News Release

Twelfth Annual John Colter Day to Tell Story of Mountain Man History in Jackson Hole

Date: June 10, 2019
Contact: Denise Germann, 307.739.3393

MOOSE, WY— The annual John Colter Day will be held Monday, June 24, at the Colter Bay Visitor Center in Grand Teton National Park. Colter explored the vast Yellowstone country during the winter of 1807-1808, and was likely the first Euro-American to travel the region. This marks the twelfth year that Grand Teton has offered special presentations to highlight the life of John Colter and the mountain men of the 1800s.

John Colter Day highlights include:

Colter Stone on Display at the Colter Bay Visitor Center — June 21 – June 30, 2019
The stone is a piece of rhyolite lava carved into the shape of a human head and engraved with the name John Colter, and year 1808. Discovered in Tetonia, Idaho in 1933, the stone, if authentic, represents the only solid proof of the route followed by trapper and explorer John Colter. As a member of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition from 1804 to 1806, Colter was given an early discharge from the Corps of Discovery. He set out on his own from a fur traders’ fort in the southern Montana territory and traveled south to present-day Cody, Wyoming. On his return, he passed through an area that is now part of Yellowstone National Park. A section of his journey may have brought him through Jackson Hole, over Teton Pass, and along the western slope of the Tetons. The stone is part of Grand Teton National Park’s museum collection but is housed at the Teton Valley Historical Museum in Driggs, Idaho for most of the year.

Presentations at Colter Bay Visitor Center auditorium and amphitheater — June 24, 2019

11:00 a.m. – The Story of the Colter Stone, Location: Colter Bay Visitor Center auditorium
Park Ranger Dan Greenblatt will detail the legend and history of this fascinating artifact.

3:00 p.m. – John Colter: Mountain Man Superhero, Location: Colter Bay Visitor Center auditorium
Dr. Barbara Mueller, professor of anthropology at Casper College, will discuss the life of John Colter, widely considered to be the first mountain man of the American West.

5:30 p.m. – The Story of Sacagawea, Location: Colter Bay Visitor Center auditorium
Local author, historian and storyteller, Ken Thomasma, will talk about Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman who accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition across the western United States from 1804-1806.

7:00 p.m. – Teton Trapper, Location: Colter Bay amphitheater
Park Ranger Joe Thompson will re-create the rugged life of a mountain man, enduring brutal winters and physical dangers in the unmapped West during the 1800s.

9:00 p.m. – Run for Your Life: Then and Now, Location: Colter Bay Visitor Center auditorium
Dr. Barbara Mueller, professor of anthropology at Casper College, will discuss historic adventures.

For more information about the Colter Day events, please call the Colter Bay Visitor Center at 307.739.3594.