Because of the rage back east for beaver fur caps, they did end up making a lot of money. Eventually Jackson bought the fur company from the owner, and continued making money this way. He lived in the Jackson area for 8 years and someone just decided to call the large lake and the town after him.
Jackson residents didn't have many ways to make money and after the depression (1930) the townspeople decided that people back east would like to come west and pretend to be cowboys, so they started up dude ranches and then much later the ski resorts came in. Now it's a famous tourist and skiing destination. Lots of wealthy residents.
Jackson, WY town center. There are 4 elk horn arches on the 4 entrances to the square. No elk died to make these arches. The males shed their antlers every year and they were collected to make these arches. No wires used to keep these together. (Sorry this picture doesn't show the top of the arch.)
This house was an exception. It's a New England/Cape Cod style. For a time (late 1800's/early 1900's) it was a rooming house for single men -- mostly cowboys.
The lady who ran the boarding house. She complained of the cowboys' rowdy behavior. But she kept them in line. The bulge in her pocket is a pair of brass knuckles!
The cowboy bar has been there for a long time. The original owner (late 1800's?) thought that easterners would pay a premium price to come in and have a drink at the bar sitting on a saddle. Well, he was right, and you can still sit in a saddle at the bar and pay a premium price for a drink.
One of several ski slopes that you can see from the center of town.
Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote. This group of ladies were the first elected female legislators in the country. It started out (around 1870) that they would would get together in town for their poker club. (They told their husbands that it was a nutrition club. Who knows, maybe they did talk nutrition.) They would talk about what was going on in town and decided something should be done about the pot holes in the streets, and some issues concerning their children. They told the town leaders who didn't do much. Then they realized that the town hadn't collected taxes for the past 5 years from the residents, so they collected back taxes and now they had the money to fix the roads and make other improvements.
Jackson's first female marshal, Pearl Williams was only 5'1" but was a 'crack shot' (skilled marksman) and a skilled horse woman. But mostly her job consisted of keeping the cattle out of the square.
There were some tough ladies out in the Jackson area back then. Vernon and I noticed that there still are!
We took a drive in the woods outside of Jackson on Rt 390. We could only go so far before the road was closed due to Grizzly bear activity. There were ripened berry bushes that the bears were interested in. Didn't see any grizzlies but we did see a beautiful young elk:
We got to see this young cow elk.. Notice the bigger ears compared to a deer.
Finally got to see moose!
Just kidding. I wish we did! This is a photo of moose that was hanging in one of the 43! art galleries in Jackson.
The photographer, Thomas Mangelsen has lived in Jackson for 40 years.
Mangelsen also also took this photo -- in Alaska I think.
Vernon and I drove over the Teton Pass into Idaho (about 15 miles) and visited the Victor Emporium where they make delicious huckleberry milkshakes!
This is just one of the many beautiful scenes driving on the Teton Pass through the Grand Teton mountain range. It leads from Jackson, WY to Idaho where we were going to get a Huckleberry milkshake. Thank you 'Miss T' -- a patient of mine who grew up in Idaho -- for recommending this and also the Bar J Chuckwagon for supper! We thoroughly enjoyed both of them!!,
While we were at the ice cream fountain we had a nice chat with a Jackson resident (shown with his son) who commutes to work a few days at a time to a nuclear power plant in Michigan. His wife is a nurse at a hospital in Jackson. He and his son are doing the last lawn mowing and got their wood supply for the winter. Buttoning up for winter is a serious task here! Whenever I mentioned to a few Jackson residents that they must be very hardy to make it through the winter here, they all said , "Oh it's so beautiful though and it's a DRY cold!" Still -- an average of 108 inches of snow every winter! (U.S. average is 28 inches)
Actually it sounds lovely to me. Call me crazy.
Vernon liked the diagonal street parking in Victor that you can back your car into.
Bar J Chuckwagon for dinner and live western music
These guys were really good -- great harmonies, and the fiddle player was fantastic. He's won first place in all kinds of national and international fiddle contests.
And refreshingly non-politically correct!
Next: driving day -- across Wyoming to start our journey back home.
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