Mormon Row [Explore]

Originally called Grovont, the area just east of Blacktail Butte, near the Gros Ventre River, provided farmable land to hardy Mormon settlers in the 1890s. Unlike most homesteaders of the period, the Mormons tended to build farming communities rather than isolated sites, leveraging shared labor and cooperative irrigation plans to strengthen their settlement.

 

With the establishment of Grand Teton National Park and subsequent expansion to encompass this land, most of the settling families abandoned their farms by the 1950s. Two iconic barns remain along Mormon row, this one belonging to Thomas Alma (T.A.) Moulton, and one just out of frame to the right, beyond the pink stucco home, built by John Moulton.

 

It's easy, in contemporary times, to think that these settlers picked their sites based on the stunning backdrop of the Teton range just beyond their pastures. But this land is rocky, heavily populated by bison and antelope, and situated on the high plains north of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with short growing seasons, harsh conditions throughout much of the year, and exceedingly spare resources. Idyllic today, it would have been an absolute labor of love and endurance to live here in their time.

 

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#187 ⭐ July 29, 2021

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