Today we had a “Yankee Breakfast” at Sheffields at
Headwaters Lodge at Flagg Ranch. It is located across the street from our
campground. We joined our fellow caravaneers for a hearty breakfast buffet of local
mouth-watering cuisine. Before a long day in the great outdoors there is no
better place to sit down and dine while enjoying true western hospitality.
We decided to tour the Grand Teton National Park today and
go into Jackson, Wyoming to check out our next campground. Rising above a scene
rich with extraordinary wildlife, pristine lakes, and alpine terrain, the Teton
Range stands monument to the people who fought to protect it. These are
mountains of the imagination, mountains that led to the creation of Grand Teton
National Park. This majestic place inspired and sustained people for thousands of
years.
Grand Teton National Park took decades to establish.
Congress created the original park in 1929 to protect the Teton Range and
several lakes at the foot of the mountains. In 1943, Franklin Delano Roosevelt
declared the remaining federal land in the valley as Jackson Hole National
Monument. In 1949, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. donated the land he purchased to
the government to be included in the national park. Finally in 1950, Congress
combined the original park, the national monument, and the Rockefeller lands to
establish present-day Grand Teton National Park. In 1972, Congress established
the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway to honor Rockefeller's
philanthropy and commitment to the National Park System. The Parkway connects
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.
After World War II, more people owned cars and began to
explore America. Taking shorter vacations compared to dudes, these visitors
would only spend a night or two at one location before moving on. In response
to this new demand, auto camps became common. Small cabins clustered around a
central parking area which allowed visitors easy access to the park's
attractions. John D. Rockefeller, Jr. also saw a need to accommodate travelers.
He set out to develop an assortment of lodging - from small rustic cabins at
Colter Bay, to a stately lodge on a bluff overlooking Jackson Lake, to the
elegant lodge near Jenny Lake.
With increased visitation, the park also saw the need to
expand visitor services. As the National Park Service approached its 50th
anniversary in 1966, visitor centers were built at Colter Bay and Moose in the
late 1950s to provide information and offer ranger activities as part of the
"Mission 66" program.
Adventure has always drawn people to this area. No one knows
who first climbed the Grand Teton. American Indians built an
"enclosure" at 13,280 feet on a sub-peak of the 13,770 foot tall
Grand Teton. Although members of the 1872 Hayden Expedition claimed to have
reached the summit, William Owen, Franklin Spalding, John Shive and Frank
Peterson made the first documented summit in 1898. Many followed in the
footsteps. Paul Petzoldt and Glen Exum established the first guide service in 1931,
which still operates today as Exum Mountain Guides. Today over 90 different
routes and variations lead to the summit of the Grand Teton. Today, all of the
Teton peaks lure climbers with the skills necessary for a summit.
The human history of Jackson Hole and the Teton Range dates
back thousands of years. The stunning beauty and abundant wildlife and plants
found here has drawn humans to this place for more than 11,000 years. Nomadic
paleo-Indians first entered the Jackson Hole valley shortly after Pleistocene
Ice Age glaciers retreated. They left behind tipi rings, fire pits and stone
tools. Summers were a time of abundance, and modern-day Indian tribes came to
harvest bulbs and berries, fish the lakes and streams, and hunt wildlife. With
the approach of the harsh winter, indigenous people followed their prey out of
the valley in search of milder weather.
The first euro-American explorer who may have entered
Jackson Hole was John Colter. He served as a member of the Lewis and Clark
'Corps of Discovery' expedition, but he left the expedition in the fall of 1806
and traveled through this region in the winter of 1807-1808. Unfortunately,
Colter left no written record of his journeys.
People also came here for wealth. Fur trappers, known as
"mountain men," trekked west in search of beaver for fur top hats
that were fashionable in the early 1800s. Many trappers including David Edward
(Davey) Jackson based their operations in this area. The valley we know today
as Jackson Hole was dubbed Davey Jackson's Hole in 1829 by William Sublette,
Jackson's trapping partner. The beaver population declined rapidly with
over-trapping, and when fashions turned from fur to silk hats, the era of the
mountain men faded away by the 1840s.
Even though the Homestead Act of 1862 encouraged settlement
of the West, homesteaders did not arrive in Jackson Hole until 1884, becoming
the valley's first year-round residents. Over the next decade, many settlers
established homesteads. Conditions were difficult, however. The soil was sandy
and rocky, the winters were long and cold, and the summers were dry.
Homesteaders struggled hard to raise crops and ranch cattle. They became
desperate as an agricultural depression swept the country around 1920.
Wealthy Easterners enchanted with by the West visited
Jackson Hole to have an authentic "cowboy" experience. Homesteaders
began to shift their operations in 1908 to accommodate these privileged
visitors. Eastern 'dudes' paid handsomely for lodging, food, the use of a horse
and other outdoor activities. Local ranchers quickly realized that 'dude
ranching' was more profitable and easier than traditional cattle ranching,
which lead to the golden age of dude ranching in the 1920s.
We checked out the RV sites at the Virginian, which should
work out well. We decided to enjoy lunch on the in Downtown Jackson. We eyed
the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, but wanted some food too, so the Local was
suggested. It was a great choice. They had a table for eight and we were seated
right away.
It is a modern American steakhouse and bar located on Jackson’s
historic town square. The menu features both classic and specialty cuts of
locally-ranched meats and game alongside fresh seafood, shellfish, house-ground
burgers, and seasonally-inspired food. Owned and operated by chefs Will Bradof and Paul Wireman of
Trio: An American Bistro, Local showcases their enthusiasm for reviving the
craft of in-house butchery, with a focus on dry-aged steaks and house-made
sausages.
They also feature an extensive wine list and an abundance of
locally-sourced products. Local offers a casual and vibrant bar atmosphere with
12 beers on tap as well as a relaxed dining room with a contemporary western
design. Local was the perfect spot to grab a burger for lunch with our friends.
We were able to enjoy their company and watch the action on the town square go
by.
Chapel of the Sacred Heart is the summer Chapel of Our Lady
of the Mountains Church, located in Jackson. Chapel of the Sacred Heart is located
within Grand Teton National Park on the south shore of Jackson Lake.
The Chapel was built in the 1930s, the Chapel
was remodeled in 2003. The Chapel seats about 100 people and regular weekend
Masses are celebrated June through September.
This is the only chapel that we stopped at in a National
Park. It was very beautiful, crafted from local logs and well maintained. We
were alone here and that made it even more special. The stained glass by the alter
is amazing and the light captured it perfectly! I could see someone having a
small wedding here.
On our way down, we crossed the Jackson Lake Dam, but on the
way back we decided to stop. The first dam on Jackson Lake was built in 1906;
it was intended for temporary purposes and built with temporary materials. The
area around the outlet of Jackson Lake was not suitable for human habitation as
high spring runoff from the mountains made much of the bottom lands too wet for
building and susceptible to flooding. While the first dam helped somewhat,
staving off the worst of the spring floods, it failed just four years later.
Constructed of logs with dirt fill, it was in need of constant maintenance and
would only raise the water of the lake by a few feet. It was deemed necessary
to remove the damaged materials and rebuild a permanent structure.
In 1902, the Reclamation Act was signed by President Roosevelt
to encourage further settlement of the west. At Jackson Lake, the Reclamation
Service built the dam with the intention of controlling lake levels for
irrigation on farmlands on the Snake River in Idaho. With a growing population,
Moran became an ideal site for locals to set up businesses that would cater to
the dam workers.
Benjamin Sheffield was one of the first to settle the town
site, purchasing two homesteads outside the outlet of Jackson Lake in 1903.
Sheffield saw the area as a prime location to set up a lodge as a base from
which to lead hunting expeditions. His foresight was rewarded when the
Reclamation Service decided to build a dam on Jackson Lake in 1906. This meant
that the spring runoff would cease to flood his property and he could construct
more cabins. It also allowed Sheffield to construct a toll bridge over the now
predictable water. This bridge was one of just three crossings over the
dangerous, twisting river that bisected the valley. The others were located at
Menor’s Ferry and at the Jackson-Wilson Bridge in Wilson.
The Reclamation Service built their own camp that housed and
fed the dam workers, and even included a hospital. They would later rebuild the
Marysville road as the new Ashton-Moran Road in 1910 to bring in supplies for
the construction. Frank T. Crowe was the project supervisor, and ordered over
300,000 tons of equipment to service the construction project. The Ashton-Moran
Road, which still exists today, continued to be a popular route to transport
supplies into the valley after the dam was finished. The Reclamation Service
dominated the population of Moran, and the area became known as a “military
town.”
Construction on the new dam began in 1911, and continued
until 1916. By this time the town had a stable economy due the amount of
visitors traveling to and from Yellowstone National Park. The new dam rose the
maximum lake level to 30 feet above the lake's natural elevation, providing a
storage capacity of 847,000 feet acre. The 1916 dam still exists today, having
been reinforced in 1986-89 in order to meet new requirements for earthquakes.
When we got back to the campground, Nancy and I hit the gift
shop, where we heard about the amphitheater on the property. So, we decided to
check it out. There was a couple walking on the path ahead of us, so we assumed
they knew where they were going … well they did, but it was not where we wanted
to go! We ended up on the river, which was gorgeous … but not our intended
destination!
We snaked our way back to where the path split and followed
the other fork. Which did lead us to the amphitheater. We were told that this
was the best place to see the sunset. We have a road log review at 7pm …
hopefully, we can make it here before sunset.
Naturally, our road log review included a campfire!
A few of us busted our butts to get to the amphitheater, but
we were a bit too late … the sun had already gone behind the trees. The sky was
still beautiful … too bad we learned about this hidden gem too late!
Oh well, tomorrow begins another adventure!
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