GRAND TETON

Grand Teton National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

Grand Teton National Park John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway

A Grand Vision – John D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s Gift

1 Maud Noble Cabin

Signal Mountain Summit

Lunch Tree Hill at Jackson Lake Lodge

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway

Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve

Let John D. Rockefeller, Jr. be your guide. Explore the places that tell of how Mr. Rockefeller helped protect Grand Teton National Park and many others. The Rockefeller family’s commitment and generosity stemmed from a belief that nature had the power to “nurture the human spirit.”

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T E T O N W I L D E R N E S S

C A R I B O U – TA R G H E E

J E D E D I A H S M I T H

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TWO OCEAN LAKE

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Jackson Lake Lodge

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Jackson Lake Junction

John D. Rockefeller, Jr

Memorial Parkway

Lizard Creek

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Leeks Marina

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK

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Flagg Ranch

Yellowstone National Park South Entrance

Colter BayVisitor Center

Moran Entrance Station

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Grassy

Lake Road

Hardin Crow Agency

Little Bighorn Battlefeld National Monument

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Idaho Falls

Butte

Bozeman Billings

Dillon

Livingston

Cody

Laurel

Jackson

Thermopolis

Rexburg

Ennis

Norris

Big Sky

West Yellowstone

Gardiner Cooke City

Absarokee

Red Lodge

Bridger

Powell

Victor

Riverton

Meeteese

Shoshoni

Greybull

Worland

Lovell

Ashton

Dubois

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Moran Junction Grand Teton National Park

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. National Memorial Parkway

Yellowstone National Park

Regional Map

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Dial 911 www.nps.gov/grteGrand Teton National Park 307 739-3300

Emergency

Park Information4

Wilson

Jackson

Bradley Lake

Taggart Lake

String Lake

Phelps Lake

Lower Slide Lake

BuffF O R E S T

Falls

Triangle X Ranch

Cabin

Teton Science School

Kelly

Jackson Hole

Airport

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Crystal Creek

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Menors Ferry

Teton Canyon

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Teton Park

alo Fork River

Teton Village

B R I D G E R - T E T O N N AT I O N A L F O R E S T

N AT I O N A L E L K R E F U G E

N AT I O N A L To Dubois

To Idaho Falls

North Jenny Lake Junction

Jenny Lake Lodge

Hidden

Cunningham

ntelope Flats Road

Teton Pass 8431ft

LEIGH LAKE

JENNY LAKE

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Atherton Creek

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Moose

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Grand Teton 13,770 ft

Mount Moran 12,605 ft

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No motorhomes or trailers on the Moose-Wilson Road between markers

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Craig Thomas Discovery & Visitor Center

Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve

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A Rockefeller Road Trip

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and family ca. 1922; (L to R): Laurance, Abby (daughter), John III, Abby (wife), David, Winthrop, John Jr., Nelson.

The natural world inspired a 12 year-old John D. Rockefeller, Jr. when his family visited Yellowstone National Park in 1886. They traveled by train to the park entrance near Gardiner, MT and toured the major attractions by carriage and horseback— the geysers, Grand Canyon of Yellowstone River and Mammoth Hot Springs.

Never forgetting his experience, Rockefeller brought his three oldest sons – John III, Nelson and Laurance – to visit Yellowstone 1924.

Superintendent of Yellowstone Horace Albright, hosted the family, providing an itinerary and a guide. However, he was instructed not mention park business or hint at any fnancial needs.

Knowing the land would speak for itself, Albright suggested the family travel south of Yellowstone to experience the majesty of the Teton Range. This trip changed Rockefeller and the course of history for Grand Teton National Park.

Maud Noble Cabin

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Menors ferry with car on board. A replica of the ferry exists today.

Maud Noble frst came to Jackson Hole as a “dude,” a wealthy easterner experiencing the cowboy life. She fell in love with the area and in 1918 purchased and operated Bill Menor’s homestead and ferry.

On July26, 1923, Maud Noble hosted an historic meeting. Prominent business owners and local ranchers, along with Yellowstone Superintendent Horace Albright, gathered to discuss the changing character of Jackson Hole. They wanted to protect the valley from further development and preserve their traditional way of life.

In 1929, Congress set aside 96,000 acres as the original Grand Teton National Park—a signifcant victory for preservation. For some, the designation did not ofer enough protection for the valley.

For others, it fueled anti-park sentiments that continued for 52 long years.

THE PLAN As earlyas 1897, people proposed expanding the south boundary of Yellowstone National Park to include Jackson Hole. The participants of the meeting at Maud Noble’s cabin recognized the value of preserving wildlife and the beauty of the valley, but did not want government control.

They developed what would become known as the “Jackson Hole Plan.” The plan’s goal was to purchase private lands in the valley and “turn the entire Jackson Hole back to nature as the greatest scenic and wildlife preserve on the face of the Earth.” (Horace Albright) There was only one problem with the plan: who could raise the money.

Signal Mountain Summit

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John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (left), wife Abby (center), and Superintendent Woodring (right) on a visit to Jackson Hole.

In 1926, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. returned with his wife and three younger sons—Laurance, Winthrop and David. This time Horace Albright personally guided them into Jackson Hole with a grand plan in mind.

Albright took them to a viewpoint much like the Signal Mountain summit. This inspiring spot overlooked the valley and the towering Teton Range. As they watched a moose graze in the glow of the sunset, Albright related the details of the plan developed at Maud Noble’s cabin.

Albright later said he hoped Rockefeller “might fnd in the awesome majesty of its snow-clad mountains and the peace of its verdant valleys, refreshment of body and inspiration of spirit.” As the family prepared to leave, Rockefeller asked

Albright to compile maps of the valley’s private properties and determine their cost. Albright was ecstatic. The Jackson Hole Plan had fnancial support. Another 24 years of controversy passed before this dream became a reality.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. said although Horace Albright saw the Jackson Hole Plan as a “dream” he saw it as an “ideal project.” As he wrote in a letter to Albright, it was an opportunity to protect “the marvelous scenic beauty of the Teton Mountains and the Lakes at their feet, which are seen at their best from the Jackson Hole Valley and the fact that this Valley is the natural and necessary sanctuary and feeding place for the game which inhabits Yellowstone Park and the surrounding region.”

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Signal Mountain Summit (continued)

THE COVER UP John D. Rockefeller, Jr. established the Snake River Land Company to purchase private lands on his behalf. He understood that if people found out a Rockefeller was behind the purchases, land values would infate and people might resist selling.

Through the Snake River Land Company Rockefeller purchased nearly 35,000 acres and spent more than $1.4 million. Today, to purchase this amount of land in Jackson Hole would cost over $1 billion.

Lunch Tree Hill at Jackson Lake Lodge 3

Snake River Land Company headquarters (a.k.a. Buffalo Dorm).

Protestors drive cattle across Jackson Hole National Monument.

Rockefeller met resistance when he tried to donate his land to the federal government. Locals opposed government control; the US Forest Service disliked the idea of turning lands over to the National Park Service; and Wyoming ofcials worried about losing tax revenue.

In 1942, a discouraged Rockefeller wrote a letter to Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes threatening to sell his land. The threat spurred action. In 1943, under the Antiquities Act, President Roosevelt designated Jackson Hole National Monument protecting federal lands of the valley foor along the base of the Teton Range.

Many saw the designation as a victory, but anti-park expansion forces mobilized. They had not anticipated the national monument option, and the controversy grew more bitter.

Transfer of land ownership to the National Park Service provoked several vindictive deeds. Prior to transferring their property to park staf, the US Forest Service gutted buildings, and placed a dead skunk in one.

An unsigned letter circulating at the time warned

“your recreation privileges in Jackson Hole will be practically at an end.” Challenges to the designation ensued. Wyoming Congressman Frank Barrett introduced a bill to abolish the Jackson Hole National Monument and it passed both the House and Senate. President Roosevelt, however, vetoed the bill.

THE PROTESTS Eager to show their opposition, armed ranchers drove 500 cattle across the newly established Jackson Hole National Monument in 1943.

Wyoming Governor Lester Hunt threatened to remove “any federal ofcial who attempts to assume authority in the monument area.” The state of Wyoming fled a lawsuit against the monument, challenging the constitutionality of the presidential proclamation. When the suit was dismissed, Congress voted instead to block funding for the monument.

The national monument caused so much tension that Congress passed a law barring further use of the Antiquities Act in Wyoming. A law that still applies today.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, 1872

JACKSON HOLE

NATIONAL

MONUMENT

1943

GRAND TETON

NATIONAL

PARK

1929

In 1949, a compromise agreement to expand the park prompted Rockefeller to fnally convey his gift of 32,117 acres to the government. On September 14, 1950, Rockefeller’s “ideal project” became reality when President Harry Truman signed the law establishing present-day Grand Teton National Park. The park now included the original 1929 park, most of the 1943 national monument, and Rockefeller’s gift.

In 1972, the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway was established to commemorate Mr. Rockefeller’s “many signifcant contributions to the cause of conservation in the United States.” Rockefeller traveled south from Yellowstone on this road in 1924 and 1926 to visit the area.

The Parkway establishes an historical link between John D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s frst experiences in Yellowstone and his eforts to protect Jackson Hole. Perhaps more importantly, the Parkway links Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks— protecting land in the heart of the Greater

Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). The GYE is the largest intact natural area in the lower 48 states containing important wildlife habitat and migration corridors.

A CHANGE OF HEART As time passed, some of those who had originally opposed the creation and expansion of the park came to embrace the idea. Former Wyoming Governor, Cliford Hansen, who led a protest against the Jackson Hole National Monument, later stated he was glad he had lost that fght.

Imagine this landscape without protection. . . Subdivisions, strip malls and billboards might obscure your view. Because of the eforts of many people, such as John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Horace Albright, this place retains grandness. A valley covered in fragrant sagebrush with abundant wildlife, towering peaks and sparkling glacial lakes provide that “refreshment of body and inspiration of spirit” that Horace Albright hoped Rockefeller might fnd.

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Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve

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In 1932, the Snake River Land Company purchased the JY Ranch. Tucked away on the shores of Phelps Lake, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. decided to keep this land for family use rather than donate it to the federal government.

This summer retreat remained in the Rockefeller family until 2007 when Laurance S. Rockefeller, son of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. donated the last 1,106 acres of ranch lands to the National Park Service. This land is now the Laurance S.

Rockefeller Preserve and is open to the public.

Laurance’s goal for the Preserve was to refect the vision he shared with his father, to “not only give generously, but also that people should live in harmony with nature.” At the presentation ceremony on the ranch in 2001, Laurance said, “For 75 years, the majestic property has been preserved for our family, and I am gratifed that henceforth it will be preserved for the American people.”

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