First of all... Is the town called Jackson or Jackson hole?

The town I live in is called Jackson. Jackson Hole is actually the entire valley that Jackson, a few small towns, and Grand Teton National Park all lie within. The valley is formed by the Teton Range on the west and the Gros Ventre Range (pronounced gro-vont) on the east. Jackson Hole is 48 miles long and anywhere from 8 to 15 miles wide.

A little history: Before the 1800s, the only people living in or using Jackson Hole were Native Americans. The first account of Jackson Hole and the area was given by John Colter, one of the crew members on the Lewis and Clark expedition. He was the original fur trapper in the area and made it a popular destination for "mountain men" of that time. Jackson Hole used to be known as "Jackson's Hole" after Davey Edward Jackson, a pioneer who trapped for beaver fur here in the early 1800s. Trappers stopped coming to Jackson Hole in the 1840s because silk hats came in style and replaced the beaver fur hats. Native Americans once again inhabited the land during summers, until the 1870s when the first Americans claimed a year-round home here after a government expedition. In the 1890s, the valley became a popular place for cattle ranching and attracted more and more permanent residents. The rest is history!


Fun facts:

• The Wyoming territory, which was not yet a state, had the first government to allow women to vote in 1869.
• In 1920, just after women across the country were allowed to vote, Jackson elected an all-women city council, which was the first in the country.
• Yellowstone was declared the first National Park by president Ulysses Grant in 1872, 18 years before Wyoming even became a state!
• A forest fire made Snow King (pictured below) a prime skiing spot for locals in 1879, and then became the first ski resort in Wyoming, opening in 1939.