In 1888, Robert Miller became the first homesteader to drive his wagon over the steep and treacherous Teton Pass from Idaho into Jackson Hole. The trail over Teton Pass became the primary route into Jackson Hole, for it provided the closest access to supplies and mail, first to the train station at Market Lake, then later to Rexburg, Idaho. By the late 1880s, a crude wagon track had been cleared over the high mountain pass. According to one reference, R. E. Miller, John Cherry, and Jack Hicks brought the first wagons over Teton Pass in 1888.

Heavy snow often closed Teton Pass, and community residents had to endure long periods of isolation. Workers struggled to get the gasoline truck through the cleared path on Teton Pass, which was often hand dug each spring. Historically severe winter storms cut off transportation routes to Jackson Hole. The closure of Teton Pass delayed the publication of the first edition of the Jackson's Hole Courier for three weeks in 1909. Several years later, in 1916, the Courier reported that heavy snows had buried eastern Idaho, blocking train traffic for more than a week. A year later, heavy snow and avalanches left the people of Jackson Hole snowbound for 28 days. Winter was also the time of avalanches, a deadly threat feared by travelers. Slide runs on the Teton Pass Road posed significant hazards. Between 1911 and 1913, avalanches killed two mail carriers, Owen Curtis and Frankie Parsons, both on the west side of the pass. To get around during the winter, settlers used Nordic skis (also called snowshoes). By today's standards, pioneer skis were cumbersome, heavy wooden boards sometimes as much as 12 feet long.

Credits and Sources:

United States. National Park Service. "Menors Ferry." National Park Service. June 25, 2015. Accessed June 26, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/grte/learn/historyculture/menor.htm.

United States. National Park Service. "Grand Teton NP: A Place Called Jackson Hole (Chapter 12)." National Park Service. Accessed June 26, 2015. http://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/grte2/hrs12.htm.