GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK — It’s never too late in life for a second act.
Retired music teacher Maud Noble, who belonged to a prominent Philadelphia family, first came to Jackson in 1915 in search of adventure, according to Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). She was likely between 45 and 50 years old at the time, according to History Jackson Hole (HJH). After spending the summer at Bar BC Ranch, she moved back a year later to make a permanent home in the valley.
Noble had a cabin contracted on the east side of Cottonwood Creek in 1916; two years later, she purchased Bill Menor’s homestead and ferry operation and had her cabin moved there. With partner Frederick Sandell, Noble ferried visitors across the Snake River and ran the small Ferry Ranch Store. HJH noted that ferry rates were $1 for Wyomingites and $2 for out-of-staters.
Noble’s cabin ended up playing an important role in the protection of land that would eventually become GTNP. In 1923, Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Horace Albright met with a group of locals in the cabin to discuss their growing concerns over commercial development in Jackson Hole and especially near the Tetons.
“The alarmed meeting participants discussed ways to save the valley from tawdry exploitation,” GTNP’s website states. “They agreed that some sort of preserve would be necessary to protect the ‘Old West’ character of the valley, though their concept of a preserve was different from a national park. The group decided to seek a wealthy individual who would be willing to buy private land to donate to the preserve — that person was John D. Rockefeller, Jr.”
Noble sold the ferry and cabin to the Snake River Land Company in 1929 after a new bridge over the river made the ferry less popular. The park eventually turned the cabin into an interpretive site.
“Maud’s cabin remains open, allowing visitors to experience and learn about how protecting special places often begins with a simple shared idea — and the courage to act on it,” GTNP posted to social media last week.
