To Preserve the View: A "Tour" in Text and Pictures of Historic Sites Relating to the Establishment of Grand Teton National Park

Picture a dance hall on the east side of Jenny Lake or 400 summer homes dotting the shores of Jackson Lake. Imagine scores of fast food restaurants, motels and curio shops lining Highway 191. This sight could have been seen were it not for the strong commitment to conservation that a number of Jackson Hole residents demonstrated between 1920 and 1950. Concern for the preservation of the Tetons as well as the view from east of the Snake River pitted neighbors against each other. Nathaniel Burt. son of Struthers Burt, gave tribute to those concerned individuals: "To those like my father and his friends who loved the country as they had first known it, but who recognized that the tourist was coming, some sort of special preservation scheme was imperative. Letting human nature take its course meant ruin."