242 SADDLE AND CAMP 



thousand to nine thousand feet above the sea, 

 when the heavy snows to which the park is sub- 

 ject make winter feeding there impossible. 

 Others of the elk summer in the Wyoming 

 State game refuge, south of and adjoining the 

 park, the remaining few on mountain ranges 

 lying contiguous to Jackson's Hole. 



It was my purpose in visiting Jackson's Hole 

 to investigate on the ground the conditions pre- 

 vailing here among the animals; to learn how 

 far true were reports that great numbers 

 starved each winter through lack of forage; 

 and if it should seem that such conditions had 

 not been overdrawn and that they actually ex- 

 isted, to learn the cause that led to the condi- 

 tion, in the hope that some remedy might be 

 suggested. 



That the country and the situation may be 

 understood, it should be explained that Jack- 

 son's Hole is hemmed in on all sides by lofty, 

 precipitous mountain ranges, the most notable 

 of which are the Tetons, to the west. It is a 

 fertile basin, and the Snake River and several 

 tributary creeks and brooks favor it with an 

 abundance of water. Indeed it has one con- 

 siderable marshy area so wet even in the driest 

 season that it produces abundant grass without 

 artificial irrigation. 



