Archives West Finding Aid

The James K. Moore Family was closely tied to the early history of Wyoming. They were best known for their business enterprises at Fort Washakie, which is located on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The papers primarily concern three members of the family: James K. Moore Sr., James K. Moore Jr., and Evelyn M. Bell.

James Kerr Moore Sr., a successful post sutler and Indian trader, was born in Randolph County, Georgia, on February 14, 1843. Orphaned around 1853, he moved to Washington, D.C., and was raised by his father’s sister. While living in Washington, he worked as a page at the U.S. Senate and later became a bailiff at the U.S. Supreme Court. Moore Sr. moved to Bear River, Idaho, in 1864 and became a station agent for Ben Halladay’s Overland Stage Line. Soon afterwards, he moved to Fort Bridger, Wyoming, where he managed a post store for Judge W.A. Carter and became Postmaster of Carter Station. In 1869, Moore Sr. became post trader of Camp Auger, Wyoming (later renamed Camp Brown), which was established by U.S. Army troops who left Fort Bridger. When Camp Brown was moved to the site of Fort Washakie in 1871, he accompanied the troops there.

In 1871, Moore Sr. opened the J.K. Moore Store at Camp Brown, which was a successful enterprise for many years. He married Nevada Cornell, a governess to Judge Carter’s family, in 1875. The couple had five children, James K. Jr., Annie, Charles, Virginia, and Lilly. Soon afterwards, he became a licensed Indian Trader and did business with the Shoshone and Arapaho Indians living on the reservation. In addition to his post store, he owned the J.K. and Double Diamond Ranches at Fort Washakie and a branch of the J.K. Moore Store in Lander, Wyoming. Moore Sr. retired in 1907 and moved to his vineyards and orchards at Lodi, California. He passed away in San Diego, California, on January 20, 1920.

James Kerr Moore Jr., the oldest son of J.K. Moore Sr., was born at Fort Washakie on June 28, 1876, and spent much of his childhood on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Because of his daily contacts with the Shoshone and Arapaho Indians, he became an interpreter and an acknowledged expert on their respective cultures. He was educated at several private schools, eventually graduating from Cheltenham Military Academy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1894. Moore Jr. started clerking at his father’s store at a young age and managed the J.K and the Double Diamond Ranches during the 1890s. After the ranches were sold, he managed the J.K. Moore Store with his father. When his father retired in 1907, Moore Jr. took over the J.K. Moore Store and replaced his father as Indian Trader and Postmaster at Fort Washakie. He remained in these positions until his retirement in 1920.

James K. Moore Jr. married Nancy Edith Sampson, a teacher at the Wind River Indian Reservation, in 1909. The couple had three daughters, Evelyn, Margaret, and Barbara. In his retirement, Moore Jr. was a history enthusiast, publishing several articles for the Wyoming Historical Society. He passed away in Thermopolis, Wyoming, on June 12, 1965.

Evelyn M. Bell, the oldest daughter of James K. Moore Jr., was born on December 4, 1911, and spent her childhood at Fort Washakie and Lodi, California. She was educated at the University of Wyoming, earning her normal school diploma in 1932 and her B.A. in 1953. Bell was an elementary school teacher for more than forty years, teaching in several districts in Wyoming until her retirement in 1976. She married Ronald O. Bell, who worked for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, in 1937. In retirement, she became an amateur genealogist and extensively traced the lineage of the J.K. Moore Family. Bell wrote two unpublished manuscripts: The Life and Times of J.K. Moore and The Life and Times of J.K. Moore Jr.