10 
variety of marsh-loving shrubs and other plants on their drier parts. 
One of the more extensive of these meadows lies along little Gros 
Ventre Creek above the town of Jackson, and will be referred to in 
more detail later. 
By far the greater part of the area embraced in the basin called 
Jackson Hole is covered by a fairly rank growth of sagebrush (Arte- 
misia tiidintata and A. carta). Large areas of this land have been 
cleared and under irrigation produce fine crops of alfalfa and timothy 
and fair yields of oats, barley, and wheat. The altitude of the valley 
and the proximity of large areas of high mountains cause frost to be 
common through May and in exceptional seasons in August. The 
shortness of the growing season prevents the successful raising of any 
but forage crops besides the hardier grains and roots, except in a few 
favored localities. 
The winters are long and severe and the snowfall heavy, though 
the amount in any particular section varies greatly from year to year. 
Thus, while the depth of snow is usually greater in the upper Gros 
Ventre Valley than about Jackson, the contrary was the case during 
the winter of 1910-11. The amount of snow which fell in the Valley 
of Spread Creek was also much less than on Antelope Flat, only a 
few miles distant, or about Jackson, though all three places are near 
the same altitude. These local fluctuations seem to be due to the 
proximity of the lofty Teton Range, which influences to a remarkable 
degree the direction and intensity of local storms. In early January, 
1911, about 4 feet of snow fell within 48 hours in some parts of 
the valley. On the mountains the amount of snow is, of course, 
much greater and the winter of longer duration than in the valley. 
On the Teton Pass (8,429 feet), practically the only means of access 
to the valley, snowstorms are frequent until midsummer, and even 
in the lower part of the valley it is not unusual for snow to fall in late 
May and in September. 
In the spring of 1911 the winter's snow was practically gone in the 
main part of the valley on April 20, but the mountains and foothills 
above 7,000 feet were as white as in midwinter. 
Bordering the valley on the west is the Teton Range, a succession 
of rocky crags with altitudes varying from about 10,000 to nearly 
14,000 feet . (See PI. IV, fig. 1 .) These rise abruptly from the compara- 
tively low and level valley (f>,000 to 6,700 feet), affording a panorama 
whose equal in rugged grandeur is rarely seen. To the east the valley 
is bordered by foothills of the Gros Ventre Range, some of whose ] • 
reach an altitude of about 11,000 feet. These mountains are treeless 
above 10,000 feet. Below this the mountain slopes are usually well 
wooded, the commoner trees being Kngehnann spruce (Piaa engd- 
maimi), Douglas spruce (Pteudotsuga ta.ri/oiia). and aspen poplar 
(Popvlut tit miiloid(s). Within the confines of the valley arise sev- 
eral so-called buttes, which rise about 1,000 Feel above the general 
