Welcoming Sign, 1930's Jackson, until comparatively recently, has remained a small isolated town, primarily devoted to agriculture. In recent years a major change has overtaken the town and the valley. Jackson, undated. Photo by Charles Wesley Andrews. Charles Wesley Andrews (1875-1950) was a Portland, Oregon, postcard publisher who documented scenes in Washington State, Oregon, and Idaho. Many call Jackson "Jackson Hole." The "Hole" is a valley lying to the north of the town. The town is not "Jackson Hole." The area was settled in the 1890's and is named after a partner in the Ashley Fur Company, David Jackson. For discussion of the founding of Jackson, see below. Jackson, Wyoming, 1930's Teton County, of which Jackson is the county seat, was formed out of Lincoln County in 1921 notwithstanding that the area embraced by the new county failed to meet either population or valuation requirements for the formation of a county. As explained by Chief Justice Potter in State ex rel. Budge v. Snyder, 31 Wyo. 333, 225 P. 1102 (1924), an appeal challanging the formation of the County: The fact is, as we judicially know, that the territory within the boundaries of Teton county is surrounded on all sides by high mountain ranges, without railroad communication with the county seat of the parent county, except by wagon road over a mountain pass about 28 miles to a railroad station in Idaho more than 100 miles from said county seat. Indeed, there was not then and is not now any railroad within said boundaries. And for many months during each year it was very difficult, and at times practically impossible, for the people of that area to reach the county seat of the county to which they then belonged, and the expense was usually too great for a trip upon ordinary business. In actuality, the round trip in the 1920's to the Lincoln County seat of Kemmerer took three days. The person who wished to visit the court house would have to drive over Teton Pass to Idaho, then take the train to Kemmerer. Not withstanding that the Valley and Teton Pass had been traversed by early trappers including John Colter, John Hoback and William Sublette, as well as the 1872 Hayden Expedition, no wagons were brought through the pass until 1885 when R. E. Miller brought one across. Stage Station, Teton Pass, approx. 1900. The alternative to Teton Pass, would be to attempt the crossing to Pinedale in Sublette County through Hoback Canyon and then to Kemmerer. New Road through Hoback Canyon, approx. 1922 Although the canyon had been used for access to Jackson Hole since the Hunt Party came through in 1811 guided by John Hoback. In 1832, trappers, part of Milton Sublette's brigade, attempted to use the canyon on their return to St. Louis from Pierre's Hole. They were attacked by Blackfeet. Two, Joseph More from Boston, apparently a deserter from Nathaniel Wyeth's company, and a man named Foy from Mississippi were killed and their bodies left in the Canyon. A third, Alfred K Stephens of St. Louis was wounded. He died five days later. Years later, in a side canyon, an early forest ranger, Al Austin, found the remains of a flint lock rifle manufactured in London in 1776. Austin was one of the early settlers in Jackson arriving about 1900. He constructed the first cabin on Bryan Flat. Prior to 1913, the trail was not passable by wagon. A pack train of mules was required. Indeed, even mules had problems. In 1878, William Henry Jackson came through the canyon and one of his mules slipped down the treacherous slope 200 feet into the river, without, however, apparent harm. In 1913, the State Engineer noted that the forestry service was expending $6,000.00 to open the trail through the canyon for automobiles and wagons. In 1922, the American Automobile Association noted that the road was expected to be open by July. On July 13, 1922, the new road was dedicated by Governor Robert D. Carey and Congressman F. W. Mondell. Even then, the highway could be treacherous. In the springtime, avalanches, the "White Death" of the Rockies, would sweep down the slope and cross the road. Once the snows of winter came, the road through Hoback Canyon would be closed until spring. Al Austin was caught in one snowslide. He survived and called it the "Bull-of-the-Woods." In the winter, Austin patrolled the forest on homemade wooden skis. Today in the winter, the road is still frequently closed for avalanche control by the Wyoming Department of Transportation. One of the most dangerous avalanche areas in the state is an area known as "Cow-of-the-Woods" about 9 miles south of Jackson. Even in the summer, the road would often be blocked. Note in the photo to the left, that the road is blocked by a fallen tree. Today, the road is still susceptable to being blocked by mud or rock slides. Al Austin, undated. For more on Hoback Canyon and John Hoback, see Pinedale and Rendezvous. The road over Teton Pass to Victor, Idaho, 1920's Bringing in freight was an interesting proposition. Indeed, one early settler allegedly ordered a piano from a mail order house. The piano in due course arrived via train at Victor, Idaho. It was then discovered that the wagon with the piano could not make it up the steep grades of Teton Pass. It was necessary to build a special cart and bring the piano in by way of an old Indian trail. Freight Wagons crossing Teton Pass between Victor, Idaho, and Jackson, undated. Indeed, the isolation was noted by Owen Wister who summered in the Hole near Moose. Wister in his novel The Virginian wrote: Somewhere at the eastern base of the Tetons did those hoofprints disappear into a mountain sanctuary where many crooked paths have led. He that took another man's possessions, or he that took another man's life, could always run here if the law or popular justice were too hot at his heels. Steep ranges and forests walled him in from the world on all four sides, almost without a break; and every entrance lay through intricate solitudes. Snake River came into the place through canyons and mournful pines and marshes, to the north, and went out at the south between formidable chasms. Every tributary to this stream rose among high peaks and ridges, and descended into the valley by well-nigh impenetrable courses: Pacific Creek from Two Ocean Pass, Buffalo Fork from no pass at all, Black Rock from the To-wo-ge-tee Pass--all these, and many more, were the waters of loneliness, among whose thousand hiding-places it was easy to be lost. Down in the bottom was a spread of level land, broad and beautiful, with the blue and silver Tetons rising from its chain of lakes to the west, and other heights presiding over its other sides. And up and down and in and out of this hollow square of mountains, where waters plentifully flowed, and game and nature' pasture abounded, there skulked a nomadic and distrustful population. This in due time built cabins, took wives, begot children, and came to speak of itself as "The honest settlers of Jackson's Hole." It is a commodious title, and doubtless to-day more accurate than it was once. Some of the first settlers in the isolated valley were Mormons, guided in over Teton Pass by former Pony Express rider Nick Wilson in 1889. Others with a less sterling reputation may have also come into the valley. Idaho bank robber Hugh Whitney was suspected of hiding out in the area as was the horse thief Jack Bliss. Indeed, in 1895, the Indian Agent at Fort Hall wrote his superior in Washington City of the reputation of Jackson's Hole, "There are a few good citizens ranching in the Jackson Hole country, the majority of the citizens being men 'who have left their country for their country's good,' the Jackson Hole country being recognized in this country as the place of refuge for outlaws of every description from Wyoming, Idaho, and adjacent States." Winter Stage from Jackson, Wyoming to Victor, Idaho, undated. Photo by Charles Wesley Andrews. In the winter, the only access to the valley was over Teton Pass. At the turn of the Twentieth Century access in the Winter was almost impossible. Writer Frederick Ireland, "The Wyoming Game Stronghold," Scribner's Magazine, Sept. 1903, described his trek into the valley: The valley between the Wind River and the Tetons is cut off from the rest of the world for more than six months each year, except to those willing to follow the mail carrier who pilots a pack-horse over the Teton Pass. I spent nearly a month trying to find a way to cross the Shoshone Mountains before the first of June, but the guides who lived in that country finally gave it up, and I had to go back to Rawlins and around by the railroad to St. Anthony in Idaho, a distance of eight hundred miles, before I could get where I wanted to go, to see the winter assemblage of the wapiti. * * * * The stage stops at the foot of the Teton Pass, so you must hire a saddle-horse from the local liveryman, and be responsible for your own safekeeping thereafter. The mail carrier goes on horseback, and if you wish you follow his track in the snow. At first there is a road that is not hard to follow; but when you have climbed half way up the valley you find nothing except a single horse track, beaten down after each storm, with snow ten feet deep in either side. If the horse steps off the narrow trail he flounders neck deep. The mail carrier sends the pack-horse ahead of him, and so is warned where the soft places are. When the snow is melting in the spring, the water cuts holes beneath the surface, so there are hidden caves and pitfalls into which the horse sometimes falls out of sight. If you keep discreetly in the rear you will get plenty of entertainment watching the horse and the boy ahead of you; and if they succeed in weakening the snow so that your own horse takes an unexpected plunge, you will have some amusement on your own account. As late as the early 1920's, the United States Mail was delivered by stage coach rather than by motor truck and in the winter passage out of the valley was by means of a horse-drawn sleigh. The passage over the pass by sleigh was also fraught with the danger of avalanches. In 1913, mail carrier Owen Curtis was killed in the Pass by an avalanche. The following year, another mail carrier Frankie Parsons lost his life to the "white death." On February 11, 1932, 20-year old William "Merl" Swanson was driving the mail sleigh across Teton Pass toward Jackson. In the sleigh, in addition to Swanson, were ten passengers. The sleigh was about to enter Boulder Gulch, a notorious avalanche area, when One of the horses stopped and refused to proceed. As Swanson was arguing with the horse, an avalanche swept in front of the mail sleigh. Thus, as noted by the Jackson Courier, the balky horse saved eleven lives. On the same day, Swanson's father Lorenzo Swanson, his 17-year old brother Harry Buford Swanson, and 23-year old brother Lars were cutting wood near Crater Lake at the base of the "Glory Hole," another infamous slide area. Harry was not so lucky. There, another avalanche carried the younger brother to his death. Harry's body was not found until May. The avalanche at Boulder Gulch carried away the telephone line to Jackson. News of the fatality and the narrow escape of the mail sleigh passengers had to be routed via Driggs, Pocatello, Rock Springs, Lander and Twogwotee Pass to Jackson. Notwithstanding, his brother's death, Merl delivered the mail to Jackson, carrying the sacks on his back for most of the distance. Winter Stage from Jackson to Victor, Idaho, undated. Photo by Charles Wesley Andrews. Earlier, in 1912 or 1913 Elias Wilson's life was saved by one of his horses. When Wilson's team was overtaken by a snowslide, one of the horses landed on top of him. The horse's head was above the snow. The horse lunged and kicked bringing air down to Wilson and at the same time ultimately was able to free the two, not, however, without Wilson being badly bruised and injured from the horse's kicks. Teton Pass, 1946. Photo by William P. Sanborn. Music this page: When Its Springtime in the Rockies The twilight shadows deepen into night, dear The city lights are gleaming o'er the snow I sit alone beside the cheery fire dear I'm dreaming dreams from out the long ago I fancy it is springtime in the mountain The flowers with their colors are aflame And ev'ry day I hear you softly saying "I'll wait until the springtime comes again" When it's springtime in the rockies I am coming back to you Little sweetheart of the mountains With your bonny eyes of blue Once again I'll say "I love you" While the birds sing all the day When it's springtime in the rockies In the rockies, far away When it's springtime in the rockies I am coming back to you Little sweetheart of the mountains With your bonny eyes of blue Once again I'll say "I love you" While the birds sing all the day When it's springtime in the rockies In the rockies, far away I've kept your image guarded in my heart, dear I've kept my love for you, as pure as dew I'm longing for the time when I shall come, dear Back to that dear, old western home and you I fancy it is springtime in the mountains The maple leaves in first sky-green appear I hear you softly say, my queen of Maytime "This springtime you have come to meet me here" When it's springtime in the rockies I am coming back to you Little sweetheart of the mountains With your bonny eyes of blue Once again I'll say "I love you" While the birds sing all the day When it's springtime in the rockies In the rockies, far away Next Page: Jackson continued.