WARNING
This park, mostly wilderness, is the home of many wild animals, which roam it unmolested. Though they may seem tame, they are not! Some have been known to attack visitors without apparent provocation and have caused serious injury. Watch them at a safe distance; when driving, do not stop unless you can pull off the road; and stay in your car. For your safety, we must enforce the regulation which prohibits feeding or molesting these wild animals. Campers, and those who frequent roads and trails on foot, should exercise constant care to avoid attacks and injuries.
Historic Events
| 1807-8 | Discovery of the Tetons by John Colter. |
| 1811 | The West-bound Astorians crossed Teton Pass. |
| 1818 | Canadian fur traders under Donald McKenzie ascended Snake River to its headwaters. |
| 1824 | American trappers under Jedediah Smith reached Jackson Hole. |
| 1825-40 | Zenith of the fur trade in Jackson Hole and the Rocky Mountain Region. |
| 1829 | William Sublette named “Jackson’s Hole” after his partner in the fur trade, David E. Jackson. |
| 1832 | Rendezvous of fur trappers in Pierre’s Hole. Battle of Pierre’s Hole. |
| 1842 | Alleged attempt to climb the Grand Teton by Michaud. |
| 1860 | Jim Bridger guided Capt. W. F. Raynolds’ expedition through Teton country. |
| 1872 | Disputed ascent of Grand Teton by Langford and Stevenson. William H. Jackson, with Hayden geological survey party, took first photographs of the Tetons. |
| 1877 | 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 established. |
| 1898 | The Owen Spalding party made an ascent of the Grand Teton. |
| 1929 | Grand Teton National Park established and dedicated. |
| 1943 | Jackson Hole National Monument established. |
| 1950 | Grand Teton National Park enlarged by the addition of most of Jackson Hole National Monument. |
Grand Teton
NATIONAL PARK
Grand Teton National Park includes the most scenic portion of the majestic Teton Mountain Range and the northern portion of Jackson Hole, a high mountain valley famous for its associations with early western history. Through congressional action in 1950 the greater portion of the former Jackson Hole National Monument was added to the park. The portions not so added were included in the National Elk Refuge and the Teton National Forest. The enlarged park contains approximately 300,000 acres of Federal lands.
The park is a part of the National Park System owned by the people of the United States and administered for them by the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior.
The great array of peaks which constitute the scenic climax of Grand Teton National Park is one of the noblest in the world. Southwest of Jenny Lake, which is in the central portion of the park, is a culminating group of lofty peaks whose dominating feature is the Grand Teton. Much of the mountainous area of the park is above timber line; the Grand Teton rises to 13,766 feet and towers more than 7,000 feet above the floor of Jackson Hole.
The Snake River, flowing south from Yellowstone National Park, widens into Jackson Lake, 14 miles long. Below the lake, the swift river bisects and cuts ever deeper into the glacial outwash plain of the Ice Age. North of this upland valley lie the high plateaus of Yellowstone National Park; on the east and south are the Mount Leidy highlands and the Gros Ventre Mountains. Emma Matilda and Two Ocean, two lovely mountain lakes, lie north of the Snake and its tributary, Buffalo Fork.
Together the Teton Mountains and Jackson Hole form a landscape of matchless grandeur and majesty unlike any other in America.
