|
|
Tempers flared against Rockefeller’s secrecy, and many suspected that the magnate
might use the land for his own private ends.
In the winter of 1927, residents in the cattle town of Jackson, Wyoming, began to
learn of a mysterious business concern, the Snake River Land Company, which was
rapidly buying up property around their picturesque valley in the shadows of the
dramatic Teton Mountains. Rumors soon began to spread that a plot was afoot to elbow
ranchers out of the area and close off key cattle drives. In 1930, it was revealed
that the company was actually a front for America’s richest man—oil magnate John
D. Rockefeller, Jr.
Rockefeller had visited the area three years earlier and had been stunned by its
alpine beauty. A visionary philanthropist, he decided to purchase the whole valley
floor from private owners and donate it to the United States Government as an extension
of Grand Teton National Park, which was then only a tiny enclave covering the remotest
mountain zones. But tempers flared against Rockefeller’s secrecy, and many suspected
that the magnate might use the land for his own private ends.
In the tense social setting of the Great Depression, wild stories circulated around
Jackson of poor cattle ranchers coerced, of mortgages foreclosed early, even of
barns being torched by Snake River Land Company thugs. Wyoming politicians brought
the sensational rumors to national attention and in 1933, a Senate Sub-committee
on Public Lands and Surveys arrived from Washington DC to investigate. A small army
of reporters followed, eager for a sordid scandal. But after four days of hearings,
it was clear that the worst allegations against Rockefeller were untrue. Even so,
the bad feelings generated by the controversy meant that the park extension was
delayed until after World War II, when a tide of automobile tourists arriving in
Wyoming demonstrated just how profitable the national park could really be.
Soon, Rockefeller deeded 33,562 acres to the government—everything except the JY
Ranch, a piece of prime lakeside real estate that he kept as a holiday home for
his family. In 1950, the expanded Grand Teton National Park was created. Today,
we can be grateful for the deal. The Rockefeller land has protected the splendid
sagebrush flats around the Snake River, which are an essential element of the Tetons’
incredible beauty.
|
