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Teton County, Wyoming is named for the Teton Range, the most prominent feature of the area. In 1921 it was part of Lincoln County, whose county seat was Kemmerer, which was too far away. In 1923, TetonCounty was created despite the fact that it did not meet the population and property valuations requirements. Instead, it was created by a special act. It`s county seat is Jackson.

Indians called the Tetons "Tee-win-ot" or three pinnacles. Wilson Price Hunt called them "Pilot Knobs" when he used them for orientation while crossing Union Pass in 1811. French fur trappers named the mountains "Les Trois Teton."

TetonCounty sits in an area commonly referred to as "Jackson Hole." "Hole" is a term used by early explorers to describe a high elevation valley nearly surrounded by mountains. Although many Indian tribes migrated in and out of the valley to hunt buffalo, fish, and gather camas bulbs, no Indian tribes stayed in the valley on a permanent basis. Tribes who came to the valley included Gros Ventre, Flathead, Blackfoot, and Shoshone.

Adjacent County

• Fremont County (WY)
• Sublette County (WY))
  Bonneville County, Idaho
• Fremont County, Idaho)
  Teton County, Idaho

Teton County, Wyoming is one of the few counties in the United States to border its namesake in another state--in this case, Teton County, Idaho.

TownS

• Jackson click link
  
   
• Census-designated places
  AltaHoback
  Moose Wilson Road
  Rafter J Ranch
  South Park
  Teton Village
  Wilson
  Kelly
  
  Kelly is a unincorporated community in Teton County in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The community is located along the Gros Ventre river on the eastern side of the Jackson Hole valley. The settlement formed in the late 1890s as Grovont, but was renamed Kelly in 1909 to avoid confusion with a similarly named settlement nearby[1]. On May 18, 1927 the town was destroyed when a natural dam formed by the Gros Ventre landslide two years earlier collapsed and completely flooded the town. Today, the population of the community is 242.
  The Gros Ventre Slide
  On June 23, 1925 following weeks of heavy rain, approximately 50 million cubic yards of rock slide off the north face of Sheep Mountain, and into a valley formed by the Gros Ventre River. The rock formed a large natural dam, backing up the water and forming Lower Slide Lake. The lake and dam eventually stabilized, and engineers determined there was no danger of collapse[1]. There were heavy snows in the winter of 1926-1927, and the higher then normal snow melt was accompanied by more weeks of heavy rain in May of 1927. On May 18th, residents started to notice debris from the flooding of the upper valley floating downstream in the river. Alarmed, several residents went to the dam to discover that the lake had overflowed the top of the dam and was beginning to erode it. The warning was given, and the residents of the town evacuated. The ensuing flood was 6 feet (2 m) deep for at least 25 miles (60 km) downstream. The flood destroyed most of the town, leaving only the church and the schoolhouse standing[2]. Thanks to the prior warning, only six people perished in the flood. Downstream, the deluge damaged ranches and part of the community of Wilson, 14 miles (22 km) downstream on the Snake River

Fur trappers, explorers, and outlaws also came into the valley. John Coulter was possibly the first white man to come into the valley after he had left the Lewis and Clark expedition.

The first settlers in the valley were John and Millie Carnes and John Holland. They came into the valley on horseback following an established fur trapping route up the Green River. They homesteaded 160 acres each and filed the claims in 1883. The claims were granted in 1886 and 1887.

FUN FACTS:

Yellowstone was the world's first national park, created in 1872 - 18 years before Wyoming became a state.

Grand Teton National Park was created in 1929 and greatly expanded in 1950 due to the determined efforts of John D. Rockefeller, who purchased and then donated over 30,000 acres. Grand TetonNational Park celebrated its 50th Anniversary in the summer of 2000.

The National Elk Refuge, located just outside the town of Jackson , is the largest established elk preserve in North America . Up to 9,000 elk winter on the refuge and visitors can enjoy close-up views on daily sleigh rides from December through April.

97% of the 2,697,000 acres in TetonCounty are federally owned or state managed, including the Grand TetonNational Park, the Bridger-TetonNational Forest , and the National Elk Refuge. Only 3% of the land in the Jackson Hole area is privately owned.

The Bridger-TetonNational Forest is the second-largest national forest in the lower 48 states, encompassing 3.4 million acres.

Jackson, Wyoming, elected the first all-woman city council in 1920.

The world's longest running Shoot-Out, which began in 1957, is held six nights a week from May to September on the Jackson Town Square .

Wyoming 's first ski area was the Snow King Ski Area, which opened in Jackson in 1939. Snow King celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 1989.

The U.S. Voyager II spacecraft, launched in 1977 to explore unknown reaches of the solar system, contains an Ansel Adams photograph of Jackson Hole as part of its artifacts cargo.

The world's only public auction of elk antlers takes place on the Jackson Town Square on the third Saturday in May each year. The antlers are shed by the elk on the National Elk Refuge and are collected by local Boy Scouts. The majority of the auction proceeds go back to the refuge for the next year's elk feeding program.

The New York Philharmonic held the first summer residency in its 147-year history in Jackson Hole during the first two weeks of July 1989. America 's oldest orchestra performed four concerts as a benefit for Jackson Hole 's Grand Teton Music Festival.

The first person to ski down the 13,772-foot Grand Teton was local resident Bill Briggs in 1971.

The headwaters of the Snake River are located in TetonCounty .

John Wayne's first speaking part was in "The Big Trail," filmed in Jackson Hole in 1932. It also is reputed to be the first time he rode a horse!

Over 15 feature films have been made on location in Jackson Hole including: "Shane," "Spencer's Mountain," Any Which Way You Can," and "Rocky IV."

Jackson Hole has one of the lowest base elevations of any ski resort area in the Rocky Mountains , at just 6,311 feet. Most other ski resorts in Colorado , Utah , and New Mexico has base elevations between 6,900 and 9,500 feet.

Over 60 species of mammals, over 100 species of birds, and a half dozen game fish can be found in the Jackson Hole/Yellowstone area. Most notable are big game such as elk, moose, bison, deer, antelope, mountain lion, grizzly and black bears, coyote; rare birds such as the bald eagle, trumpeter swan, blue heron, osprey, and native game fish such as the Snake River cutthroat trout and mountain whitefish. Now the gray wolf also lives in Jackson Hole .

Mountain men used the word hole to describe valleys totally surrounded by mountains.

YellowstoneNational Park has approximately 10,000 active thermal features. Old Faithful erupts approximately every 60 - 90 minutes.

The record of the first ascent of Grand Teton , the highest peak in Grand TetonNational Park , has long been a subject of debate. In 1898, William Owen, Bishop Spalding, John Shive, and Frank Petersen claimed the first ascent to the summit. However, it appears that Nathaniel Langford and John Stevenson probably preceded the Owen party by climbing Grand Teton when the two men were members of the 1872 Hayden Expedition. Nathaniel Langford was the first superintendent of YellowstoneNational Park.

 

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