After 40 years, the artifacts from the Colter Bay Indian Arts Museum are undergoing conservation treatment. The remodeled facility at the Colter Bay Visitor Center proudly displays 35 artifacts from the David T. Vernon Indian Arts Collection.

The Colter Stone, discovered near Tetonia, Idaho in 1933, is a piece of rhyolite carved in the shape of a human head. It is engraved on one side with the name “John Colter”, on the other side is the year “1808”. If authentic, it represents the only solid proof of the route followed by trapper and explorer John Colter.

Thus, the significance of the Colter Stone becomes clear. The location of its discovery, the west side of the Teton Range, would prove that John Colter had traveled the Teton Pass route. But the Stone has not been fully authenticated, so the Colter Stone remains a fascinating piece of the puzzle yet to fit into the mystery of John Colter’s pioneering sojourn through this region.

Credits and Sources:

United States. National Park Service. Accessed June 26, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/news/upload/summer_guide_13.pdf.

United States. National Park Service. "Mystery of the Colter Stone." National Park Service. June 25, 2015. Accessed June 26, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/historyculture/colterstone.htm.