THE GOVERNMENT RANCH OF JACKSON HOLE A History of the National Elk Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior 7 The Act of Congress that established the National Elk Refuge in Jackson Hole, Wyoming was passed in 1912. However, the portions of the land that eventually made up today's 23,998-acre refuge were involved in the history of early settlement in the Jackson Hole valley. Located on various sections of the refuge were: the first homestead in Jackson Hole, the first post office in the valley, the alleged stronghold of horse thiefs, home the Teton National Forest Supervisor, to mention a few. Prior to the fur trapping era of the early 19th century, the only visitors to Jackson Hole were the various nomadic Indian tribes during the summers. The area has always been fairly rich in wild game, but its long winters made year around living here by anyone nearly impossible. How long man has been a visitor to the valley is not really known, however several campsites near Blacktail Butte and even on the refuge itself, have been slightly investigated. Crude scrapers and stone tools have been picked up at various sites on the refuge. Some campfire charcoal and buffalo bone have been dated to ______ By the 19th century, tribes that summered in this valley included the Gros Ventre tribe, the J6Jad1<:"e�1 4 Bannock Sho , Crow, =------'--"'-�:u..a.-"'-- Travel was done down the Gros Ventre River valley, across Teton Pass, Conant Pass, etc. John Colter is generally considered the first white visitor to the valley in 1807. Others that followed were the Wilson Price Hunt party of 1811 and Robert Stuart and party in 1812. The valley is named for trapper, David E. Jackson, who frequented the area from 1824-29. This was, according to history, his favorite valley and his partner, William Sublette, named it for him in 1829. Not much is known about Jackson except that he seemed to be well liked by his fellow trappers. What happened to him after 1829 is not known, nor for that matter, exactly where he came from. He was a partner in the Smith, Jackson and Sublettet-- fur trade d.� ✓� Gva,_tnwl .,..,1'-6 I ve.£,,,;,-,"'4:;., se-±d,s"°fe"' firm in 18�, but ou� :t.e • He was a contemporary of Jedediah Smith, Bill Sublette, Jim Bridger, Joe Meek and Tom Fitzpatrick. The "Hole" returned to its quiet ways the fading out of the fur trade in 1840. The Indian tribes continued to visit the area in the summers and a few itinerant trappers and searchers for gold came through the valley. Beaver Dick Leigh is one of the better known latter day trappers who lived in the Hole from the 1860's on. Several government survey parties moved through the area in the 1870's - Hayden party (187_), Lt.Gustavus Doane party (1876), Trapper Osborne Rus frequented the area in the 1834-40 period and mentions that wild game was fairly abundant. It was estimated that in 1870 15,000 elk wintered south of Yellowsoone National Park. The first severe winter loss of elk was 1882. It has been written throughout the years that the elk Jackson Hole migrated out of Jackson Hole to the Red Desert and Green River areas during the winter. This is no longer cons ed to be valid. It is very likely that there has always - 2 - been a distinct Jackson Hole elk herd that wintered in the valley (Wyo.Wildlife Dec.1947). In 1877, a correspondent for "Field and Stream" magazine stated that a hunter and trapper who wintered in Jackson Hole reported 15,000 elk had wintered south of Yellowstone National Park in the valleys of the Shoshone and Snake. However, this report was considered somewhat exaggerated (Wyoming Wildlife Dec. 1947). Early Settlers John Carnes and John Holland were among the very earliest settlers of the va�ley . Holland trapped in the valley in the 1870's and later returned with his friend Carnes in 1883 or 1884. They brought the first wagon into the valley from the Green River country over Bacon Creek and down the old Gros Ventre valley trail. They settled on adjoining parcels of land on what is now part of the National Elk Refuge. Holland homesteaded his land and had the first garden ::i;;,:p.thc vall-:ey and first territorial water rights in the valley. The exact location of his homestead was SW 1/4 of Seetion 18, T 41 N, RllS W, 6th PM. The general area is the meadow f4e.co..--af.s Ind I co4-Gr.. just east of Quarters No. 3 on the refuge. AOne hundred head of cattle in the valley in 1884 were legally owned by Holland. {r;:rse.Jr) John Carnes homesteaded next to Holland. He was married to a Seiv(t.llE- Bannock Indian, Millie -Geil:."@B-,s,. Early day horse thief, Teton Jackson, had a stronghold on the refuge �f?c� rr) near tae present day Miller House and Shop area. He evidentally had it built there in the marsh to give extra protection from - 3 - iA,w-- any lawmen sneaking up on�- While Carnes and Holland were evidently not involved with the horse thiefs, they did furnish supplies to them. They traveled to Green River City for their own supplies and also purchased supplies for the stronghold. The creek that is now called Twin Creek wa:Jfor a period of time in the early days called Holland Creek. Holland's irrigation ditch / also retains his name . Not many traces remain of this earliest of settlers . He moved to Salem, Oregon around 1900 and died at the age of 65. Carnes moved to the Ft . Hall Indian Reservation in 1895 and died in July, 1931. The next settler, Robert E. Miller, left much more of a traceable xaixtrail behind him in the history of the refuge and Jackson Hole . He came to the valley in 1884 and returned to start a ranch in 1885. He "bought " the homeplace from outlaw, Teton Jackson and lived in that cabin until his newer home was built in about 1898 . He married Grace Green in 1893. Miller was a canny individual who had an idea how to make money by investments. One soory of how he gained the nickname "12 Percent " Miller is that during the hard winter of 1889 he loaned hay to the newly arrieed Mormon settlers and then asked for complete return of the hay plus interest of ..\a�n. al'\ tcioi 12%. His wife purchased the Will::iaM Simpson homestead�and later platted out tae town of Jackson . In 1914 Miller started the Jackson State Bank. He was appointed the what is now Teton National Forest in 190� and served until 1918 . The office was a small 1-room building that is now part of the National Elk Refuge Historic Site. Miller bought and owned some of the other - 4 - Thomas early homesteads on the refuge including: Winegardner homestead, Michael Detwiler, Jack Hicks, etc. He sold 1260 acres and the house to the Biological Survey in 1914 to start the nucleus of the National Elk Refuge. Mrs. Miller was elected the first woman mayor of Jackson in 1920 and successfully served two terms. She was part of an all-woman town administration. Robert Miller died in 1934 and the remaining lands he owned were bought by the refuge in 1936 with funds from the "6 Million Dollar" Fund. Mrs. Miller d i ed in 1 9 4 8 . Other early settlers were: Frank Wood and William Crawford, who came in 1886. Both of these men homesteaded on what is now the Cfl')IAV.B-:lt) refuge. I\ Crawford later had a 10-room house on his property lt xu) He later sold his land to Dr. Charles Huff, the first year-around physician in Jackson Hole. Crawford died in 193� J;:Pr. His only --"' !_*"'�� l;piiJBEfiilr ef Cntwforel: hm:ti!!e-3- remaining trace is a spot on Flat Creek called the old Crawford Bridge site, which is a boundary limit for fishing a portion of the creek. Others venturing into the valley in 1886 were Dick Turpin, John 1 11 Cherry and 1 Uncle Jack Hicks. At one time, one of the springs at the base of Miller Butte was known as "Jack Hicks Spring" and near the area he homesteaded. J.Pierce Cunningham, Stephen N. Leek, Nicholas Gas, Leek's half brothers Charles and Ham Wort, Joe Infanger, Mose Giltner, Bfig Adams, John Sargeant and Ray Hamilton all came here in 1888. Of these men, Infanger and Giltner later homesteaded on owned land - 5 - that later became part of the refuge. S.N. Leek, although never owning any land that was ever a portion of the National Elk Refuge, still had a great deal to do with the history of the refuge. This will be covered later on. Near what is called "the Gap" in East Gros Ventre Butte is ..\oh"'- located the area of the homestead of Martin II Sloughgrass" /\ Nelson. His wife Bertha and daughter Cora (then age 4) crossed Teton Pass on July 3, 1888 and were the first white women to sett in Jackson Hole. Nelson's house was originally built on the hillside when he homesteaded in 1891. But when the area was surveyed in 1897, it was found the house was outside of Nelson's property lines. He then moved into the marsh (or swamp as it was called then) where the grasses provided hay for his livestock and furnished his nickname.