Grand Teton Historic Resource Study

According to local tradition, John Cames was the first settler to farm in the valley. He packed dismantled farm machinery to his Flat Creek homestead and probably cultivated native hay. Stephen Leek planted the first domestic grain in the valley at his South Park ranch after 1885. Prior to becoming a rancher, J. D. "Si" Ferrin homesteaded on Twin Creek in the present elk refuge in 1900, where he reportedly proved that oats, wheat, and barley could be raised in the valley. This is a questionable claim, as several homesteaders testified to having planted oats prior to 1900. For instance, Frank Sebastian reported growing 20 acres of oats in 1899. Ferrin may have been the first to raise wheat and barley in the valley. One source claims that Ferrin harvested the first oats as grain in 1902, producing 5,000 bushels. This may be true, as ranchers often harvested oats as hay, rather than risk losing the crop in an attempt to allow the oats to mature. [20]

People raised hay and grain to feed livestock. They cultivated brome grass, timothy, alfalfa, and alsike (a European perennial) clover for hay, and raised barley and oats for both grain and hay. Farmers grew wheat later, but the climate, as well as the lack of a mill, prevented wheat from becoming a dominant crop. [21] Striving to be self-sufficient, most settlers grew garden crops for personal consumption. Potatoes, carrots, turnips, cabbage, rutabagas, onions, peas, beets, radishes, lettuce, and some berries were popular crops. A few settlers raised enough potatoes to sell locally.

After providing a shelter, clearing land became the most important task. Clearing sagebrush was one of the most reviled but necessary chores confronting settlers. If possible, savvy homesteaders filed on land with convenient access to water, and then cut a ditch to the field in order to flood it. Flooding killed the sagebrush and made it easier to clear. Fire was also used to clear fields, but this had to be employed with care. The Courier reported farmers busily backfiring grasses in the Aspen Ridge area in 1914, presumably to clear land. There is little available information to determine the extent to which these methods were employed. Grubbing sagebrush—pulling it by hand—was the most common practice. Settlers plowed the soil to loosen roots, grubbed the sagebrush, then stacked and burned it.

Otto Kusche of the Elk Ranch testified that "each year I have grubbed and cleared land which I have need for pasturing my own stock." Between June 1909 and October 1915, Kusche managed to clear a meager 13 acres and seed it to alfalfa. A neighbor, Anton Grosser, cleared ten acres, complaining that his 160-acre tract was "practically covered with willows and aspen brush and is hard to clear." In five years devoted to proving up homesteads, it was common to clear and plow three to seven acres the first season, and perhaps expand to 35 or 40 acres by the fifth year. Other environmental factors hindered the clearing of fields. The soils of Jackson Hole are predominantly glacial deposits and, consequently, the valley floor is covered with quart-zite cobbles, commonly the size of large potatoes. Parthenia Stinnett, the daughter of P C. and Sylvia Hansen, recalled clearing cobbles from fields as one of her childhood chores—and not with much fondness. In isolated cases, environmental changes, perhaps natural or induced by man's activities, damaged fields. Martin "Slough Grass" Nelson sold his homestead to Mose Giltner in 1898 because his land on Flat Creek had become so swampy. Sixteen years later, Giltner attempted to drain the swamp by using a dredge. [22]

Jim Chambers stacking hay, 1956. Hay and oats for livestock feed were among the most commonly cultivated crops in the valley. Most farmers practiced alpine valley ranching, grazing their small herds on public lands in the summer, and feeding them hay in the winter. Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum

As stated in an earlier chapter, settlers turned over at least 5,200 acres of land in and adjacent to today's park. This figure is based on claimants' testimonies for nearly 300 homesteads. They undoubtedly cultivated more acreage later, but it is important to understand that very few were lucky enough to locate a 160-acre tract on which all acreage could be farmed. Terrain, access to water, and vegetation were limiting factors. For example, Will Steingraber estimated that only 100 acres of his 160-acre parcel on the Buffalo Fork were suitable for agriculture. Norm Smith was fortunate, because he could cultivate fully 135 acres of his 159-acre homestead. Johnny "High-pockets" Rutherford believed he could cultivate his entire 160 acres on Antelope Flats, even though he managed to break only 16 acres in five years. Jim May, on Mormon Row, found only 65 acres of his land to be cultivable. Along the upper Snake River near Moran, Roy Lozier believed he could farm 150 of 160 acres, even though he claimed 12 acres of timber on the land. [23]

Virtually all settlers cut irrigation ditches to their land and secured water rights approved by the State of Wyoming. These rights were attached to most farms and ranches. Homesteaders constructed ditches with hand labor, sometimes individually, but most often in partnership with one or several neighbors. James I. May cut a ditch, three miles long, from Ditch Creek to his homestead using a plow and team of horses. May and Jim Budge diverted water from the Gros Ventre to their desert entries, cutting another three-mile ditch. In most instances, farmers and ranchers needed irrigation systems to raise crops on their land. Moreover, the Desert Land Act required that desert entries be irrigated to secure title to the land. [24]

After clearing the land and providing water, what did settlers cultivate? Fred Lovejoy located a 160-acre homestead along the Gros Ventre in 1899, where the campground is located today. In five years, he irrigated a ten-acre meadow and cultivated 12 acres in three seasons, presumably hay. He also raised a small vegetable garden. After 1900, Lovejoy added a 160-acre desert entry, cutting a main ditch and one lateral that irrigated 25 acres. He raised oat hay and timothy. In 1903, his 25 acres of oats produced a mere one-quarter ton of hay per acre, the kind of season that bankrupts farmers. Lovejoy explained that he "would have produced more but it was destroyed by gophers and squirrels [sic]." Presumably, he referred to pocket gophers and Uinta ground squirrels. His wife, Mary Lovejoy, added a desert entry in 1908, irrigating 45 acres with water diverted from the Gros Ventre via a three-and-one-half-mile ditch. Her share of the water amounted to four cubic feet per second. By 1913 she had planted 45 acres of wheat and oats, expecting to thresh 1,000 bushels of grain in the fall. The Lovejoys owned a 640 acre ranch by 1916, suggesting that even well-irrigated homesteads of 160 acres were insufficient to provide a decent living in Jackson Hole. [25]

Just west of today's Kelly, Nels Hoagland, a widower, struggled to start a farm. Filing on a regular homestead entry and a desert entry in 1897, Hoagland testified that he had raised no crops on his homestead until 1903, when he managed to complete a ditch. Likewise, it took four years to divert water from the Gros Ventre via a two-and-one-half-mile ditch to his desert entry and no crop had been planted as of 1901. This is a long time to go without producing crops, and may well have wiped out Hoagland's savings, if he had any. At the Kelly townsite Bill and Sophie Kelly established a cattle ranch of 40 acres in 1910. Kelly added a 120-acre desert entry in 1911. He then cut a ditch from the Gros Ventre, cultivating 20 acres of wheat on the property. In 1917, Sophie Kelly filed a 320-acre desert entry south of the Gros Ventre in today's elk refuge. Although she failed to bring water to the tract, she grazed livestock on it for five years and the General Land Office approved her patent. [26]

Ransom "Mickey" Adams homesteaded a 160-acre tract that encompasses the present Teton Science School. In five seasons, he cultivated the following crops: 1912: 20 acres, barley and alfalfa; 1913: 45 acres, oats and barley, which produced 30 tons of hay; 1914: 40 acres, oats and barley; and 1915: 48 acres, oats, barley and alfalfa. His neighbor to the north, Jim Williams, excavated a ditch that irrigated 100 acres. In five seasons he cleared from 8 to 17 acres, planting oats, barley, and alfalfa. [27]

East of Blacktail Butte, farmers rushed to claim homesteads after the presidential proclamation of 1908 opened lands to settlement. Farming, rather than large-scale cattle ranching, dominated this area. In five seasons, Jacob Johnson cleared and cultivated 110 acres, raising oats and potatoes and 30 head of livestock. In 1912, John Woodward preempted 160 acres in the Mormon Row area, hoping to provide a living for his wife and nine children. In the first season, the family raised a garden on one-and-one-half acres. Between 1913 and 1918, Woodward increased cultivation from 11-and-one-half acres to 35 acres, raising oats, hay, and vegetables. A ditch is not mentioned, but one runs through the homestead site. For domestic use, Woodward excavated a well, digging 98 feet to hit water. This was typical on Mormon Row, where most wells were dug to a minimum depth of 90 feet. In contrast, settlers could hit water at depths as little as 12 feet near rivers. Andy Chambers expanded his fields from 11 acres to 40 acres between 1914 and 1916, producing 1,260 bushels of grain in 1916. Chambers may have dry farmed his land, because he did not list a ditch among his improvements. [28]

On Antelope Flats, homesteaders also tried to establish farms. Between 1911 and 1914, Joe Pfeifer cleared and cultivated 20 acres, raising barley, oats, wheat, and a garden. In 1915, he dug a well to a depth of 104 feet, but it was so dry that he had to use a sprinkler to settle the dust. Pfeifer gave up on the well, deciding to use it for a root cellar. He hauled water for domestic use from Ditch Creek. On the bench where the Blacktail Ponds Overlook is located today, a young man named Henry Gunther took up a relinquished homestead in 1914. He cultivated 66 acres of oats and hay by 1917. The Mining Ditch encountered by Frank Bradley of the Hayden Survey in 1872 ran across Antelope Flats. Settlers repaired and expanded the ditch to provide water for their farms. [29]

Similar patterns were followed on the flats south and west of Blacktail Butte and the Snake River. If at all possible, farmers and ranchers diverted water from the Gros Ventre or Snake Rivers or Ditch Creek to irrigate their fields. Richard Mayers filed a desert entry in 1902, adding 166 acres to a homestead entry at the present Gros Ventre Junction. He irrigated five acres with a ditch and four laterals, but the river flooded the area, inundating his fields for three months. By 1906, he had cleared 22 acres, planting alfalfa and barley. Roy Nipper filed on a relinquishment in May 1915, west of Blacktail Butte. He irrigated the land with a six-mile ditch, cultivating 70 acres of oats, barley, and alfalfa by 1919. [30]

The winters in Jackson Hole were, and still are, harsh. This 4-horse team and wagon served as the mail stage on Antelope Flats: Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum

Across from the Bill Menor homestead, Holiday Menor homesteaded 160 acres on the east bank of the Snake River in 1908. In the first season, he cultivated 20 acres of wheat and barley, harvesting 25 tons of grain hay. The next year, he expanded his field to 40 acres, raising wheat and barley that he threshed, producing 350 bushels of grain. He cleared more acreage until 1912, when he cultivated 80 acres of wheat and barley, and threshed 1,200 bushels of grain. From 1912 to 1918, Holiday Menor raised wheat, barley, and alfalfa on his farm, producing an average yield of 900 bushels of grain and 35 tons of hay. Since Menor did not list a ditch among his improvements, and because there is no ditch on his land, he probably dry farmed. [31]

Agriculture was less important west of the Snake River. Jimmy Manges cleared 42 acres between 1911 and 1917, raising barley, timothy, and wheat. By the time Manges sold most of his acreage to Chester Goss and the Elbo Ranch partnership in 1926, he had little to show for 15 years of work. He sold 115 acres to Goss for $6,325, more money than he had ever seen in his life. [32] Charles Ilse and William J. Grant irrigated and cultivated their homestead south of Sawmill Ponds on the Moose-Wilson Road. Ilse grew 12 acres of timothy, which produced a mere one and one-half tons per acre. Billy Grant raised a two-acre garden and 20 acres of clover, timothy, and grain hay. He irrigated 94 acres. [33]

Moritz Locher filed an entry on a relinquishment just south of Jenny Lake in 1915. In two years he managed to plow only 18 acres, when he perished in a freak accident. Skiing across the flats north of Timbered Island, Locher broke his ankle and, unable to move, died of exposure. After his starved dog turned up at the Bar BC, rescuers searched for him, but snowstorms had obliterated his tracks and covered his body. The spring thaw revealed his corpse. His heirs plowed and planted 22 acres of wheat in 1922 and cut a quarter-mile ditch, but "harvested nothing." In 1921, Ed K. Smith homesteaded another relinquishment adjacent to the Locher property. Nicknamed "Roan Horse" or "Roany" Smith, he intended to breed and raise horses. However, since he was 54 years old at the time, it was more likely a retirement home. Smith testified before the 1933 Senate Subcommittee hearing in Jackson Hole. When asked what he did for a living on his homestead, Roany Smith replied, "We worked for the Forest Service when we felt like it, fished when we felt like it, and worked on the homestead when we felt like it." [34]

In the Buffalo Fork-Spread Creek area, settlers tended to raise hay and cattle. With the aid of irrigation, Charlie Hedrick cultivated 40-50 acres of hay on his homestead. Hedrick's neighbor, Rudy Harold, broke 40 acres between 1910 and 1915, raising timothy. He dug a well, and struck water at 18 feet, a sharp contrast to the 100-foot-deep wells on Mormon Row. At two homesteads which became the Triangle X, John Fee Jr., and William Jump filed entries in 1909. Fee irrigated and raised 30 acres of native hay, producing one and a quarter tons per acre. Jump cultivated much less, a trifling seven acres of oats for about 13 years. Orin Seaton built a home in 1909 and moved his wife and three children to the ranch in 1910. By the time he filed his final proof papers in 1913, he had fenced and irrigated 82 acres, raising hay. [35]

Along the Buffalo Fork in 1909, Walt Germann irrigated his land, cultivating six acres of barley the first season, and expanding to 20 acres of clover, alfalfa, and oats two seasons later. East of Germann, John Smejkal, a Bohemian immigrant, homesteaded in 1911. Clearing ten acres in 1912, he gradually expanded his fields to 75 acres in 1918, trying a variety of crops such as native hay, barley, clover, oat hay and timothy. [36]

In the old Moran area, Joe Markham claimed a relinquishment in 1914 for 160 acres east of Oxbow Bend. By 1918, he had raised 65 acres of barley. On Willow Flats, George H. "Herb" Whiteman homesteaded in 1914, taking up residence in 1915. While working at Sheffield's camp or on the Jackson Lake Dam, he proved up his irregularly-shaped homestead. In 1915, Whiteman reported clearing 15 acres of sagebrush and cutting 45 tons of native grass. The next year he seeded 50 acres to timothy and winter wheat, harvesting more than 50 tons of hay. In 1917, the same acreage produced 62 tons of wild hay and wheat hay. [37]

North and east of Moran, there were a few scattered homesteads. At the outlet of Two Ocean Lake, William C. Thompson filed an entry in 1914. Four years later he planted 20 acres of barley and oats. On Pilgrim Creek, Samuel R. Wilson took up a homestead in 1916. Between 1917 and 1920, he cleared 21 acres, cultivating timothy, alfalfa, and barley one year, trying clover and millet another year. In 1920, he planted oats. Wilson irrigated his field with a three-quarter mile ditch that diverted water from Pilgrim Creek. [38]

After 1900, new advances in dry farming helped farmers cultivate arid lands. On the Great Plains, farmers reclaimed thousands of acres abandoned during the drought of the 1880s and 1890s. Although settlers in Jackson Hole preferred to irrigate their fields, dry farming provided a way to cultivate lands without irrigation. Based on available information, dry farming may have been more important in Jackson Hole than has been recognized.

Dry farming represented, from a farmer's view point, man's victory over nature—a way to grow crops with a minimum of water. Two practices were critical: using drought-resistant grains, and conserving moisture in the soil, particularly the subsoil. Wheats became the most important crop in the West, because some varieties are especially drought-resistant. Winter wheat, which is very drought-resistant, can also survive extremely cold temperatures. Winter wheat is planted in the fall, when rains help the seeds germinate. Spring wheat, which is grown primarily on the northern plains, can survive even harsher winters. Farmers plant it in the spring, and it matures in late summer. Spring wheat is the most suitable variety for Jackson Hole. To accomplish this, farmers leave land fallow on alternate years, which requires double the acreage. On the Great Plains, strip farming was employed to reduce wind erosion. Weed control was also important, as they compete with grain for the limited moisture. [39]

Settlers practiced dry farming in Jackson Hole, but to what extent is not known. A number of claimants failed to list ditches among their improvements, which would not have been omitted in final proof papers. This omission suggests that they dry farmed. As noted earlier, Holiday Menor listed no ditches. In 1912, Earle Harris, who homesteaded south of Menor, raised 30 acres of barley and wheat, which produced 18 tons of hay. Two clues suggest Harris dry farmed his land; barley and wheat are both drought-resistant crops and the 18-ton yield is consistent with dry farm production. On Antelope Flats and Mormon Row, a number of settlers such as John Kneedy, Talmadge Holland, John Nixon, Henry Gunther, and George Riniker raised crops, but did not list ditches as improvements. Talmadge Holland planted fall wheat (winter wheat) in 1918, but the severe winter killed the crop. John and T A. Moulton dry farmed grain until the state built ditches to their properties in the late 1920s. Clark Moulton, T. A. Moulton's son, dry farmed a 160-acre parcel for a number of years, until he sold out to the National Park Service in 1971. Nevertheless, irrigating lands remained the dominant practice in the valley. [40]