 Jackson Hole,
Wyoming and the famous Teton Mountains. The term “hole” was coined by fur trappers of the 1820s to describe a high altitude plateau ringed by mountains. Thus, Jackson Hole is the entire valley, 8 to 15 miles
wide and 40 miles long. The valley was named for David E. Jackson, a trapper who reputedly spent the winter of 1829 along the shore of Jackson Lake.
Because of its geographic location, Jackson Hole remained unsettled until late in the 19th century. The first permanent homesteaders, John Holland and John Carnes, settled north of the present town of Jackson. By 1890 Jackson Hole had a population of 64 people. The soils and climate made ranching and farming risky.
In 1943 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued a proclamation establishing Jackson Hole National Monument by authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. The 210,000 acre monument included most federal land in Jackson Hole. In 1949 the Rockefellers donated nearly 33,000 acres to the federal government and in 1950, Congress passed legislation merging the Park and National Monument.
Today tourism is the cornerstone of the local economy. Visitors come to enjoy breathtaking scenery, wildlife and other natural features of Grand Teton National Park and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway.
Map
of Grand Teton Park Requires Adobe Acrobat
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Jackson Hole, WY Weather Forecast
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