Jackson Hole
Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by
History
The valley was used by Native Americans for hunting and ceremonial purposes. It was not known to harbor year-round human settlement prior to the 1870s. Descriptions of the valley and its features were recorded in the journals of John Colter, who had been a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. After returning to the Rocky Mountains, Colter entered the region in 1807 in the vicinity of Togwotee Pass and became the first European-American to see the valley. His reports of the valley, the Teton Range, and the Yellowstone region to the north were viewed by people of the day with skepticism.[citation needed]
The town of Jackson was named in late 1893 by Margaret Simpson, who, at the time, was receiving mail at her home as there was no post office. She named the area in order for easterners to be able to forward mail west. Jackson, which became incorporated in 1914, was named after David Edward "Davy" Jackson, who trapped beaver in the area in the late 1820s with a partner in the firm of Smith, Jackson & Sublette.[1] Jackson, of Irish and Scottish descent, was one of the first European-Americans to spend an entire winter in the valley.[2]
Because the soil is not ideal for raising crops, the valley was used for cattle grazing, and tourism quickly became popular with the establishment of
Settlements
The only incorporated area in the valley is Jackson, located at its southern end. Other communities in the valley include
national parks, are major year-round tourist attractions.Geography
The valley is formed by the Teton Range to the west and the Gros Ventre Range to the east. Grand Teton National Park occupies the northwestern part of the valley, encompassing much of the Teton Range and Jackson Lake. The city of Jackson is at the southern end. Between them lies, on U.S. Route 26, "Glacier View Turnout" offering a view of Teton Glacier on the north of Grand Teton,[3] and the National Elk Refuge, home of the largest elk herd on earth. The Snake River threads through the entire valley from its headwater in Yellowstone in the north to the mouth of the Snake River Canyon at the southern tip of the valley. Blacktail Butte is a prominent landform rising from the valley floor. The average elevation of the valley is over 6,500 feet (2,000 m) above sea level.
High altitude and steep mountain slopes on all sides of the valley often cause calm winter nights to be very cold, as
Economy
Jackson Hole Airport is the largest and busiest commercial airport in Wyoming. The Jackson Hole Airport is also the only airport in the US that is located inside a National Park.[4] Strict noise abatement regulations and the terminal building's low profile allow for the airport to operate within federal guidelines inside Grand Teton National Park. However, it becomes difficult to fly in the winter months. Major airlines serve the valley with jet service, some of which is seasonal (summer and winter).
In 2016, the Jackson Hole Tourism website put up 20 live webcams of Jackson's town square in order to boost tourism. Since then, the audience of the live screening has grown rapidly, with up to 2,000 people watching at any one time.[5][6]
Jackson Hole was rated in 2017 as the best campsite in Wyoming in a 50-state survey conducted by MSN.com.[7]
The community is also home to the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, an annual gathering by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City that includes "prominent central bankers, finance ministers, academics, and financial market participants from around the world," according to its description. "The participants convene to discuss the economic issues, implications, and policy options pertaining to the symposium topic. The symposium proceedings include papers, commentary, and discussion."[8]
In popular culture
Films set and/or shot in Jackson Hole include 3 Bad Men (1926), The Big Sky (1952), The Wild North (1952), Shane (1953), Spencer's Mountain (1963), Any Which Way You Can (1980), The Mountain Men (1980), Rocky IV (1985), Dances with Wolves (1990), and Django Unchained (2012).[9] It is also a major location in the video games The Last of Us (2013) and The Last of Us Part II (2020), in which Jackson itself is home to a large community of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world.[10]
Rapper
Notable people
Jackson has become a second home for various
Gallery
-
Jackson Square
-
National Elk Refuge
-
Teton Range
-
The "Sleeping Indian" series of rock formations on Sheep Mountain
-
Elk in the wild
See also
References
- ISBN 0-8032-7218-9.originally published in Leroy R. Hafen, ed. (1972). Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West vol. IX. Glendale: The Arthur H Clark Company.
- ^ Mattes, Merrill J. "Grand Teton NP/Yellowstone NP: Colter's Hell and Jackson's Hole (Chapter 6)". Colter's Hell and Jackson's Hole. Yellowstone Library and Museum Association, and Grand Teton Natural History Association, in cooperation with National Park Service. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-915749-25-6.
- ^ "Jackson Hole Airport". Jackson Hole Airport. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
- ^ "Confession: I'm addicted to the goofily charming Jackson Hole webcam". www.cnet.com.
- ^ "Jackson Hole Tourism website". www.seejh.com.
- ^ "The best campsite in every state". Msn.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2017.
- ^ "Jackson Hole Economic Symposium".
- ISBN 9781476625492.
- ^ "The Last of Us Part 2: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Jackson". www.thegamer.com. August 9, 2020.
- ^ Mense, Ryan (June 1, 2018). "Kanye West Took Landscape Photo Used on Album Cover Himself With iPhone". Fstoppers. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
- ^ Findlay, Mitch (March 26, 2018). "Kanye West's New Album: Everything We Know". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
- ^ How Wyoming Became A Secret Celebrity Hotspot -- Sandra Bullock, RuPaul Charles, Kanye West, Nikki Sixx, and Harrison Ford own property there. But why?, Hugh McIntyre, Bustle.com, 2021-08-25, accessed 2022-08-03
Books
- Daugherty, John. "A Place Called Jackson Hole". Grand Teton Natural History Association. Retrieved October 6, 2006.
- "The Mystery of the Colter Stone". Grand Teton National Park. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
External links
Media related to Jackson Hole at Wikimedia Commons