A mountain man is an explorer who lives in the wilderness and makes his living from hunting and trapping . Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the early 1840s). They were instrumental in opening up the various emigrant trails (widened into wagon roads) allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains traveling over roads explored and in many cases, physically improved by the mountain men and the big fur companies, originally to serve the mule train -based inland fur trade .
41-593: Jackson Hole (originally called Jackson's Hole by mountain men ) is a valley between the Gros Ventre and Teton mountain ranges in the U.S. state of Wyoming , near the border with Idaho , in Teton County . The term "hole" was used by early trappers, or mountain men, as a term for a large mountain valley. These low-lying valleys, surrounded by mountains and containing rivers and streams, are good habitat for beavers and other fur-bearing animals. Jackson Hole
82-538: A National Park. Strict noise abatement regulations and the terminal building's low profile allow for the airport to operate within federal guidelines inside Grand Teton National Park. However, it becomes difficult to fly in the winter months. Major airlines serve the valley with jet service, some of which are seasonal (summer and winter). In 2016, the Jackson Hole Tourism website put up 20 live webcams of Jackson's town square to boost tourism. Since then,
123-598: A lifestyle similar to that of historical mountain men. They may live and roam in the mountains of the West or in the swamps of the southern United States. Blacktail Butte Blacktail Butte (7,688 feet (2,343 m)) is a butte mountain landform rising from Jackson Hole valley in Grand Teton National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming . Blacktail Butte was originally named Upper Gros Ventre Butte in an early historical survey conducted by
164-551: A trickle of settlers in 1841 to a steady stream in 1844–46 and then became a flood as the highly organized Mormon migration exploited the road to the Great Salt Lake discovered by mountain man Jim Bridger in 1847–48. The migration would explode in 1849's " The Forty-Niners " in response to the discovery of gold in California in 1848. The life of a mountain man was rugged, and many did not last more than several years in
205-606: A view of Teton Glacier on the north of Grand Teton , and the National Elk Refuge, home of the largest elk herd on earth. The Snake River threads through the entire valley from its headwater in Yellowstone in the north to the mouth of the Snake River Canyon at the southern tip of the valley. Blacktail Butte is a prominent landform rising from the valley floor. The average elevation of the valley
246-406: Is 55 miles (89 km) long by 6-to-13 miles (10-to-21 km) wide and is a graben valley with an average elevation of 6,800 ft (2,100 m), its lowest point being near the southern park boundary at 6,350 ft (1,940 m). The valley was used by Native Americans for hunting and ceremonial purposes. It was not known to harbor year-round human settlement prior to the 1870s. Descriptions of
287-731: Is also a major location in the video games The Last of Us (2013) and The Last of Us Part II (2020), in which Jackson itself is home to a large community of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world. Rapper Kanye West recorded his album Ye (2018) while living in Jackson Hole; the album cover features a picture of the Teton mountains he had taken on his iPhone a few hours before the album's release. Other albums West recorded here include his and Kid Cudi 's Kids See Ghosts , Nas 's Nasir , Pusha T 's Daytona , and Teyana Taylor 's K.T.S.E. . These albums are collectively known as
328-462: Is over 6,500 feet (2,000 m) above sea level. High altitude and steep mountain slopes on all sides of the valley often cause calm winter nights to be very cold, as radiational cooling from snow -covered ground creates cold air near the surface, which then slides down into the valley due to the higher density of the air. In 1993, this effect during an already severe cold snap plunged the morning low temperature down to −56 °F (−49 °C) in
369-668: The Green River , now called the Upper Green River Rendezvous Site , near present-day Pinedale, Wyoming . Another popular site in the same general area was Pierre's Hole . By the mid-1830s, it attracted 450 to 500 men annually: essentially all the American trappers and traders working in the Rockies as well as numerous Native Americans. After achieving an American monopoly by 1830, Astor got out of
410-554: The Missouri and Mississippi rivers, like St. Louis , in the fall. Ashley sold his business to the outfit of Smith , Jackson , and Sublette . He continued to earn revenue by selling that firm their supplies. This system of rendezvous with trappers continued when other firms, particularly the American Fur Company owned by John Jacob Astor , entered the field. The annual rendezvous was often held at Horse Creek on
451-495: The National Elk Refuge . Local lore claims that the name reflects the fact that the north face and ridge lines are so heavily wooded that they appear black, as compared to the other slopes, which have sage brush, scrub grass, and fewer trees. There is also a scenic overlook nearby with the same name, Blacktail Pond. At the base of the butte is Mormon Row , a popular place for photographers and tourists, with
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#1732766093498492-475: The Teton Range visible from its hillsides. The butte is named after black-tailed deer, also known as mule deer. Bighorn sheep , mule deer , white-tailed deer , pronghorn antelope, and bison are commonly found in the area, along with grizzly bears and gray wolves . Most notably, many thousands of elk cross through the area during their annual migration to and from their winter feeding grounds on
533-464: The U.S. Geological Survey . Most of Blacktail Butte is densely forested with a mixed fir forest of lodgepole pine , Douglas fir and Engelmann spruce , with scattered pockets of aspen . There are several large sedimentary rock outcroppings , which are used by rock climbers. This butte is a principal landmark in Jackson Hole, with much of the Jackson Hole valley floor and many portions of
574-501: The Wyoming Sessions . Jackson has become a second home for various celebrities , often due to Wyoming's income tax regime, including Sandra Bullock , RuPaul Charles , Kanye West and Kim Kardashian , Nikki Sixx , and Harrison Ford . 43°31′N 110°50′W / 43.517°N 110.833°W / 43.517; -110.833 Mountain men Mountain men arose in a geographic and economic expansion that
615-691: The American rendezvous to buy furs at low prices. The HBC was able to offer manufactured trade goods at prices far below that with which American fur companies could compete. The last rendezvous was held in 1840, when the HBC, along with a decline in demand for and supply of beaver, had effectively put all American fur traders out of business. By 1841, the American Fur Company and the Rocky Mountain Fur Company were in ruins. By 1846, only some 50 American trappers still worked in
656-615: The HBC took over operations in the Pacific Northwest in 1821, American fur traders in the Snake River country quickly went out business and moved on. This halted American expansion into the region. After 1825, few American trappers worked west of the Rocky Mountains, and those who did generally found it unprofitable. According to historian Richard Mackie, this policy of the HBC forced American trappers to remain in
697-405: The Rocky Mountains, which gave rise to the term "mountain men". Mountain men were instrumental in opening up the various emigrant trails (widened into wagon roads) allowing Americans in the east to settle the new territories of the far west by organized wagon trains traveling over roads explored and in many cases, physically improved by the mountain men and the big fur companies originally to serve
738-654: The Snake River country, compared to 500 to 600 in 1826. Soon after the strategic victory by the HBC, the Snake River route was used by emigrants as the Oregon Trail, which brought a new form of competition. Former trappers earned money as guides or hunters for the emigrant parties. A second fur trading and supply center grew up in Taos in what is today New Mexico . This trade attracted numerous French Americans from Louisiana and some French Canadian trappers, in addition to Anglo-Americans. Some New Mexican residents also pursued
779-560: The United States and spurred a large upsurge in migration, the days of mountain men making a good living by fur trapping had largely ended. The fur industry was failing because of reduced demand and over trapping. With the rise of the silk trade and quick collapse of the North American beaver -based fur trade in the 1830s–1840s, many of the mountain men settled into jobs as Army scouts, wagon train guides or settled throughout
820-678: The audience of the live screening has grown rapidly, with up to 2,000 people watching at any one time. Jackson Hole was rated in 2017 as the best campsite in Wyoming in a 50-state survey conducted by MSN.com . The community is also home to the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium , an annual gathering by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City that includes "prominent central bankers, finance ministers, academics, and financial market participants from around
861-549: The beaver trade, as Mexican citizens initially had some legal advantages. Trappers and traders in the Southwest covered territory that was generally inaccessible to the large fur companies. It included parts of New Mexico, Nevada, California and central and southern Utah. After the decline in beaver and the fur trade, with some emigrants to the West using the Mormon Trail , former trappers found work as guides and hunters for
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#1732766093498902-457: The first Mountain men. While there were many free trappers , most mountain men were employed by major fur companies. The life of a company man was almost militarized. The men had mess groups, hunted and trapped in brigades , and always reported to the head of the trapping party. This man was called a "boosway", a bastardization of the French term bourgeois . He was the leader of the brigade and
943-554: The fur business before its decline. In the late 1830s, the Canadian-based Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) instituted several policies to undercut the American fur trade. During the same years, fashion in Europe shifted away from the formerly popular beaver hats; at the same time, the animal had become over-hunted. The HBC's annual Snake River Expedition was transformed into a trading enterprise. Beginning in 1834, it visited
984-417: The fur trade declined, mountain man Robert Newell told Jim Bridger : "[W]e are done with this life in the mountains—done with wading in beaver dams, and freezing or starving alternately—done with Indian trading and Indian fighting. The fur trade is dead in the Rocky Mountains, and it is no place for us now if ever it was." At the same time the great push west along the newly opened Oregon Trail built up from
1025-465: The gear they had earned. They might sell to the same company when the price was agreeable or convenient. Historical reenactment of the dress and lifestyle of a mountain man, sometimes known as buckskinning , allows people to recreate aspects of this historical period. Today's Rocky Mountain Rendezvous and other reenacted events are both history-oriented and social occasions. Some modern men choose
1066-491: The goal of claiming cheap lands in the west was building rapidly from a trickle of settlers from 1841's opening of the Oregon Trail to a flood of emigrants headed west by 1847–49 and thereafter well into the later 1880s. By the time the fur trade began to collapse in the 1840s, motivating them to change jobs, the trails they had explored and turned into reliable mule trails and improved gradually into wagon-capable freight roads combined to allow them to work as guides and scouts. As
1107-629: The head trader. Donald Mackenzie , representing the North West Company , held a rendezvous in the Boise River Valley in 1819. The rendezvous system was later implemented by William Henry Ashley of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company , whose company representatives would haul supplies to specific mountain locations in the spring, engage in trading with trappers, and bring pelts back to communities on
1148-638: The lands which they had helped open up. Others, like William Sublette , opened fort-trading posts along the Oregon Trail to serve the remnant fur trade and the settlers heading west. Mountain men were most common in the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 through to the 1880s (with a peak population in the 1830s). About 3,000 of them ranged the mountains between 1820 and 1840, the peak beaver-harvesting period. John Colter's solo exploration of 1807-1808 made him one of
1189-538: The men needed keen senses and knowledge of herbal remedies and first aid, among other skills. In summer, they could catch fish, build shelter, and hunt for food and skins. The mountain men dressed in suits made of deer skin that had stiffened after being left outdoors for a time, which gave them some protection against the weapons of particular enemies. There were no doctors in the regions where mountain men worked, and they had to set their own broken bones, tend their wounds, and nurse themselves back to health. A fur trapper
1230-434: The mule train based inland fur trade. By the time two new international treaties in early 1846 and early 1848 officially settled new western coastal territories on the United States and spurred a large upsurge in migration, the days of mountain men making a good living by fur trapping had largely ended. The fur industry was failing because of over-trapping. Fortuitously, America's ongoing western migration by wagon trains with
1271-568: The nearby Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks, are major year-round tourist attractions. The valley is formed by the Teton Range to the west and the Gros Ventre Range to the east. Grand Teton National Park occupies the northwestern part of the valley, encompassing much of the Teton Range and Jackson Lake . The city of Jackson is at the southern end. Between them lies, on U.S. Route 26 , "Glacier View Turnout" offering
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1312-672: The southern end of the Teton Range, providing access to Alta on the western side of the Tetons, as well as Victor and Driggs in Idaho . This area was known as Pierre's Hole and hosted the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous in 1832. Numerous elk use the valley for grazing during the winter, and sleigh rides are offered to tourists. The Jackson Hole Mountain Resort , Snow King , and Grand Targhee Resort ski areas, as well as
1353-476: The traveling parties. After the short-lived Pacific Fur Company was liquidated , British-Canadian companies controlled the fur trade in the Pacific Northwest , first under the North West Company (NWC) and then the HBC. Both companies undertook numerous measures to prevent American fur traders from competing with them west of the Rocky Mountains, especially in the upper Snake River country. After
1394-545: The valley and its features were recorded in the journals of John Colter , who had been a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition . After returning to the Rocky Mountains , Colter entered the region in 1807 in the vicinity of Togwotee Pass and became the first European-American to see the valley. The town of Jackson was named in late 1893 by Margaret Simpson, who, at the time, was receiving mail at her home as there
1435-528: The valley, officially recorded by the National Weather Service . The state record low temperature was also recorded in the valley at Moran at −66 °F (−54 °C) in 1933. Summers are warm to mild, due to the surrounding mountains. Jackson Hole Airport is the largest and busiest commercial airport in Wyoming. The Jackson Hole Airport is also the only airport in the US that is located inside
1476-440: The valley. Because the soil is not ideal for raising crops, the valley was used for cattle grazing, and tourism quickly became popular with the establishment of dude ranches . The only incorporated area in the valley is Jackson, located at its southern end. Other communities in the valley include Hoback , Kelly , Moose ( Moose Wilson Road ), Moran Junction , Teton Village , and Wilson . West of Jackson, Teton Pass crosses
1517-402: The wilderness. They faced many hazards, especially when exploring unmapped areas: biting insects and other wildlife, bad weather, diseases of all kinds, injuries, and the opposition of Indigenous people, presented constant physical dangers. Grizzly bears were one of the mountain men's greatest enemies. Winters could be brutal, with heavy snowstorms and low temperatures. In order to stay alive,
1558-600: The world," according to its description. "The participants convene to discuss the economic issues, implications, and policy options about the symposium topic. The symposium proceedings include papers, commentary, and discussion." Films set and/or shot in Jackson Hole include 3 Bad Men (1926), The Big Sky (1952), The Wild North (1952), Shane (1953), Spencer's Mountain (1963), Any Which Way You Can (1980), The Mountain Men (1980), Rocky IV (1985), Dances with Wolves (1990), and Django Unchained (2012). It
1599-428: Was a mountain man who, in today's terms, would be called a free agent. He was independent and traded his pelts to whoever would pay him the best price. That contrasts with a "company man", typically indebted to one fur company for the cost of his gear, who traded only with that company and was often under the direct command of company representatives. Some company men who paid off their debt could become free traders, using
1640-530: Was driven by the lucrative earnings available in the North American fur trade , in the wake of the various 1806–1807 published accounts of the Lewis and Clark Expedition findings about the Rockies and the Oregon Country where they flourished economically for over three decades. By the time two new international treaties in early 1846 and early 1848 officially settled new western coastal territories in
1681-409: Was no post office. She named the area in order for easterners to be able to forward mail west. Jackson, which became incorporated in 1914, was named after David Edward "Davy" Jackson , who trapped beaver in the area in the late 1820s with a partner in the firm of Smith , Jackson & Sublette . Jackson, of Irish and Scottish descent, was one of the first European-Americans to spend an entire winter in