John Roberts was a missionary clergyman of the Episcopal Church. He spent more than sixty years working on the Wind River Reservation until his death in 1949.
Roberts arrived by stagecoach from Green River accompanied only by his dog. Due to the great blizzard of 1883, the trip from Green River to the reservation took eight days. His arrival was greeted with skepticism by the Shoshone. Gradually, he was able to build a chapel and a small one room school.
Then, in 1887, Chief Washakie set aside 160 acres of land for the site of a permanent school for Shoshone girls. Roberts worked with two Shoshone translators, Charles Lajoe and Enga-Barrie. Together they translated Episcopalian religious texts into Shoshone.
See the John Roberts papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more about his work as a Wind River missionary.