Phantom Forest Conservation Area was donated to the Missouri Department of Conservation in 1994 by Ray and Claire Moore. The 13-acre area is called Phantom Forest because Ray Moore was the illustrator of the Phantom comic. The area is leased to and maintained by the City of Des Peres Parks and Recreation. It is located in the city of Des Peres on Barrett Station Road, between Manchester Road and Dougherty Ferry Road.
~ from MDC brochure (
visit link)
Area Map (
visit link)
In 1949 Claire and Ray Moore purchased 13 acres along Barrett Station road. The Moore property is a reflection of Claire’s passion for trees, plants and wildflowers indigenous to our area. Upon Mrs. Moore’s death on June 1, 2005, the property was donated to the Missouri Department of Conservation. In honor of Ray Moore, the original illustrator of The Phantom comic strip, Claire named the property “Phantom Forest.” In her eloquent words “I hope the forest is a source of quiet pleasure in the midst of a locality that is building up so fast. People need a place to walk that is more natural…I hope it means something to a lot of other people too.”
~ from City of Des Peres website (
visit link)
Little is known about Ray's personal life, but he was born in Oklahoma, most likely in 1905, and he lived most of his life in Missouri until his death in 1984, together with his wife, Claire Moore. He was the son of a jeweler, and originally intended to become an engineer, before he realised that he could live off his job as an artist. Moore started drawing The Phantom in 1936, after creator Falk realised he would not have the time to do the artwork in the strip himself. He had previously worked as an assistant on Falk's other strip, Mandrake the Magician.
Ray was involved in an accident during his career as a pilot in World War II, which made him unable to keep on drawing The Phantom, therefore leaving work on the strip to his assistant Wilson McCoy. Ray Moore had a moody and mysterious drawing style, with a style of shadowing which suited the mysterious Phantom character. However, he slightly changed his style later on, focusing less on the dark atmosphere he had become known for, in advantage of a more realistic style, with more details and a less moody style of drawing. Lee Falk always claimed that Moore was the best artist on the Phantom, because of his talent for drawing beautiful looking girls. It was this talent that led Falk to creating many crime corporations only consisting of women, like the infamous Sky Band.
Moore is known by fans to be as mysterious as the Phantom character he co-created. Only two photos of him was known to exist for until a year ago, both sideways. His face was therefore quite unknown to the world. Now it has appeared one new from 1929 with an up front motive! And if he on a rare occasion did an interview, he seldom mentioned his private life. Ray Moore died in 1984 of natural causes. He was survived by his wife, Claire, who passed away in 2005.
~ from Wikipedia (
visit link)