Mountain men brought the first accounts of the Jackson Hole region as they moved through the area trapping beaver and other animals. Theirs was mostly a solitary life until they gathered in the Jackson Hole region for the Rendezvous, where the season's pelts were traded for goods that would sustain them for the upcoming year. A Hole is the term used by the mountain men for a valley located high in the mountains. Jackson Hole is named for David E. Jackson, an early partner in what became the famous Rocky Mountain Fur Company, who lived in the area for some years.

By 1845, the beaver furs that had drawn the trappers to the area fell out of popular demand, and Jackson Hole was again left to the Indians, until the Homestead Act of 1862 provided land to those that agreed to improve it. While the Jackson Hole area was settled later than many parts of the west, its development was caused by the Homestead Act. John Holland and John and Millie Carns first settled the valley. These settlers soon learned that the short growing season limited the crops that could be grown and converted to cattle ranching. When Yellowstone Park began bringing visitors to the area, many of these ranchers decided that taking care of dudes was easier and more profitable that taking care of cattle.

When the legislature of Wyoming Territory met for the first time 1869, it was the first government in the world to grant women full voting rights. But in 1920, the year the 19th Amendment gave women across the nation the right to vote, Jackson added to its history by electing an all-female city council, the first anywhere in the United States. The elected women of Jackson increased the town treasury, improved the water system, got rid of the garbage in the streets, graded the roads, and beautified the cemetery.

In 1929, when Grand Teton National Park was created the park included the mountains in the Teton Range and a narrow strip of land that contained the major lakes at the base of the peaks. But that was enough to develop the tourism industry, which has replaced cattle ranching as the economic base of Jackson Hole. In 1950, the park was enlarged to include the Jackson Hole National Monument. The rededicated park contains 52 square miles, acquired by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., during the 1930's and 40's. Grand Teton National Park now totals 485 square miles or 310,000 acres.