Chittenden, Hiram Martin: _The Yellowstone National Park_, J. E. Haynes,
Saint Paul, 1927.
Doane, G. C.: _Expedition of 1876-1877_, 44 pp. typed from original
manuscript, Library, Grand Teton National Park.
[Illustration: Panning for gold]
THE STORY OF DEADMAN'S BAR[5]
By Fritiof Fryxell
Jackson Hole, widely reputed to have been the favored retreat and
rendezvous of cattle thieves, outlaws, and "bad men" in the early days,
has long enjoyed the glamour which goes with a dark and sinful past, and
this reputation has by no means been lost sight of by those who have
been active in advertising the assets of this fascinating region. But
when the dispassionate historian critically investigates the basis for
this reputation he is surprised to find so little evidence wherewith to
justify it, or to indicate that pioneer times in Jackson Hole were much
different from those in other nearby frontier communities; and he is
forced to conclude that the notoriety of Jackson Hole, like the rumor of
Mark Twain's death, has been slightly exaggerated. Doubtless the
geographic features of the valley have encouraged the popular belief,
for from the standpoint of isolation and inaccessibility Jackson Hole
might well have been a paradise for the fugitive and lawless.
But, in fairness to the old idea, which one is reluctant to abandon, it
must be conceded that among the authentic narratives, that have come
down to us from pioneer times, there are 1 or 2 which hold their own
with the choicest that wild west fiction has dared to offer, and these
bolster up to some extent the rather faltering case for Jackson Hole's
former exceptional badness. Such a narrative is the story of Deadman's
Bar.
There are few residents of the Jackson Hole country who have not heard
of the Deadman's Bar affair, a triple killing which took place in the
summer of 1886 along the Snake River and which gave this section of the
river the name of Deadman's Bar. It is the most grim narrative and the
most celebrated in the pioneer history of the valley, and its details
are sufficiently bloody to satisfy the most sanguinary tourist, thirsty
for western thrills.