Before my husband and I headed for a few days to the backside of Grand Teton National Park, his supervisor advised enthusiastically, “You have to stop and see the old abandoned settlement!” He gave us the GPS coordinates, since it was, indeed, off the beaten path.
After driving three hours through Yellowstone and then through most of Grand Teton, all the way to the southeast corner of the latter’s park, we turned on to the non-descript Antelope Flats Road in a seemingly uninhabitable distant shadow of the 13,775-elevation mountain peak.
Arising out of a vast plain are remnants of Grovont homesteaders’ structures. The preserved living history site is maintained by the National Park Service, which describes the area as a “sloping sheltered cove formed by Blacktail Butte and the Gros Ventre Mountains”—hence the official U.S. Postal Service-given name of Grovont. The area is close to what is now Moose, Wyoming.
Winters present extreme cold temperatures, sometimes below 0-degrees Fahrenheit, and annual snowfall is reportedly around 172 inches, yet the cove enticed late 19th-century farm families, primarily from Utah and Idaho, to take advantage of 1862’s Homestead Act and settle in Grovont.
Although settlers of various ethnicities and religions settled other areas of Wyoming during this time, it was Mormons who primarily occupied Grovont. Thus, the area is often referred to as “Mormon Row.”
According to the National Park Service, beginning in 1890 “homesteaders established 27 homesteads in the Grovont area because of relatively fertile soil, sheltered from winds by Blacktail Butte, and access to the Gros Ventre River.” Some of the men who brought their families to the region by wagons and horses have their names still affixed to existing structures and historical signs: Andy Chambers, John Moulton, and Thomas Murphy, to name a few.
Settlers arrived and immediately got to work establishing neat rows of simple, symmetrically designed homes, public buildings (such as a schoolhouse), and outbuildings. They also designated fields for farming and built an irrigation system.
For a time, the robust settlers eked out an existence in the harsh place, but they gradually began vacating the premises in 1929, after Grand Teton officially became a National Park.
Noted Grand Teton National Park Foundation: “buildings are the physical remains of the courage, self-reliance, and sense of adventure that underscored Euro-American’s westward expansion. Stories like these help us understand this time period in the valley’s history and also celebrate the enterprising spirit that continues to move our country forward today.”
This out-of-the-way spot was ideal for stretching legs, breathing in the high-elevation crisp air, and basking in the majesty of the Grand Tetons’ looming range. For history geeks and mildly interested tourists alike, grab a trail brochure at the interpretive sign in the parking area and imagine what it might have been like to live, sometimes thrive, but most likely work at survival in this vast and unforgiving landscape.
