagle Spirit Dancers” FC Pioneer Association
July 24, 10am with the Pioneer Museum, “Masonic Cemetery Trek” Wind River Visitors Council Adventure Trek
July 25, 2pm at the Riverton Museum, “STEM Day” (Sponsorship Available)
Daily through December at the Pioneer Museum, “Sweetwater Ranch Life, The Paintings of Jack Corbett” Exhibition Opening
“Dinner and Dancing at the Cowboy Starship” August 22, 6pm Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation https://dinneranddancingatthecowboystarship.funraise.org/
Rare Relics Road Show: Save the Date: Saturday October 10, 2026 Lander, WY Lander Community Center, You Are Invited! Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation
Call the Dubois Museum 1-307-455-2284, the Pioneer Museum 1-307-332-3339 or the Riverton Museum 1-307-856-2665 for detail regarding their programs.
The Dubois Museum, the Pioneer Museum in Lander and the Riverton Museum need your financial support. In the current economic environment, the museums are more reliant than ever on donations from the private sector to continue to provide the quality programs, collections management, exhibits and services that have become their hallmark over the last four years. Please make your tax deductible contribution through the Wind River Cultural Centers Foundation https://windriverccf.funraise.org/ or by sending a check to Fremont County Museums 450 N 2nd Rm 320 or taking it directly to the museum you choose to support.