The highest point in the range from which it take its name. Named by the French trappers as early as 1811 from the fancied resemblance of these peaks, when seen from a distance, to the nipple of a human breast. In 1872 USGS rechristened the highest peak Mount Hayden. The new name never gained any local standing and although it has crept into many maps, its continued use ought to be discouraged. The name "Teton" was officially approved by Congress when, in the Act of February 26, 1929, it established the Grand Teton National Park. (WPA) The Three Tetons are the most noted historic peaks in the Rocky Mountains. The topography of the country is such that the highest peak, Grand Teton (13,691 feet) can be seen from a great distance and has long served as a landmark to trappers and pioneers. Unlike the mountains of that region, the Tetons are not hemmed in by foothills, but rise in bold relief from the surrounding plateau - the Grand Teton towering seven thousand feet above Jackson Lake, at its base. The range is but sixty miles long and lies some twenty-five miles southwest of Yellowstone Lake. It is crossed by Teton Pass, about twenty miles south of Grand Teton. (Thwaites) Captain William A. Jones in Report upon the reconnaissance of northwestern Wyoming ... 1873 "The culminating point of the Tetons has for a very long time been called the Grand Teton. It is a good name, and I see no reason for changing it, although some members of Dr. Hayden's party of 1872 have seen fit to rename it after him. I know of no man who is more worthy of having his name left behind him in the Rocky Mountains than he: but certainly, among the "thousand peaks worthy of a name" which he describes, along the western face of the Sierra Shoshone, some one might have been selected which would have gone down to posterity with a clearer title."
Other Names:
Grand Teton Mountain, Grand Teton Peak, Mount Hayden
County:
Teton
Feature Category:
Land Features
More Reading:
Jackson, Reynold G. "Park of the Matterhorns." Chapter 16 in Grand Teton Historic Resource Study.
