What is now Jackson Hole was a way of life to the Indians who summered here and wintered in the lower and warmer regions to the east of Togwotee Pass. A summer in this secluded valley meant plentiful fish and other wildlife for food, skins for clothing and teepees as well as a cool, well-watered environment.
Snowmelt fed streams, bordered by vegetation, supported many beaver and other fur bearers that attracted men of European descent in their never-ending quest of commercial wealth. Colter was followed by other mountain men and trappers who considered the natural resources of the area as there to be taken for their own personal gain. By 1840 beaver became scarce and fell from fashion. The land that supported bison was thought good for domestic cattle, so ranchers settled in Jackson Hole from one end to the other. Dry years and the Great Depression forced many of them to sell out.
Now millions of visitors come each year to recapture the thrill of wandering in a land still much as the Indians left it. This is a new wealth that depreciates little under protection as a National Park.
An increasing number of people look for ways to identify themselves with those who led the way into this new land. Campfire Tales of Jackson Hole gives you this opportunity in an easy to read text that takes you back to the people and events that transpired in the valley that surrounds you.
THE PARK STAFF Grand Teton National Park
CONTENTS
Page [John Colter, The Discovery of Jackson Hole and the Yellowstone] 4 [The Mountain Men in Jackson Hole] 11 [The Doane Expedition of 1876-1877] 20 [Map of the Region] 30-31 [The Story of Deadman’s Bar] 38 [The Affair at Cunningham’s Ranch] 43 [Prospector of Jackson Hole] 47 [Mountain River Men, The Story of Menor’s Ferry] 52
JOHN COLTER
THE DISCOVERY OF JACKSON HOLE AND THE YELLOWSTONE
By Merlin K. Potts, former Chief Park Naturalist
To John Colter, mountain man, trapper, and lone wanderer in the exploration of the Rocky Mountain wilderness, belongs the distinction of being the first white man to enter Jackson Hole and the “Country of the Yellowstone.”