Grand Teton National Park Youngest Range in the Rockies
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GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK YOUNGEST RANGE IN THE ROCKIES the town of Moran. Others recognized that dudes winter better than cows and began operating dude ranches. The JY and the Bar BC were established in 1908 and 1912, respectively. By the 1920s, dude ranch- ing made significant contributions to the valley’s economy. At this time some local residents real- ized that scenery and wildlife (especially elk) were valuable resources to be conserved rather than exploited. Evolution of a Dream The birth of present-day Grand Teton National Park involved controversy and a struggle that lasted several decades. Animosity toward expanding governmental control and a perceived loss of individual freedoms fueled anti-park senti- ments in Jackson Hole that nearly derailed estab- lishment of the park. By contrast, Yellowstone National Park benefited from an expedient and near universal agreement for its creation in 1872. The world's first national park took only two years from idea to reality; however Grand Teton National Park evolved through a burdensome process requiring three separate governmental Mt. Moran. National Park Service Photo. acts and a series of compromises: The original Grand Teton National Park, set Towering more than a mile above the valley of dazzled fur traders. Although evidence is incon- aside by an act of Congress in 1929, included Jackson Hole, the Grand Teton rises to 13,770 clusive, John Colter probably explored the area in only the Teton Range and six glacial lakes at the feet. Twelve Teton peaks reach above 12,000 feet 1808. By the 1820s, mountain men followed base of the mountains. and support a dozen mountain glaciers. The west wildlife and Indian trails through Jackson Hole The Jackson Hole National Monument, side of the range slopes gently, showing the angle and trapped beaver in the icy waters of the valley. decreed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt through of tilt of the Earth’s crust. The Teton Range is the The term “hole” was coined by fur trappers of presidential proclamation in 1943, combined youngest range in the Rockies and displays some the 1820s to describe a high altitude plateau Teton National Forest acreage, other federal prop- of North America’s oldest rocks. ringed by mountains. Thus, Jackson Hole is the erties including Jackson Lake and a generous entire valley, 8 to 15 miles wide and 40 miles 35,000-acre donation by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. The Rockefeller lands continued to be privately HISTORY OF GRAND TETON long. The valley was named for David E. Jackson, a trapper who reputedly spent the winter of 1829 held until December 16, 1949 when impasse for NATIONAL PARK along the shore of Jackson Lake. addition to the national park was resolved. After the decline of the fur trade in the late On September 14, 1950, the original 1929 The Earliest Visitors 1830s, America forgot Jackson Hole until the mil- Park and the 1943 National Monument (includ- National Park Grand Teton Archeological studies established human occupa- itary and civilian surveys of the 1860s and 1870s. ing Rockefeller's donation) were united into a tion of Jackson Hole for at least 11,000 years. Members of the Hayden Survey named many of "New" Grand Teton National Park, creating pres- Knowledge of early people is extremely limited. the area’s features. ent-day boundaries. Data suggests that they used the area from spring An Idea is Born to fall, based on seasonal availability of resources. The First Tourists Prehistoric people crossed the passes into Jackson The region acquired a national reputation for As early as 1897, Colonel S.B.M. Young, act- Hole en route to seasonal hunting grounds in the its splendid hunting and fishing in the 1880s and ing Superintendent of Yellowstone, proposed to region. In historic times, Indian tribes such as the 1890s. Many settlers supplemented their incomes expand Yellowstone's boundaries southward to Shoshoni, Gros Ventre, Flathead and Blackfeet by serving as guides and packers for wealthy encompass portions of northern Jackson Hole knew the Teton country. hunters. A few, such as Ben Sheffield, made it a and protect migrating elk herds. In 1898 Charles full-time occupation. He acquired a ranch at the D. Walcott, head of the U.S. Geological Survey, Days of Mountain Men outlet of Jackson Lake in 1902 to use as a base made a similar proposal, suggesting that the The splendor of the Teton Mountains first for outfitting his expeditions. The ranch became Teton Range be included as well as northern Grand Teton National Park Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Average Max. Temperature (F) 26 32 38 48 60 70 80 78 68 56 38 28 Average Min. Temperature (F) 5 8 10 24 31 38 42 41 34 26 16 7 Extreme High (F) 55 60 64 75 85 98 95 96 93 84 65 58 Extreme Low (F) -60 -63 -43 -28 0 18 24 18 7 -20 -36 -52 Days above 90º 000000110000 Days below 32º 31 27 30 26 19 6 2 4 14 26 28 31 Average Total Precipitation (in.) 1.4 0.8 1.1 1.3 1.9 2.2 1.2 1.4 1.3 1.0 1.1 1.2 Maximum Precipitation (in.) 3.8 1.8 3.0 2.8 2.9 4.0 2.2 3.9 3.7 2.6 2.5 4.1 Maximum SnowFall (in.) 42 30 32 24 14 6 6 2 8 18 23 31 Days with measurable precipation 14 12 12 10 10 10 7 8 8 9 10 13 Average No. Thunderstorms 0 0 0 1 5 11 14 12 2 0 0 0 www.ultimatewyoming.com 399 All Wyoming Area Codes are 307 Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton 400 Ultimate Wyoming Atlas and Travel Encyclopedia Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton www.ultimatewyoming.com 401 All Wyoming Area Codes are 307 Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton 402 Ultimate Wyoming Atlas and Travel Encyclopedia Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton www.ultimatewyoming.com 403 tically "run out of town" when he traveled to Jackson to promote his park enlargement vision. Ranchers worried that park extension would reduce grazing allotments; Forest Service employ- ees feared the loss of jurisdiction on previously managed forest areas; and local dude ranchers were against improved roads, hotel construction and concessioner monopolies. Proposals emerged to dam outlets of Jenny Lake and Emma Matilda and Two Ocean Lakes in 1919. Alarmed businessmen and ranchers felt that some form of protection by the National Park Service might be their only salvation from com- mercialization and natural resource destruction. Eventually, local and National Park Service inter- ests merged at an historic meeting in Maud Noble's cabin on July 26, 1923. Participants included Yellowstone Superintendent, Horace Albright; Bar BC dude ranchers, Struthers Burt and Horace Carncross; newspaperman, Dick Winger; grocery storeowner, Joe Jones; rancher, Jack Eynon; and ferry owner, Maud Noble. They devised a strategy. Their plan sought to find pri- vate funds to purchase private lands in Jackson Hole and create a recreation area or reserve that would preserve the "Old West" character of the valley, basically creating a "museum on the hoof." With the exception of Horace Albright, the atten- dees did not support a national park, "because they wanted traditional hunting, grazing, and dude-ranching activities to continue." In 1928, a Coordinating Commission on National Parks and Forests met with residents of Jackson and reached consensus for park approval. Local support and the Commission's recommendations led Senator John Kendrick of Wyoming to introduce a bill to establish Grand Teton National Park. Senator Kendrick stated that once he viewed the Tetons he "realized that some day they would become a park All Wyoming Area Codes are 307 dedicated to the Nation and posterity…" Congress passed Senator Kendrick's bill. On February 26, 1929, President Calvin Coolidge signed this bill creating a 96,000-acre park that included the Teton Range and six glacial lakes at the base of the peaks. Since this fledgling 1929 park did not safe- guard an entire ecosystem, Albright and the other participants of the 1923 meeting continued to pursue their dream of seeking private funds to purchase private lands in Jackson Hole. Rockefeller's Interest Grows John D. Rockefeller, Jr. became involved in the Jackson Hole Plan after a visit to Teton country in 1924 and again in 1926. These visits highlighted not only spectacular Teton scenery, but also shab- by developments littering the roadway from Menor's Ferry to Moran and along Jenny Lake's south and east shores. Yellowstone Superintendent Albright seized an opportunity to explain to Jackson Hole. Neither the Interior Department Congressman Frank Mondell of Wyoming intro- Rockefeller the essence of the Noble cabin meeting nor Congress acted on either of these proposals. duced the bill in 1918. The House unanimously and the hope of protecting and preserving "this In 1916, a new bureau called the National approved a revised bill in 1919. However, the bill sublime valley" from unsightly commercial devel- Park Service was created within the Department died in the Senate when Idaho Senator John opment. Rockefeller decided to purchase offend- of Interior. This bureau could promote park ideas Nugent feared the loss of sheep grazing permits ing private properties with the intention of both locally and at the national level with the cre- with expanded park service jurisdiction. donating these lands for National Park designa- ation of a Washington DC office. Director of the As historian Robert Righter states, "an oppor- tion. He created the Snake River Land Company National Park Service, Stephen Mather and his tunity had been lost.