Jackson Hole
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.
