Battle Mountain Wyoming

The Tale of Two Mountains Named Battle

Wyoming boasts, not one but two Battle Mountains. One of the  Battle Mountain’s and the more famous of the two is in the Medicine Bow Range on Wyoming’s southern border and sits near the tiny hamlet of Savery, peaking at a bit over 9,100 feet, about 3,000 feet more than the surrounding area. The second is in Sublette County south and east of Jackson and is described more often as a hill than a mountain with an elevation of 7,100 feet.

As readers might guess, each was named after a famous battle. Or in the case of the Sublette Mountain a bit of a disturbance. In reality, the battle was but a misunderstanding of hunting rights in the area. In 1895 a posse from Jackson was sent to arrest a small party of Bannocks for game law violations. Seems the area had been a long time hunting ground for the tribe, but now with Wyoming being a state for five years there were rules about hunting. Never mind that the Bannock tribe had hunted the area for generations.

The Battle Mountain in southern Carbon County boasts a much better reason for its name.  It was the setting for an 1841 battle between 35 members of the American Fur Company and what has been described as a large group of Cheyenne and Sioux. Several trappers, including Henry Fraeb (also spelled as Frapp), the group’s leader, were killed. Beloved Wyoming mountain man, Jim Baker at age 21,  became the new leader of the trapper bunch when Fraeb was killed, and barely escaped with his life. The furious battle led to the changing of Bastion Mountain’s name, to Battle Mountain.

Battle Mountain and Battle Lake - Site of the 1841 battle

                   

Note – There is also a nice Wyoming legend of Thomas Edison camping at the foot of Battle Mountain and fishing in Battle Lake when he was struck with the inspiration to create an electric light. Great story if it’s true!

Jackson Wyoming

At times I have people say to me, “Jackson, that’s not even Wyoming, I hate it when people come to Wyoming and only visit Jackson Hole, Yellowstone, and the Tetons.” Or something similar to that. I could not agree less. Jackson is Wyoming through and through. Cowboys, wildlife, horses,  mountains, rushing rivers and hard working people, sure reminds me a lot of Wyoming.

Still some Grizzlies around the Jackson Area. Stay far back

David Edward Jackson - So, who was this Jackson fella, the town was named after? He was David Edward Jackson and reportedly his friends called him Davy. He was one of the first white men to visit the area, a trapper, and partner with the firm Smith, Jackson, and Sublette. This Sublette was William, responsible for building Fort William, later to become Fort Laramie, and about as far from the Jackson area as one can get in Wyoming. Jackson after John Colter and perhaps one or two others, spent an entire year, including one of Jackson’s, legendary winters, in the area.

The story of David Edward Jackson is one that would make a terrific mini-series. It is one of those rags to riches family stories. Although I have spent all of my Wyoming years on the eastern side of the state, this story is one I told in my history classes for years.

Jackson's grandparents John Jackson and Elizabeth Cummins were convicted of crimes in London and sentenced to serve seven-year indentures in America. The two met on the ship and were married six years after arriving in what would become the United States. By 1778 the couple migrated west and by 1770 they lived in western Virgina and were acquiring large tracts of good farm land. The couple had eight children, the second was Edward Jackson, who became the father of six children, three of them boys, the second being, David, the namesake for Jackson and Jackson Hole. Their third son was Jonathan, the father of Civil War legend Thomas (Stonewall), Jackson.

Shenandoah – Yep, just like the song - David Jackson was born in the Shenandoah Mountains in what is today West Virginia. Jackson moved with his young wife, west to Missouri for cheap and good land to take up farming in the early 1820s. But then everything changed when he saw Colonel Ashley’s newspaper add. He joined the Ashley-Henery party and headed west. And the rest, they say, is history. Jackson went on to work as a businessman in the West for nearly twenty years traveling into New Mexico and as far west as California, before failing health sent him home to Missouri where he died in 1837 at age 49.

Beauty and History Too - Next time you visit, Yellowstone, The Tetons, or the Jackson Hole area, remember, there is also a lot of history to explore in the area.