JACKSON, Wyo. — The town of Jackson is turning 107 years old today, Aug. 7.
Jackson was incorporated as a municipality on August 7, 1914, as a part of Lincoln county. In 1921, Teton County was formed out of the northern section of Lincoln county, absorbing Jackson. In February of 2021, Teton County turned 100 years old.
The town is named after the fur trapper David “Davey” Jackson. In the early 1880s, the area that is now known as Jackson Hole was a popular spot for trappers. Trappers including Jedidiah Smith, Jim Bridger and William Sublette frequented the area. According to Grand Teton National Park, the valley was dubbed “Davey Jackson’s Hole” in 1829 by William Sublette, Jackson’s trapping partner.
While the town was created in 1914, humans had inhabited the area for thousands of years prior. Many tribes passed through and lived in what is now Teton Valley, Wyoming. Grand Teton National Park cites evidence of human inhabitants in the area back to at least 11,000 years ago, just after the last ice age.
According to the park, 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 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 generally followed their prey out of the valley in search of milder weather.
Original native tribes including the Shoshoni, Crow, Blackfeet, Bannock and Gros Ventre
The first and only all-female Jackson town council was elected in 1920.
