225 West Welty Street
The Caldwell Homestead/Dubois Wind River KOA- This property was originally homesteaded by Bert Caldwell, some estimates are as far back as 1872. The original cabin is now located to the west of the main office, and is used for gatherings. There is a long bench down by the river that sets in the where the cabin originally was. The cabin was moved to higher ground to protect it from seasonal flooding. In the early years of this property there were two ponds and a swamp.
Stan and Twila Blakeman purchased the property in 1965 and started transforming it into the Circle Up Campground. They traded some of the old buildings for fill dirt to build up the pond and swamp area. They built the swimming pool in 1971, and in 1981, Twila started the bake shop. In 1989 Stan built the building over the swimming pool.
"The largest elk in the Rocky Mountains", was crafted by Joe Back in 1957. Joe and Mary Back were artists and played a significant role in developing Dubois. The big elk was moved to the Big Elk Drive-In, a restaurant with car hops, then was later moved out to Wind River Ranch. In 1985 the Wind River Ranch had a foreclosure sale. That is where Stan Blakeman had the opportunity to purchase the large elk. It had 30 years of damage and was in desperate need of repairs. With the guidance of Joe, Stan and Vic Lemmon repaired the elk who had a lot of weathering damage as well as bullet holes. The elk had found its forever home.
