Grand Teton
[WYOMING]
National Park
United States Department of the Interior
Harold L. Ickes, Secretary
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Arno B. Cammerer, Director
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
WASHINGTON: 1937
DO YOU KNOW YOUR NATIONAL PARKS?
ACADIA, MAINE.—Combination of mountain and seacoast scenery. Established 1919; 24.08 square miles.
BRYCE CANYON, UTAH.—Canyons filled with exquisitely colored pinnacles. Established 1928; 55.06 square miles.
CARLSBAD CAVERNS, N. MEX.—Beautifully decorated limestone caverns believed largest yet discovered. Established 1930; 15.56 square miles.
CRATER LAKE, OREG.—Astonishingly beautiful lake in crater of extinct volcano. Established 1902; 250.52 square miles.
GENERAL GRANT, CALIF.—Celebrated General Grant Tree and grove of Big Trees. Established 1890; 3.96 square miles.
GLACIER, MONT.—Unsurpassed alpine scenery; 200 lakes; 60 glaciers. Established 1910; 1,533.88 square miles.
GRAND CANYON, ARIZ.—World's greatest example of erosion. Established 1919; 1,009.08 square miles.
GRAND TETON, WYO.—Most spectacular portion of Teton Mountains. Established 1929; 150 square miles.
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS, N. C.-TENN.—Massive mountain uplift covered with magnificent forests. Established for protection 1930; 617 square miles.
HAWAII: ISLANDS OF HAWAII AND MAUI.—Volcanic areas of great interest, including Kilauea, famous for frequent spectacular outbursts. Established 1916; 245 square miles.
HOT SPRINGS, ARK.—Forty-seven hot springs reserved by the Federal Government in 1832 to prevent exploitation of waters. Made national park in 1921; 1.58 square miles.
LASSEN VOLCANIC, CALIF.—Only recently active volcano in continental United States. Established 1916; 163.32 square miles.
MAMMOTH CAVE, KY.—Interesting caverns, including spectacular onyx cave formation. Established for protection 1936; 38.34 square miles.
MESA VERDE, COLO.—Most notable cliff dwellings in United States. Established 1906; 80.21 square miles.
MOUNT McKINLEY, ALASKA.—Highest mountain in North America. Established 1917; 3,030.46 square miles.
MOUNT RAINIER, WASH.—Largest accessible single-peak glacier system. Established 1899; 377.78 square miles.
PLATT, OKLA.—Sulphur and other springs. Established 1902; 1.33 square miles.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN, COLO.—Peaks from 11,000 to 14,255 feet in heart of Rockies. Established 1915; 405.33 square miles.
SEQUOIA, CALIF.—General Sherman, largest and perhaps oldest tree in the world; outstanding groves of Sequoia gigantea. Established 1890; 604 square miles.
SHENANDOAH, VA.—Outstanding scenic area in Virginia section of Blue Ridge. Established 1935; 275.81 square miles.
WIND CAVE, S. DAK.—Beautiful cavern of peculiar formations. No stalactites or stalagmites. Established 1903; 18.47 square miles.
YELLOWSTONE: WYO.-MONT.-IDAHO.—World's greatest geyser area, and an outstanding game sanctuary. Established 1872; 3,471.51 square miles.
YOSEMITE, CALIF.—Valley of world-famous beauty; spectacular waterfalls; magnificent High Sierra country. Established 1890; 1,176.16 square miles.
ZION, UTAH.—Beautiful Zion Canyon 1,500 to 2,500 feet deep. Spectacular coloring. Established 1919; 148.26 square miles.
RULES AND REGULATIONS
The Park Regulations are designed for the protection of the natural beauties as well as for the comfort and convenience of visitors. The following synopsis is for the general guidance of visitors, who are requested to assist in the administration of the park by observing them. Copies of the complete rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior for the government of the park may be obtained at the office of the superintendent and at other points of concentration throughout the park.
The destruction, injury, defacement, or disturbance of any buildings, signs, equipment, trees, flowers, vegetation, rocks, minerals, animal, bird, or other life is prohibited.
Camps must be kept clean. Rubbish and garbage should be burned. Refuse should be placed in cans provided for this purpose. If no cans are provided where camp is made, refuse should be buried.
Do not throw paper, lunch refuse, or other trash on the roads and trails. Carry until the same can be burned in camp or placed in receptacle.
Fires shall be lighted only when necessary and when no longer needed shall be completely extinguished. No lighted cigarette, cigar, match, or other burning material shall be thrown from any vehicle or saddle animal or dropped into any leaves, grass, twigs, or tree mold. Smoking or the building of fires may be prohibited by the superintendent when the hazard makes such action necessary.
The hunting, killing, wounding, frightening, capturing, or attempting to capture any wild bird or animal is prohibited. Firearms are prohibited within the park except with the written permission of the superintendent.
When fishing, avoid closed waters. Except where otherwise posted, the limit for a day's catch is 10 fish. The possession of more than 2 days' catch at any one time is prohibited. Fishing in any way other than with hook and line is prohibited.
Still- and motion-picture cameras may be freely used by amateurs in the park for general scenic purposes.
No pictures for commercial use may be taken without special permission from the superintendent.
All mountain climbers must report at a ranger station before and after making the ascent of any peak. No solo climbs are permitted in this park.
Drive carefully at all times. Muffler cut-outs must be kept closed. Speed limits must be observed. All accidents must be reported at the nearest ranger station or to the office of the superintendent.
The penalty for violation of the rules and regulations is a fine not exceeding $500, or imprisonment not exceeding 6 months, or both, together with all costs of the proceedings.
The Government is not responsible for accidents of any nature.
Events
OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE
| 1807-8 | Discovery of the Tetons by John Colter. |
| 1811 | The Astorians crossed Teton Pass. |
| 1810-45 | "The Fur Era" in the Rocky Mountains, which reached its height between 1825 and 1840. |
| 1829 | Capt. William Sublette named Jackson Hole after his partner in the fur trade, David Jackson. |
| 1832 | Rendezvous of the fur trappers in Pierres Hole; the Battle of Pierres Hole. |
| 1835 | Rev. Samuel Parker conducted the first Protestant service in the Rocky Mountains a few miles south of the Tetons. |
| 1843 | Michaud attempted an ascent of the Grand Teton. |
| 1860 | Jim Bridger guided Capt. W. F. Reynolds' expedition through the Teton country. |
| 1872 | William H. Jackson, with a geological party of the Hayden survey in the Tetons, secured the first photographs of these famous landmarks. |
| 1877 | The Hayden survey party of Orestes St. John made geological studies in the Tetons. |
| 1879 | Thomas Moran painted the Teton Range. |
| 1884 | The first settlers entered Jackson Hole. |
| 1897 | Teton Forest Reserve created. |
| 1898 | The first major Teton peaks scaled (Buck Mountain and Grand Teton). |
| 1909 | The Upper Gros Ventre landslide. |
| 1925 | The Lower Gros Ventre landslide. |
| 1927 | The Gros Ventre flood. |
| 1929 | Grand Teton National Park created and dedicated. |
| 1930 | The last major Teton peaks scaled (Nez Perce and Mount Owen). |
Contents
| Page | |
| History of the Region | [2] |
| Geographic Features | [6] |
| Teton Range | [6] |
| Jackson Hole | [8] |
| The Work of Glaciers | [8] |
| Trails | [10] |
| Mountain Climbing | [13] |
| Wildlife | [17] |
| Trees and Plants | [19] |
| Naturalist Service | [21] |
| Fishing | [23] |
| Swimming | [23] |
| Hunting | [23] |
| Dude Ranches | [23] |
| Administration | [24] |
| How to Reach the Park | [24] |
| By Automobile | [24] |
| By Railroad | [24] |
| By Airplane | [25] |
| Points of Interest Along the Way | [25] |
| Accommodations and Expenses | [26] |
| Public Campgrounds | [27] |
| Saddle Horses | [27] |
| Boating | [27] |
| Guide Service | [27] |
| Photographs | [27] |
| Motor Transportation | [28] |
| Bibliography | [28] |
| Government Publications | [30] |
List of Images
TEEWINOT ACROSS JENNY LAKE
Crandall photo.
GRAND TETON
National Park
OPEN FROM JUNE 1 TO OCTOBER 15
The Grand Teton National Park embraces the most scenic portion of the Teton Range of Wyoming, with an area of approximately 150 square miles, or 96,000 acres. It varies from 3 to 9 miles in width and is 27 miles in length. The northern extremity of the park is about 11 miles south of the southern boundary of Yellowstone National Park. This park was established by President Coolidge on February 26, 1929.
In addition to its sublime peaks and canyons, the Grand Teton National Park includes six large lakes and many smaller bodies of water, glaciers, and snowfields, and extensive forests of pine, fir, spruce, cottonwood, and aspen. However, much of the park area is above timber line (10,500 feet), the Grand Teton rising to more than 7,000 feet above the floor of Jackson Hole.
The great array of peaks which constitutes the scenic climax of this national park is one of the noblest in the world. It is alpine in the truest sense. Southwest of Jenny Lake is a culminating group of lofty peaks whose dominating figure is the Grand Teton, the famous mountain after which the park takes its name. The resemblance of this group, whose clustered, tapering spires tower aloft to a height of thousands of feet and are hung with never-melting snowfields, to a vast cathedral, must suggest itself to every observer.
However widely traveled, visitors viewing the Tetons for the first time confess that the beauty of this park and the rugged grandeur of its mountains come to them as a distinct revelation. This is amply proved by the increasingly large number of visitors who return summer after summer to spend their vacations in the Grand Teton National Park. The recreational possibilities of these mountains, they have found, are practically limitless. Here they may camp on the lakes, swim and fish, ride or hike the trails, engage in the strenuous sport of mountaineering, or—if their needs and wishes so dictate—simply relax and rest.
The Grand, Middle, and South Tetons comprise the historic Trois Tetons, which were noted landmarks to the trappers and explorers of the early nineteenth century. The Three Tetons are seen to best advantage from the west and southwest. As the observer's viewpoint is shifted, the major peaks change greatly in outline and relative position, but despite this fact one soon learns to recognize each.
Eleven peaks are of such boldness and prominence that they receive rank as major peaks. In order of descending altitude they are: Grand Teton, 13,766 feet; Mount Owen, 12,922; Middle Teton, 12,798; Mount Moran 12,594; South Teton, 12,505; Mount Teewinot, 12,317; Buck Mountain, 11,923; Nez Perce, 11,900; Mount Woodring, 11,585; Mount Wister, 11,480; and Mount St. John, 11,412.
In addition to the 11 major peaks there are an even larger number of lesser prominence and altitude, such as Cloudveil Dome, 12,026 feet; Eagle Rest, 11,257; Prospectors Mountain, 11,231; Mount Rockchuck, 11,150; Table Mountain, 11,075; Bivouac Peak, 11,045; Rendezvous Peak, 10,924; Fossil Mountain, 10,912; Rolling Thunder, 10,902; Mount Hunt, 10,775; Symmetry Spire, 10,546; and Storm Point, 10,040, as well as a host of nameless pinnacles and crags which serve still further to make the Teton skyline the most jagged of any on the continent. The larger lakes of the park—Leigh, String, Jenny, Bradley, Taggart, and Phelps—all lie close to the foot of the range and, like beads, are linked together by the sparkling, tumbling waters of Cottonwood Creek and neighboring streams. Nestled in dense forests outside the mouths of canyons, these lakes mirror in their quiet depths nearby peaks whose pointed summits rise with sheer slopes a mile or more above their level.
HISTORY OF THE REGION
Many of our national parks have been carved from wilderness areas previously little known to man and but seldom visited. The Tetons, on the contrary, are remarkably rich in historic associations. The Grand Teton itself has been referred to by an eminent historian as "the most noted historic summit of the West."
Up to the beginning of the last century Indians held undisputed sway over the country dominated by the Three Tetons. Then, as now, Jackson Hole was literally a happy hunting ground, and, while the severe winters precluded permanent habitation, during the milder seasons, bands of Indians frequently came into the basin on hunting or warring expeditions. They represented many tribes, usually hostile to each other. The dreaded Blackfeet, the Crows, the Nez Perce, the Flatheads, the Shoshoni, and others. There is little reason to believe that these Indians ever invaded the more rugged portions of the Tetons, but it is certain they regularly crossed the range, utilizing the several passes.
The Tetons probably first became known to white men in 1807-8, when the intrepid John Colter crossed the range, presumably near Teton Pass on the memorable journey which also made him discoverer of the Yellowstone country. In 1811 the Astorians, under Wilson Price Hunt, entered Jackson Hole by the Hoback Canyon and, failing in an attempt to navigate the Snake River, likewise crossed the Teton Range in the vicinity of Teton Pass, continuing thence to the mouth of the Columbia, where the trading post, Astoria, was founded. The Tetons also figure in the adventures of the returning Astorians in 1812. In Washington Irving's classic account of the Astorian expedition (Astoria, published in 1836) the name "Tetons" first appears in literature.
The decades which follow may truly be referred to as "the Fur Era", for the Tetons became the center of remarkable activities on the part of fur trappers representing both British and American interests, the former by the Northwest and Hudson's Bay Companies, the latter by a succession of companies operating out of St. Louis, Mo. "It was the trio of peaks so distinctively presented from the west and southwest that made the Tetons famous as landmarks among the roving trappers who, guiding their courses by these easily recognized summits, singly or in groups passed over Teton Pass and through Pierres Hole in their seasonal migrations to and from their remote hunting grounds." Could these ancient monuments speak they would make known some of the most interesting events in the annals of the fur trade. For this was the paradise of the trapper. In every direction meandered the streams along which he pursued his trade, and nearby were the valleys where the rival companies gathered in annual conclave to fight the bloodless battles of their business. There is scarcely an acre of open country in sight of it that has not been the scene of forgotten struggles with the implacable Blackfeet, while far and near, in unknown graves, lie many obscure wanderers of whose lonely fate no record survives. Captain Bonneville, Father DeSmet, Rev. Samuel Parker, Jedediah Smith, Bridger, Kit Carson, David Jackson (after whom Jackson Hole and Jackson Lake were named), Sublette, Joe Meek—these are names to conjure with in western history. These and many others equally distinguished appear in the records of the Teton country, particularly in the third and fourth decades of the century. The 1832 rendezvous of the American trappers was held in Teton Basin, then known as "Pierre's Hole", at the west base of the Tetons. It was attended by many of the most famous trappers of the time, and furnished occasion for the Battle of Pierre's Hole, a notable engagement between the trappers and Gros Ventres.
The picturesque name "Jackson Hole" dates back to 1829, in which year Capt. William Sublette so named it after his fellow trapper, David E. Jackson, who was especially partial to this beautiful valley. The term "hole" was used by the trappers of that period in much the same sense as is the word "basin" today, being applied to any mountain-girt valley.
In the 1840's the value of beaver skins declined and with it the fur trade. By 1845 the romantic trapper of "the Fur Era" had vanished from the Rockies—not, however, without having won for himself an imperishable place in American history. During the next four decades the valleys near the Tetons were largely deserted, except for wandering bands of Indians that still occasionally drifted in. But the frontier was relentlessly closing in, and one Government expedition after another passed through the Teton country or skirted its borders. Most important of these were the Hayden surveys, which in 1871, 1872, 1877, and 1878 sent parties into the region. The names of several members of the 1872 expedition are perpetuated in connection with Leigh, Jenny, Bradley, and Taggart Lakes. Orestes St. John, geologist with the 1877 Hayden party, and the great artist, Thomas Moran, who in 1879 went with a military escort to paint the Tetons, are similarly remembered in the names of two of the principal peaks. To this transition period also belong the earliest prospectors of Jackson Hole, as well as several famous big-game hunters who came here in search of trophies—forerunners of the hundreds of hunters who now annually invade this region.
In the middle eighties came the first settlers. They entered by the Gros Ventre River and Teton Pass, and to begin with naturally settled in the south end of the hole. Here as elsewhere the story of the homesteader has been one of isolation, privations, and hardships, met, however, with persistency and indomitable courage. Nor is the story confined to the past, for maintaining a livelihood amongst these mountains still calls for resourcefulness, fortitude, and—not infrequently—even heroism.
History, here, is still in the making. Teton Forest Reserve was not created until 1897; the railroad reached Victor in 1912; the Jackson Lake Dam was finished in 1914; many of the roads and bridges of the region were constructed within the past decade; and the Grand Teton National Park was created in 1929. The detailed exploration of the range and the conquest of its high peaks have taken place in relatively recent years, and since 1929 trails have been built which for the first time make the Tetons really accessible to the public.
In later paragraphs will be found an account of the mountaineering history of the Tetons. And so the dramatic human story of these mountains is brought down to the present.
TEEWINOT, THE GRAND TETON, AND MOUNT OWEN FROM THE NORTHEAST